Class __t_iAJ|L 
 Rook .C'.l y 
 
 Copyright N° 
 
 copyRicHT DEPosrr. 
 
ANTARCTIC _CIRCLE 
 
 CIRCL_E _/j 
 
 EARLY VOYAGES 
 TO AMERICA 
 
 SCA LE OF MILES 
 
 600 1000 
 
 ColuiiibuBS First Voyage H»8 
 
 Columbus' 8 Second Voyagi- U93-iH 
 
 Cabots 1497-98 
 
 ColuiubUB-8 Third Voyage 1498 
 
 Columbus s Kouith Voyage 1502-04 
 MagellttU 1519-22 
 Drake 15 
 Hudson 1609 
 
FOUNDERS 
 OF OUR COUNTRY 
 
 BY 
 
 FANNY E. COE 
 
 TEACHER IN THE BOSTON NORMAL SCHOOL; AUTHOR 
 
 OF "SCHOOL READERS," "MODERN EUROPE," 
 
 "HEROES OF EVERYDAY LIFE," ETC. 
 
 NEW YORK . : • CINCINNATI ■ : • CHICAGO 
 
 AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 
 
£/sr 
 
 Copyright, 1912, by 
 FANNY E. COE. 
 
 Copyright, 1912, in Great Britain 
 
 founders of our country. 
 w. p. I 
 
 ©C!.A3:}0510 
 
PREFACE 
 
 History is coming more and more to the place of 
 dignity to which it is entitled in the programs of our 
 elementary schools. The American Historical Associ- 
 ation, through its Committee of Eight, published, in 
 1909, a definite and carefully considered plan for work 
 in eight elementary grades. " Founders of Our Coun- 
 try " is a book for the fourth grade, which carefully 
 follows their program for that year. 
 
 One of the basic principles which guided the Com- 
 mittee of Eight in their plan was thus expressed by 
 them : " Fundamental, also, to the interpretation of 
 our program, is the proposition that if we would 
 maintain continued interest through the elementary 
 course, we offer in each of the several years one dis- 
 tinct portion or section of our country's history; that 
 we present this fully and finally as far as the history 
 teaching in the elementary schools goes; that we 
 avoid the recurrence in successive years of subject 
 matter that has once been outlined for the elementary 
 pupils." Since certain subjects — such as individual 
 explorers, pioneers, and settlers — belong to this grade 
 alone, the author has endeavored to make the treat- 
 ment of these topics thorough and ample. 
 
 Children are not generally able to interpret small 
 or complicated maps. Large wall maps may be used, 
 where conditions are presented such as they were at 
 the time of the events considered. Maps crowded 
 with items representing present-day conditions are 
 
4 PREFACE 
 
 bewildering and undesirable. A sketch map such as 
 the teacher may rapidly draw upon the board may be 
 of admirable service. It will show direction and dis- 
 tance, routes, and those places only that the teacher 
 needs in the demonstration. 
 
 The use of a limited number of carefully chosen 
 pictures is stimulating. The pictures should present 
 costumes, surroundings, and actions that are true to 
 the times. Otherwise they are worse than useless. 
 Too many pictures of the same event are confusing. 
 The child's imagination is entitled to some freedom. 
 
 The moral value of history is of superlative impor- 
 tance. Pasteur wrote: " From the life of men whose 
 passage is marked by a trace of durable light, let us 
 piously gather up every word, every incident likely to 
 make known the incentives of their great souls for the 
 education of posterity." Pasteur. " looked upon the 
 cult of great men as a great principle of national edu- 
 cation, and believed that children, as soon as they 
 could read, should be made acquainted with the heroic 
 or benevolent souls of great men." There is hope for 
 the nation that reveres the memories of its noblest 
 leaders. There is education of the will which comes 
 through the early introduction of the young to strong, 
 forceful personalities who "highly resolved" and so 
 " highly achieved." 
 
 As a history reader, as a language book, and as 
 a source book for moral training, it is hoped that 
 " Founders of Our Country " will prove itself of value 
 to the children of the nation. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 The Early Years of Columbus . 
 The First Voyage of Columbus . 
 The Later Voyages of Columbus 
 The Quest for a Fountain .... 
 
 The Story of Cortes 
 
 A Wandering in the Wilderness 
 The Story of Magellan .... 
 The Cabots, Discoverers of North America 
 '•The Furrow about the World" 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, Pioneer 
 Champlain, the Father of New France 
 The Story of Henry Hudson 
 John Saiith. the Founder of Virginia 
 Miles Standish. Captain of Plymouth 
 John Winthrop, Builder of a Free State 
 John Eliot, the Missionary Pioneer . 
 Philip, Chief of the Wampanoags 
 Pilgrim and Puritan Life .... 
 New Netherland : Old New York 
 A Quaker in the New World 
 Blackbeard, the Last of the Pirates 
 The Father of Georgia .... 
 
 Down the Mississippi . . . . ' . 
 The Jesuit Missionary in America 
 The Trapper and the Soldier of New France 
 The Youth of George Washington 
 Benjamin Franklin, Guide. Philosopher, and Friend to 
 the American People .... 
 
 7 
 
 i6 
 26 
 36 
 41 
 52 
 63 
 75 
 
 III 
 
 123 
 132 
 
 153 
 167 
 179 
 187 
 202 
 218 
 
 244 
 251 
 266 
 279 
 288 
 296 
 
 310 
 
FOUNDERS OF OUR COUNTRY 
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 Nearly five hundred years ago there was born in 
 the city of Genoa (jen''o-a) a boy named Christopher 
 Columbus. His parents were poor, and their family 
 was a large one. They had a daughter and four sons, 
 of whom Christopher was the eldest. 
 
 The father could not send his boys to college. Some 
 years of schooling they might have, but as they grew 
 tall and strong they must make their own living. 
 
 Christopher and his brother BarthoFomew loved 
 their books dearly. At school they studied Latin and 
 geography and arithmetic. They knew a little of the 
 stars and of their movements. 
 
 Whenever they found a book of travel or adventure 
 they read it eagerly. But better than any book of 
 travel were the streets and the docks of their own 
 native city of Genoa. 
 
 Genoa at this time was one of the two richest cities 
 in Italy. She had a great trade with the East. Ships 
 of many countries were seen in her fine harbor ; sailors 
 from far-away places lounged through her streets. 
 
 7 
 
8 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 Wonderful stories of sea monsters, of whirlpools, and 
 of other dangers of the deep were overheard by the 
 young Columbus on his way to and from school. 
 
 The world five hundred years ago was very different 
 from the world we know to-day. America had never 
 been heard of. Europe, central and southern Asia, 
 and northern Africa made up the known universe. 
 
 The distant East was the quarter of the world in 
 which every one was most interested. In the far East 
 was untold wealth. Gold, silver, and precious stones 
 were supposed to be as plentiful as pebbles on the sea- 
 shore. 
 
 From China and Japan and the Indies in the far East 
 came the rich silks and valuable spices that brought 
 wealth to Genoa. Weeks and months passed as the 
 slow caravans bearing this rich freight crossed Asia to 
 the Black Sea. There the goods were loaded on ships 
 which returned to Genoa with their precious freight. 
 The merchants and the sailors talked much of the East. 
 Those who listened were dazzled by their tales. 
 
 The Columbus family had been weavers for genera- 
 tions. Christopher's father was teaching him the 
 trade. But the boy was not contented. 
 
 As he sat on the wharves looking over the sparkling 
 waters, with the voices of the sailors in his ears, and the 
 salt air in every breath, the wonder, the mystery of the 
 sea was like a spell upon him. Always it called him to 
 come and to find, 
 
THE EARLY YEARS OF COLUMBUS 9 
 
 These days with the sea sealed, the fate of young 
 Christopher. He would be a sailor, and some day per- 
 chance a great captain. 
 
 " Always the sea called him to come and to find." 
 
 His first voyage was made at fourteen. After that 
 time there were many voyages. Sometimes there were 
 sharp fights with pirates. But always Christopher 
 was learning the ways of ships, of the sea, and of men. 
 
lO CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 Afloat or ashore, he continued his geography, astronomy, 
 and other studies that would help him as a navigator. 
 
 Thus the years went by until Columbus was a man 
 of thirty-four. His brother Bartholomew had led 
 much the same life, and was now living at the capital of 
 Por'tugal. There Christopher joined him about 1470. 
 
 This was a wise move. Portugal was fitting out more 
 exploring expeditions than any other country. This 
 was owing to the fact that one of the great princes of 
 Portugal used his money in this way. Prince Henry, 
 the Navigator, he was called. 
 
 The wealth of the East now seemed farther from 
 Europe than ever. Much of the fine caravan trade 
 had been broken up by the Turks. They had conquered 
 certain countries and refused to let the traders pass 
 through. 
 
 This made all Europe eager to find another way to 
 the East. Prince Henry hoped to find one around 
 Africa. Many were the expeditions he sent southward. 
 
 Farther and farther the timid Portuguese captains 
 crept along the coast of Africa, but still that great land 
 mass loomed up on their left and stretched ever and 
 ever southward. 
 
 Some bold thinkers began to whisper that a shorter 
 way to China might be found by sailing due west across 
 the unknown Atlantic Ocean. Columbus was one of 
 these thinkers. 
 
 He was too poor to hire ships and men himself. He 
 
THE EARLY YEARS OF COLUMBUS ii 
 
 would need a patron to help him. He did not act 
 hastily. It was ten long years before he began to seek 
 help. Then he asked King John of Portugal to furnish 
 the necessary ships and men. 
 
 What did Columbus look like at this time? He 
 was a tall and powerfully built man, with fair ruddy 
 complexion and keen blue-gray eyes that easily kindled ; 
 while his waving white hair was quite picturesque. 
 His manner was courteous, so that strangers were 
 quickly won. There was an air of authority about him, 
 as suited a man of high purpose. ' 
 
 King John talked over the scheme of Columbus 
 with his councilors. Some thought it foolish; others 
 thought it good; but all considered it expensive. Then 
 King John did a shabby, underhand deed. He bor- 
 rowed the saihng maps of Columbus, and loaned them 
 to a captain whom he ordered to set out secretly over 
 the very route planned by Columbus. If he succeeded 
 in finding a new route to China and the Indies, King 
 John would not have to divide the glory and the profits 
 with Columbus. 
 
 The undertaking did not succeed, however. The 
 sailors' hearts failed before the great waste of waters. 
 Home they came; their story was soon known; and 
 Columbus, justly indignant, turned to the court of Spain. 
 
 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were 
 carrying on a fierce war with the Moors. These were 
 an African people who had held many of the fairest 
 
THE EARLY YEARS OF COLUMBUS 
 
 13 
 
 parts of Spain for hundreds of years. They were not 
 Christians, so that all Europe was glad at the successes 
 of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 Columbus followed the court from city to city. 
 Again and again he made his plea before the rulers. 
 Often he showed his plans to learned men who had been 
 gathered to listen to him. Sometimes he hoped ; often 
 
 he despaired. 
 
 Five weary years 
 
 passed slowly by. 
 
 Columbus was a 
 
 brave man with 
 
 a strong purpose. 
 
 He had need to be. 
 
 A weaker man would 
 
 have given up. 
 
 At length, sick at 
 heart, he decided to 
 seek help in France. 
 Taking his son, a lad 
 of eleven or twelve, he 
 set forth on his journey » 
 Not far from the port 
 of Palos (pahlos) they 
 stopped at a monastery. 
 The boy was hungry and thirsty, and the kind monks 
 would gladly give him bread and water. 
 
 The monks were much interested in the gaunt, har- 
 
 " The boy was hungry and thirsty." 
 
14 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 assed father. The prior talked with him, and then 
 sent for two other Hsteners. One was Martin Pinzon 
 (peen-thonO, a well-to-do shipowner of Palos. 
 
 To these friendly hearers Columbus poured forth 
 his whole story. Their hearts were won. Pinzon said 
 
 " He was overtaken by a swift 
 messenger." 
 
 he would sail with Colum- 
 bus. The prior exclaimed 
 that Spain must not lose 
 the honor of the great 
 discovery. 
 
 This new friend, the 
 prior, was an old friend of 
 
 the queen. He hastened to place the matter before 
 her. He was successful. Isabella sent a summons to 
 Columbus to come to the court, and with it came over 
 one thousand dollars for his expenses. All seemed 
 going well. 
 
THE EARLY YEARS OF COLUMBUS 15 
 
 The terms which Columbus proposed, however, al- 
 most lost his cause again. He claimed the title of ad- 
 miral, the office of governor over the new lands he might 
 discover, and one tenth of all the wealth he should find. 
 
 The sovereigns would not consent to these demands. 
 Columbus was obstinate. He mounted his little mule 
 and turned towards France. 
 
 Six miles away he was overtaken by a swift messenger. 
 Isabella demanded his return. She consented to all 
 his terms, and he was to set sail as soon as the ships 
 could be made ready. 
 
 The agreement was signed April 17, 1492. Colum- 
 bus shed tears of joy as he thanked God that the long 
 waiting was at an end. 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 
 
 The expedition was to sail from Palos. Three small 
 vessels were brought together, — the Pinta (peen'tah), 
 the Nina (neen'yah), and the Santa Maria (sahn'tah 
 mah-ree'ah). 
 
 The Santa Maria, the largest of the three, would 
 to-day scarcely serve as a coasting schooner. No one 
 would think of setting off to sea in her. The Pinta 
 and the Nina were not even decked over. 
 
 To find crews for these vessels was difficult. Every 
 one feared the dangers of the unknown ocean. Four 
 months' pay in advance was no temptation. Prisoners 
 for debt were pardoned if they would consent to em- 
 bark. In one way and another, eighty-eight men were 
 gathered for the voyage. 
 
 On August 3, 1492, the priests blessed the little 
 company, and they sailed. On the shore stood the 
 friends of the sailors, weeping bitterly. They expected 
 never to meet the voyagers again. 
 
 The hearts of the sailors were heavy, too, as they 
 looked back upon Palos, now rosy with the morning 
 glow. There was home and safety. Before them 
 were the Sea of Darkness, grave perils, and, they feared, 
 almost certain death. Their leader was a strange, 
 
 16 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 
 
 17 
 
 silent Italian with deep knowledge and a will like steel. 
 No one loved him, and all feared him. 
 
 After a few days the rudder of the Pinta was broken. 
 This was no accident, as Columbus weU knew. It was 
 
 " The priests blessed the little company." 
 
 the work of certain men who wished for an excuse to go 
 home. 
 
 Columbus stopped at the Canary Islands for the 
 needed repairs. The Canary Islands were o\vned by 
 Spain, and so he and his party were kindly treated 
 there. 
 
 They started once more on their westward course. 
 As the last Canary Island disappeared from sight, the 
 men sobbed like children. 
 
 But Nature showed them her fairest face. Blue skies 
 bent above them ; smooth seas were before them ; fa- 
 
1 8 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 voring winds filled their sails. The air was as balmy 
 as in April, and the water so warm that the men often 
 swam beside the ships. But their minds were not at 
 peace. Strange signs troubled them. 
 
 On September i6th, they sailed into a part of the 
 ocean that looked like a grassy prairie. As far as they 
 could see was an expanse of seaweed, with crabs 
 and fish scuttling about in it. They had entered the 
 Sargasso Sea, a strange region six times the size of 
 France. 
 
 The sailors feared they might be caught forever in 
 this tangled mass. But the strong winds carried them 
 on. Then they feared sunken reefs. Again and again 
 Columbus took soundings, but the longest plummet 
 lines failed to find bottom. There was no danger of 
 running aground. 
 
 Six days more and the Sargasso Sea was past. Then 
 the men began to worr)^ over the favoring breezes that 
 had been blowing them so steadily on their way. Day 
 after day the wind had come from the east. Never, 
 never could they sail against it. Never, never should 
 they reach home. 
 
 Once they thought they saw land. They sang 
 hymns of praise, and were preparing to leave the ship, 
 when lo, it was seen to be only a mirage. 
 
 Then the murmurings against Columbus grew louder. 
 Many wished to turn back, but the admiral kept the 
 prow still westward. 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 
 
 19 
 
 "He said, 'Sail on ! and on !'" 
 
 Many wished to throw this stubborn Italian over- 
 board. One thought stopped them. They might need 
 him on the homeward voyage. Afloat on this un- 
 known sea, he alone 
 was sure of finding 
 the way. 
 
 And soon strange 
 signs came to sup- 
 port his word. A 
 live crab floated 
 by; then a bush 
 with berries; ducks 
 were seen; a flock 
 of little birds 
 lighted on the rig- 
 ging and sang most 
 sweetly. Other 
 flocks were seen 
 flying to the south- 
 west. 
 
 The men be- 
 sought Columbus 
 to steer in that di- 
 rection, and he did. On the night of October nth, 
 Columbus saw a bright light. It looked as if some 
 one were carrying a torch along a shore. At two the 
 next morning the watch at the masthead of the Pinta 
 
 l1\£5TMACO)I 
 
 " Columbus saw a bright light." 
 
20 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 cried, "Land ! " And there it was, — a stretch of sandy 
 beach gleaming white in the starhght. 
 
 All watched it and, as the dawn appeared, they pre- 
 pared to land. It was a pleasant isle they saw before 
 them. Beyond the beach grew tall trees, beneath 
 which could be seen many copper-colored men, women, 
 and children eagerly watching them. 
 
 Columbus, in his rich admiral's dress, stepped ashore. 
 In his hand was the royal banner of Queen Isabella. 
 He knelt and kissed the ground ; then he arose and 
 took possession of the land for Spain. 
 
 The feelings of his little band had changed completely. 
 The men knelt and kissed the admiral's hand. His 
 officers embraced him. 
 
 The savages timidly drew near. They believed 
 these white men to be gods who had come to them from 
 heaven. The ships were to them a new sort of sea 
 monster. At first they had fled in fear. Then, seeing 
 the strangers did not seem ready to harm them, they 
 came forward. 
 
 Trading soon began. The Spaniards offered glass 
 beads and small bells in return for balls of cotton and 
 gold ornaments. 
 
 This was October 12th, the day we celebrate as 
 Columbus day. But Columbus had no idea that he 
 had found a new world. He was certain that the island 
 he had discovered was off the coast of Asia. Nothing 
 he ever saw or heard caused him to change his belief. 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 
 
 21 
 
 The natives called the island Guanaha'ni. Columbus 
 named it San Salvador. No one knows to-day which 
 of the Bahama Islands it is. 
 
 Columbus spent ten days among these islands. 
 
 Then Columbus took possession of the land for Spain." 
 
 Then he sailed south. He touched the coast of the 
 island of Cuba. 
 
 The scenery was beautiful. Here, too, he found 
 pearl oysters. This was encouraging. But as yet the 
 party had met no eastern kings. They had found no 
 
22 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 gold or spices, and Columbus was puzzled and dis- 
 appointed. Why did the rich countries of Asia still 
 elude him? 
 
 In November his Palos friend, Martin Pinzon, deserted 
 with the Pinta. Some say he wished to reach Spain 
 first with his wonderful story. Other accounts say 
 that he wished to seek a certain island which they had 
 just learned contained gold. 
 
 Early in December Columbus discovered the is- 
 land of Haiti. It grew very difficult to fit the dis- 
 coveries into the old maps with which he had started. 
 But Columbus firmly believed that Cuba was x\sia, and 
 that Haiti was the island of Japan, off its coast. Poor 
 Columbus, groping like a blind man in the dark ! Fast 
 bound by his beliefs, he saw and yet did not see. 
 
 On Christmas morning a terrible disaster occurred. 
 The flagship, the Santa Maria, was wrecked. Here 
 were all these men thousands of miles from home and 
 only the tiny Nina to bridge that distance. 
 
 No one in Spain knew of the great discovery. If 
 Columbus reached home, aU would yet be well. If not, 
 Spain would forever think of him as a foolhardy ad- 
 venturer and a failure. That must never be. 
 
 With the timbers of the Santa Maria a fort was 
 built on the shore of Haiti. It was armed with guns 
 from the vessel. 
 
 Here Columbus left forty men with provisions for a 
 year. They had plenty of arms, tools, and seeds, and 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 23 
 
 were contented to remain in this mild climate. They 
 were told to gather all the gold they could and to bury 
 it for safe-keeping. 
 
 Then Columbus set sail for home in the Nina. Two 
 days later he came upon the Pinta, and side by side 
 the frail barks breasted the Atlantic billows. 
 
 It was a hard passage. The vessels were leaking, 
 and provisions were low. Once, however, they caught 
 a shark, which was a welcome addition to their scanty 
 fare. 
 
 Finally a fearful storm burst upon them. It lasted 
 for four days. During the first night the Pinta dis- 
 appeared. Every one believed she had sunk, and all 
 expected the same fate for themselves. 
 
 Then the admiral wrote the story of the great dis- 
 covery upon two pieces of parchment. These he 
 wrapped in cloth. Then he incased them in wax. 
 Each waxed tablet he placed in a cask. One cask he 
 threw overboard. The other stood on deck ready 
 to share the fate of the Niiia. But the little craft 
 weathered the storm. On March 15, 1493, Columbus 
 anchored at Palos in Spain. There was great excite- 
 ment in the town, which was doubled by the arrival of 
 the Pinta. 
 
 Pinzon had thought himself the only leader left 
 alive. Accordingly he had made great claims for 
 himself in a letter to Ferdinand and Isabella. For- 
 tunately, before they had replied, a letter of Columbus 
 
24 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 was received. The result was that Pinzon was re- 
 buked and forbidden to appear at court. He died in 
 the next few days ; some said, of a broken heart. 
 
 "Ferdinand and Isabella heard his marvelous story." 
 
 And now came the happiest hours of Columbus's 
 
 life. He was to be received by Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 There was a brilhant procession. First came six In- 
 
THE FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS 25 
 
 dians with strange bright decorations. Next walked 
 attendants carrying the live parrots, the small ani- 
 mals, the stuffed birds, and medicinal herbs which were 
 to be offered to the sovereigns. Then came Columbus. 
 
 Ferdinand and Isabella heard his marvelous story, 
 questioned him, and examined the products of the far- 
 away lands. Finally all sang a hymn of praise to God. 
 
 The next six months were the happiest in the life of 
 Columbus. Many who had formerly despised him 
 now hastened to do him honor. 
 
 Every one believed that he had found a new route to 
 Asia. Even as it was, they said of the deed in London 
 that it was "more divine than human." Words would 
 have failed them, had the whole truth been known, — 
 that a new world had been revealed on that October 
 morning in 1492. 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 
 
 Columbus made three other voyages to the strange 
 western world. They were all interesting, although 
 none was so wonderful as the first. 
 
 When Columbus started on his second voyage every 
 one was eager to go. What a contrast to the year 
 before ! Then there had been but three small vessels ; 
 now there were seventeen. Then eighty-eight men 
 had been forced or bribed to go ; now more than fifteen 
 hundred were ready and eager. Then only poor men 
 were on board ; now there were young men from noble 
 families of Spain. 
 
 How the world had changed for Columbus ! Alas, 
 it would change as readily again ! 
 
 One of the first things the admiral intended to do was 
 to visit the colony that he had left in Haiti. Those 
 men would be overjoyed at the great numbers coming 
 to swell their little settlement. They would also be 
 glad of the goats, sheep, pigs, and fowl that made up 
 the cargo. 
 
 But when the little fleet reached Haiti, not a man of 
 all the colony was found alive. The fort had been 
 burned, and the chests of supplies were broken and 
 empty. European tools and clothing were found in 
 the huts of the natives. 
 
 26 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 27 
 
 Remembering his commands to the men to bury any 
 gold they might find, Columbus ordered the new arri- 
 vals to dig around the fort. What they found was 
 not gold, but the bodies of eleven men. This was a 
 sad arrival. 
 
 After establishing a new colony, Columbus started 
 out on an exploring expedition. He discovered Ja- 
 maica. He also followed the coast of Cuba far to the 
 west and south, but not quite to the end of the island. 
 He felt certain that Cuba was Asia. 
 
 On the return trip to Haiti, Columbus was stricken 
 with a strange fever. For days he was unconscious. 
 When he opened his eyes, his beloved brother Bar- 
 tholomew was standing at his bedside. They had not 
 met in six years. 
 
 Bartholomew was strong, brave, and practical, and 
 Columbus at once made him governor of Haiti. There 
 had been much trouble while the admiral was away. 
 Many had been sick ; some had died ; some had been 
 killed in skirmishes with the Indians. They had 
 found less gold in Haiti than they had hoped. Always 
 the spirit of complaint had been growing. 
 
 Finally two of the discontented leaders seized ships 
 and hastened back to Spain. There they made all the 
 mischief they could with their lying tales. They said 
 that the admiral's great discoveries amounted to very 
 little, and that the Columbus brothers were tyrants. 
 
 The result was that Ferdinand and Isabella sent over 
 
28 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 an agent to look into the troubles in the colony. The 
 proud admiral was wonderfully patient with this man. 
 The agent collected a great store of complaints. There 
 were so many that Columbus decided that he must go 
 to Spain to make his explanations. 
 
 He was very kindly received by his king and queen. 
 The false tales shrank out of sight before his dignified 
 presence and fine, earnest face. But Columbus knew 
 that a little of his former influence was gone. Thus 
 ended the second voyage. 
 
 Never again did Columbus command a large fleet 
 like the one he had sailed with on the second voyage. 
 
 He waited nearly two years before Ferdinand and 
 Isabella gave him six ships. Finally, in May, 1498, 
 he set sail on his third voyage, taking between two and 
 three hundred men. 
 
 Columbus had a new plan for this voyage. At the 
 Canary Islands he divided his fleet. He sent three 
 ships straight to Haiti. With the other three ships he 
 sailed far south and then west. 
 
 He had two reasons for this southerly course. First, 
 the natives had always pointed south when asked 
 where gold could be found. Second, he thought he 
 might find his way into the Indian Ocean, 
 
 It was a fearfully hot voyage. At one time, says 
 Irving, "the wind suddenly fell. A dead, sultry calm 
 commenced which lasted for eight days. The air was 
 like a furnace ; the tar melted, the seams of the ship 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 29 
 
 yawned. . . . The mariners lost all strength and spirits 
 and sank under the oppressive heat." 
 
 In time they reached land. They sailed along a 
 coast, finding new islands. 
 
 One day the ships were nearly swamped. There 
 came pouring into the ocean a mighty flood on which 
 their small vessels were tossed about like chips. The 
 water which very nearly capsized them proved to be 
 fresh. Columbus knew it must be a great river. 
 
 Only a mighty continent could have so great a river, 
 he reasoned. For once he was exactly right ; but he 
 believed this new land to be either a continent south of 
 Asia or a part of Asia itself. 
 
 Only two weeks were spent cruising in South American 
 waters. The great admiral's strength gave way. His 
 eyes were worn out by making observations. Gout and 
 fever laid him low. 
 
 The three ships headed for Haiti. There Bartholo- 
 mew had a sad story to tell. The years that Columbus 
 had passed in Spain had been miserable ones in the 
 colony. There had been wars with the Indians, sick- 
 ness, and above all endless strife among the Spaniards 
 themselves. 
 
 Many of these discontented men had returned to 
 Spain. There they were doing all they could to harm 
 Columbus in the thoughts of the king and queen. They 
 brought bills to Ferdinand for money that they said 
 Columbus owed them. Fifty such scamps would gather 
 
30 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 in the courtyard of the palace. As the king passed 
 by, they would seize his robe and shout, "Pay us! 
 Pay us!" 
 
 The two little sons of Columbus, Diego and Ferdi- 
 nand, were pages at court. Whenever they passed 
 these men would hoot, "There go the sons of the ad- 
 miral of Mosquito-land ! " 
 
 The result of all this trouble was that a Spaniard 
 named De Bobadil'la was sent to look into affairs in 
 Haiti. He was given power even to remove Columbus 
 as governor and to take his place. 
 
 De Bobadilla acted very badly. He opened the 
 jails and let free all the prisoners. He seized the house 
 of the admiral and all his private papers. He then 
 loaded Columbus with chains and sent him and his 
 brother to Spain. 
 
 The captain of the vessel was distressed at the sight 
 of the great discoverer in chains. He wished to strike 
 them off, but Columbus proudly refused. They should 
 never be removed, he said, except by the order of the 
 king and queen. He said he should keep them forever 
 to show how his labors had been rewarded. 
 
 When the stately, white-headed figure of Columbus 
 passed through the streets of Cadiz in chains, the people 
 were indignant. All hearts were softened towards 
 him. Isabella sent orders that the brothers should be 
 at once set free. 
 
 The admiral went to Granada to see the queen. 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 
 
 31 
 
 Isabella met him with her eyes full of tears. Then, and 
 then only, did the proud man break down. In a pas- 
 
 " The great discoverer in chains." 
 
 sion of sobs and tears, he threw himself at her feet. 
 What a contrast to that return seven years before ! 
 
 The fourth and last voyage of Columbus was made 
 by a sick, disappointed old man. 
 
32 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 The king and queen had failed to keep their many 
 promises to restore to him his late honors. They sent 
 another governor to Haiti, but they gave Columbus 
 four small vessels and one hundred and fifty men for 
 a new venture. His brother Bartholomew and his 
 fourteen-year-old son Ferdinand were with the admiral. 
 
 The purpose of the fourth voyage was to find a 
 westward passage to the Indian Ocean, of which 
 Columbus had been dreaming for years. Once in the 
 Indian Ocean it would be easy to reach India. Then 
 his belief would be proved true. Then all these puz- 
 zling coasts would slip into their right places. The 
 task of his life would be complete. 
 
 He had been forbidden to touch at Haiti. But one 
 of his small vessels was out of repair and it became neces- 
 sary to hire another. A great storm was rolling up 
 and he had to put into some sheltered bay. 
 
 In the harbor of Santo Domingo in Haiti a fleet of 
 twenty-six or twenty-eight ships was gathered. De 
 BobadiUa and other enemies of Columbus were starting 
 for Spain with heaps of gold. One of the ships con- 
 tained four thousand pieces of gold for Columbus. 
 
 The old admiral asked if he might anchor for a short 
 time. He also sent friendly counsel to the new gov- 
 ernor. He notified him of the coming storm and ad- 
 vised him to delay the sailing of the gold fleet. 
 
 The governor acted rudely. He ordered Columbus 
 away and permitted the l^eet to sail as he had planned. 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 33 
 
 The small vessels of Columbus found safety in a 
 deep bay, and rode out the storm. Twenty of the gold 
 ships were sunk by the gale; a few returned to San 
 Domingo as mere wrecks; while one ship, and only 
 one, reached Spain in safety. This was the one bear- 
 ing the gold for Columbus. 
 
 The search for the westward passage led to the dis- 
 covery of the southern part of North America. Co- 
 lumbus followed the coasts of Central America for 
 many miles. He was often so ill that he could not 
 stand. But he had a little cabin built on deck, and 
 there he would lie and direct the course of the ship. 
 
 The party traded with the natives. The Indians 
 offered the Spaniards copper knives, hatchets, pottery, 
 and cotton garments of exquisite dyes. And at last they 
 reached a spot where gold was abundant. How their 
 eyes shone when a solid plate of gold worth twenty dol- 
 lars was exchanged for trinkets worth only a few cents ! 
 
 On the return voyage a severe storm came on. Their 
 vessels were nothing but wrecks, and they were glad 
 to run them up on the beach of Jamaica. 
 
 Then came a time of great suffering. There were 
 no Spanish settlements on this island. The only hope 
 was to get word of their misfortunes to Haiti. 
 
 Two brave men in an open canoe undertook the 
 perilous journey. They succeeded, but the cruel 
 Spanish governor let a full year pass before he sent 
 two vessels to the shipwrecked party in Jamaica. 
 
34 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS 
 
 That was a year of suffering for Columbus. But he 
 had his brave brother by his side. Bartholomew 
 fought Indians, quelled mutinies, and again and 
 again plucked the little band out of danger. 
 
 Once the great admiral's knowledge 
 was turned to account in a curious 
 way. The Indians had refused 
 the Spaniards food. Columbus 
 told them that the Great 
 Father was angry with them 
 for not giving bread to his 
 white children. He would 
 show his anger by hiding the 
 light of the sun from them. 
 Sure enough, the follow- 
 ing day an 
 eclipse oc- 
 curred. Wild 
 with terror, 
 the na- 
 tives 
 
 The Indians bring food to Columbus. 
 
 heaped before the strangers all they could possibly 
 desire. 
 
THE LATER VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS 35 
 
 After the two vessels bore the small company to 
 Haiti, Columbus set out for Spain. Soon after his 
 arrival Queen Isabella breathed her last. 
 
 Columbus himself died about two years afterwards. 
 It would have rejoiced his heart could he have known 
 that the honors and offices he had lost were restored 
 to his son Diego. Diego Hved in great state as gov- 
 ernor of Cuba. After his death, father and son lay 
 side by side in the cathedral at Havana for many 
 years. Since Cuba became free, their bones have been 
 removed to Spain, the country which Columbus so 
 honored by his labors, and which served him so thank- 
 lessly. 
 
 A great man, in a great time, he builded better than 
 he knew. 
 
THE QUEST FOR A FOUNTAIN 
 
 When Columbus sailed on his second voyage there 
 went with him many Spanish noblemen. Among 
 these there was a strong young man of thirty-three, 
 named Juan Ponce de Leon (hwahn pon^thay da la-on'). 
 
 Juan had been a page at the Spanish court. Later 
 he became a soldier in the wars with the Moors. Dur- 
 ing the great siege of Granada, he did valiant service. 
 
 Now that the war was over, a voyage westward 
 offered the best chance for adventure. Ponce de Leon 
 loved a stirring life. He would see what these unknown 
 lands had to offer. He would seek pearls and gold and 
 the power that great wealth brings. 
 
 He was very successful in his search. His training 
 in the Moorish wars stood him in good stead. He often 
 fought the Indians and nearly always won. He rose 
 to be governor of eastern Haiti. 
 
 Not far from Haiti there is another island called 
 Porto Rico. Ponce de Leon learned that much gold 
 was found there. In a short time he became governor 
 of Porto Rico. He held this post for only a few years, 
 but in that time he became very rich. 
 
 He was a young man no longer. His age was now 
 fifty years. This is not old, but it is a time when old 
 
 36 
 
THE QUEST FOR A FOUNTAIN 37 
 
 age seems not far away. Ponce de Leon was still 
 strong. Daily, however, he saw that his locks were 
 growing more silvery. Daily the wrinkles on his face 
 seemed deeper. 
 
 De Leon could not bear this change. Must he give 
 up his active life to sit idly at home ? And each day 
 Time said, "You must." 
 
 Just then a strange story came to his ears. Some- 
 where to the northward lay an island on which was a 
 magic fountain. Whoever drank of its sweet waters 
 became young once more. 
 
 A great hope came to De Leon, He would find and 
 drink from that fountain. The Indians declared the 
 story was true. All things seemed possible in this un- 
 known land. 
 
 The fountain was said to be on the island of Bimini. 
 Ponce de Leon urged powerful friends in Spain to ask 
 King Ferdinand to grant him certain rights. The 
 king gave him permission to discover and settle Bimini. 
 This was in 151 2. 
 
 In March, 15 13, Ponce de Leon sailed from Porto 
 Rico on his strange quest. His three vessels steered 
 northward and reached the Bahama Islands. There 
 were many Bahama Islands. Could Bimini be among 
 them? 
 
 Some middle-aged men and some old men had sailed 
 with Ponce de Leon. They were no less eager to find 
 the fountain of youth than De Leon himself. 
 
'Day after day they voyaged over the calm seas from island to island." 
 
 38 
 
THE QUEST FOR A FOUNTAIN 39 
 
 Day after day they voyaged over the calm seas 
 from island to island. At each island they drank of 
 the springs and bathed in the streams. But no one 
 was a jot the younger. Plainly Bimini was not here. 
 
 Then they sailed northwestward. Soon above the 
 blue waters a fair shore arose. Drawing nearer, they 
 beheld noble woods and fields covered with beautiful 
 flowers. The magnolia was in blossom. Its exquisite 
 color and fragrance enchanted the seafarers. Surely 
 here must be Bimini. 
 
 It was Easter Sunday. Pascua Florida is the Spanish 
 name for Easter Sunday. So the place was called 
 Florida. No one knew whether it was island or 
 continent. 
 
 Southward they sailed along the shores of this lovely 
 land. Then they rounded the cape and ran up the 
 westward coast. There were plenty of adventures by 
 the way. Occasionally they entered swift and con- 
 trary currents. Sometimes Indians tried to steal their 
 anchors or cut their cables. 
 
 Always they sought the fountain of youth, but in 
 vain. But Ponce de Leon still hoped. 
 ' He returned to Porto Rico and then sailed for Spain. 
 There he sought the king. He asked that he might 
 explore and settle Bimini and Florida. The king con- 
 sented to his wishes. First, however, he commanded 
 Ponce de Leon to conquer the Caribs. These were 
 fierce Indians in the islands south of Porto Rico. 
 
40 
 
 PONCE DE LEON 
 
 This war took much longer than had been expected. 
 Years passed by before Ponce de Leon could carry out 
 his plans. He was an old man now ; he must hasten, 
 if the magic waters were to be of any use. 
 
 Eight years had passed since that beautiful Easter 
 morning when Florida was first seen by white men. 
 Since then, other Spaniards had visited its shores. 
 They had been cruel to the Indians, so that the red 
 men hated all strangers alike. This was unfortunate 
 for Ponce de Leon. 
 
 He made great preparations for his settlement, 
 though now he was far from being a rich man. 
 Clergymen were to set out with the colonists. The 
 ships were laden with horses, cattle, sheep, and swine. 
 
 They reached Florida and began to build houses. 
 Ponce de Leon thought, "I will first see these people 
 safely sheltered. Then I will surely seek until I find 
 the water of youth. I dare not delay." 
 
 Suddenly came a fierce flight of arrows, and the In- 
 dians were upon them. Ponce de Leon was wounded 
 with a poisoned arrow. This was a deathblow to the 
 settlement, which was finally given up. 
 
 "Take me back to Cuba to die," said De Leon. 
 "Near though it must be, I shall never find the fountain 
 of youth." 
 
 Life had given much to De Leon. But it had denied 
 him his dearest wish. The blessing of gentle death 
 came to the poor old man in Cuba. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 
 
 Early in the sixteenth century there came to Haiti 
 a very remarkable Spaniard named Hernando Cor'tes. 
 No one at this time suspected that he was unusually 
 brave or clever. All that men saw was a high-spirited 
 youth with soldierly ambition and very little money 
 in his purse. 
 
 From the first, fortune smiled on him. An expedition 
 went out from Haiti to conquer Cuba. Its leader was 
 Velasquez (va-lahs'kath), and Cortes joined it as the 
 second in command. Later Velasquez became gov- 
 ernor of Cuba. He appointed Cortes judge in one 
 of the chief towns of Cuba. 
 
 The western part of Cuba is not far from the shores 
 of Yucatan, on the mainland of North America. Some 
 Spaniards had touched at these coasts. They had 
 brought back word that here, at last, were the rich 
 cities for which Columbus had sought so long. 
 
 Velasquez was eager to send an expedition to this 
 region, and he gave the command to Cortes. 
 
 Cortes meant this to be the great venture of his life. 
 He bought ships and fitted them out carefully. He spent 
 all his own money and all he could borrow from his 
 friends. This was his one chance for fame and fortune. 
 
 41 
 
42 
 
 HERNANDO CORTES 
 
 On February i8, 15 19, Cortes sailed for the main- 
 land. He had now twelve vessels, six hundred men, 
 and ten cannon. Quite as important as the cannon 
 were sixteen horses that were on board. 
 
 The Indians had been, at first, friendly to the white 
 men. You remember how gently they had treated 
 
 Columbus in the 
 Bahama Islands. 
 But that was over 
 twenty-five years 
 ago. The Spaniards 
 had been harsh and 
 cruel and now the 
 Indians were ready 
 to fight them on 
 sight. 
 
 At one village 
 the Spaniards 
 asked for food. 
 The Indians re- 
 fused. Then Cor- 
 tes decided to teach 
 them a lesson. He landed a large force, planted his 
 cannon, ranged his horses, and attacked. 
 
 The Indians had never seen cannon. Neither had 
 they seen horses. They fled in terror before the pranc- 
 ing monsters and the belching guns. Surely, they 
 thought, the gods fought on the side of the strangers. 
 
 Cortes in Mexico. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 43 
 
 As Cortes went farther along the Mexican coast he 
 gathered facts of value. The strongest people in the 
 land were the Aztecs. They had a strong, rich city — 
 the city of Mexico — far inland on a wonderful lake. 
 
 They had conquered many weaker tribes in war, and 
 these tribes now paid them tribute. All these con- 
 quered tribes, of course, hated the Aztecs. 
 
 Now see the wily deed of Cortes. Many of the 
 Aztec taxgatherers were in the provinces on the coast. 
 Cortes advised the conquered chiefs to imprison the 
 taxgatherers. They did so with great glee. Then Cor- 
 tes quietly freed them and sent them to their king with 
 soft messages. Thus he curried favor with both parties. 
 
 The Aztec king, Montezu'ma, sent back presents of 
 rich fabrics and gold. At the same time he counseled 
 the strangers not to come to his kingdom. The journey, 
 he said, was long and difficult. 
 
 If Montezuma had wished to keep the Spaniards at 
 a distance, he- should not have sent gold. Its yellow 
 gleam would beckon soldiers of Spain halfway around 
 the world. 
 
 But in the heart of Montezuma and aU the Aztecs 
 there was a strange fear. They believed that these fair- 
 f^ced, long-bearded men were sure to reach their city. 
 
 This was the reason for their belief. A long while 
 ago two great gods had been worshiped by the Aztecs. 
 One was the fair god, the god of goodness ; the other 
 was the god of evil. These two gods had fought, 
 
44 
 
 HERNANDO CORTES 
 
 they believed, and the evil god had triumphed. The 
 god of goodness had been driven far away. Still 
 all the Aztecs beheved that this was only for a time. 
 Some day the good god would sail from the east with 
 white-faced companions. He would come to Mexico 
 and overthrow the god of evil. Nothing could with- 
 stand him. 
 
 Montezuma and his people were not anxious for this 
 to happen. They were satisfied to keep on worshiping 
 the god of evil and the terrible war god. 
 
 Both these gods had temples in the city of Mexico. 
 To the war god were sacrificed prisoners taken in war. 
 The form of sacrifice was so bloody that I will not tell 
 you about it. Some day you may read it all for your- 
 selves in Prescott's Conquest of Mexico. 
 
 When the white and bearded Spaniards were first 
 seen, every one thought of the old belief. The good 
 god was returning. Who could stand against him? 
 Thus the very religion of the Aztecs fought for Cortes. 
 
 Now came a critical moment. Some of the party 
 asked to be led back to Cuba. This must not be, 
 thought Cortes. His force was too small as it was. 
 
 Then Cortes did a bold thing. He destroyed his 
 ships. Now there was no way of retreat to Cuba». 
 All must conquer or die together. 
 
 Thus the march to Mexico began. A few days 
 brought them out of the unhealthy lowlands to a lofty 
 plain. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 
 
 45 
 
 There were occasional skirmishes with the Indians, 
 but the first pitched battle came at Tlascala. The 
 Tlascalans were a free people 
 whom the Aztecs had tried in 
 vain to conquer. 
 
 There were about five thou- 
 sand Tlascalans. They carried 
 shields of leather, bows and 
 arrows, and spears pointed with 
 stone or copper. 
 
 The Spaniards were only four 
 hundred and fifty in number, 
 but each man was well pro- 
 tected by his steel armor. They 
 also had six or seven light guns 
 and fifteen horses. 
 
 Terrible as were the guns, 
 the horses alarmed the Indians 
 more. At every charge the na- 
 tives shrieked and fled before 
 them. Indeed, it has been said 
 that the horse overthrew the 
 kingdom of the Aztecs. 
 
 Many Tlascalans were slain, and a few Spaniards. 
 Cortes had the bodies of his men buried by night. 
 Thus the Indians continued to believe that the Span- 
 iards were gods and could not die. 
 
 The Tlascalans became the firm allies of Cortes. 
 
 A Tlascalan warrior. 
 
46 HERNANDO CORTES 
 
 Hundreds of them fell in behind his troops on the 
 march to Mexico. They hated the Aztecs and wished 
 to see their proud city humbled. They did not love 
 the Spaniards, but it seemed best to be on their side. 
 
 Montezuma did his best to prevent Cortes from reach- 
 ing the city of Mexico. But all his plots failed. On 
 the seventh of November, 15 19, the Spaniards came in 
 sight of the city of the lake. The next day Montezuma 
 met them and invited them in. 
 
 The city of the Aztecs stood in the midst of a beau- 
 tiful salt lake. It was reached from the land by three 
 causeways or roads crossing the lake. These roads 
 were about twenty or thirty feet wide. Here and 
 there the roads were broken by bridges. In time of 
 war these bridges could be removed. 
 
 If an enemy were on the causeway, he could be at- 
 tacked from both sides by Aztecs in their canoes. This 
 would be a dangerous spot in advance or retreat. 
 
 Mexico was like Venice in having streets of water. 
 The better houses were huge affairs of red stone. There 
 were also fearful pyramids that were temples to the 
 gods. Here war captives met a wretched death, com- 
 pared to which a death on the battlefield was pleasant. 
 
 Many a sturdy Spaniard shuddered as he passed 
 the temple walls. A slight turn of events and he might 
 be climbing the temple stairs. There he would first 
 be sacrificed to the evil god, and then he would be eaten 
 by the Aztecs. For these people were cannibals. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 47 
 
 At last the Spaniards had reached their goal. They 
 were lodged in one of Montezuma's palaces. But thou- 
 sands of fierce Indians hemmed them in on all sides. 
 Were they not like flies in a spider web ? Could the 
 wit of Cortes save them ? 
 
 A few days went by. Cortes was studying the people 
 and their city. Then he did a daring thing. He took 
 Montezuma prisoner. 
 
 In course of time the king's spirit was broken. He 
 was ready to say or do whatever Cortes directed. 
 
 The Aztec chiefs were eager to kiU the Spaniards. 
 But their hands were tied. They could not make war 
 without their king. That was their law. They might 
 have called a council and chosen a new king. But the 
 one to be chosen was Montezuma's brother, and the 
 Spaniards had made him a prisoner too. 
 
 Thus the Aztecs waited, — • they knew not for what. 
 And the men of Cortes despised them as cowards. 
 Daily the Spaniards grew more overbearing. 
 
 But suddenly there came bad news. Velasquez, 
 governor of Cuba, had become the enemy of Cortes 
 and had sent a fleet against him. He was to lose his 
 command, if not his head. 
 
 Cortes never waited for danger to overtake him. 
 He always went to meet it. 
 
 Part of his force he left in the Aztec capital. Al- 
 vara'do was in command. With the rest of his men, 
 nearly three hundred in number, he marched down 
 
48 HERNANDO CORTES 
 
 to the coast. There, at night, he fell upon the new 
 expedition. He defeated and captured the leader. 
 
 Then he told these new arrivals of the great, rich 
 city on the lake. Greed and love of adventure filled 
 their hearts. They all enlisted under Cortes, and 
 there was no further thought of sending him back to 
 Cuba in chains. At the head of this large and eager 
 company he set out toward Mexico. 
 
 How fared it with Alvarado in the meantime ? He 
 had acted very foolishly. The Aztecs had a great 
 spring festival. On this day of gladness the Spaniards 
 had fallen upon them and had killed six hundred. But 
 the Aztecs were no cowards. They might not attack 
 without their king, but they were eager to resist. 
 
 They fought so well that the Spaniards were glad to 
 take shelter in their palace. There they were besieged. 
 Fortunately they had plenty of corn. Within the 
 palace courtyard there was a spring of fresh water. 
 Otherwise it might have gone hard with them. 
 
 When Cortes returned, he saw at once that some- 
 thing was wrong. The streets were deserted ; the 
 markets were closed. The few Indians whom he saw 
 scowled fiercely. 
 
 A few words from Alvarado told him all. Cortes 
 censured him for his lack of judgment. Then he, 
 too, made a fatal mistake. The Spaniards needed food. 
 For this the markets must open. Cortes sent Monte- 
 zuma's brother to carry this order to the Aztecs. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 
 
 49 
 
 Thus the deadlock was broken by his own act. The 
 Aztecs at once met m council. 
 They deposed Montezuma. ^)^ 
 They elected his brother king 
 in his stead. Then, with their new 
 leader, they proceeded to attack. 
 
 The housetops and the temples 
 were black with Indian braves 
 sending flights of arrows against .^ 
 the fortress palace of the Span- -^ ■ 
 iards. The Spaniards resisted 
 stoutly. 
 
 Finally Cortes 
 thought of a way to 
 stop the attack. 
 He ordered 
 Montezuma 
 
 n*^' 
 
 '■ Montezuma appeared on the roof." 
 
 to speak to his people from the walls. He was to forbid 
 them to fight further. 
 
 Montezuma appeared on the roof and attempted to 
 
 COE F. — 4 
 
50 HERNANDO CORTES 
 
 speak. But he was no longer the king. No respect 
 nor attention was paid to him. His words only called 
 out stones and arrows aimed in his direction. One 
 stone wounded him so severely that he died soon 
 afterwards. 
 
 Cortes dared remain no longer in the city. Stealthily 
 he withdrew by night. 
 
 The Spaniards had just passed the first break in the 
 causeway, when the Aztecs were upon them. You re- 
 member noticing what dangerous paths those cause- 
 ways would be in a case of a retreat. The Spaniards 
 were now to realize this bitterly. 
 
 Canoes brought the Aztecs close to them on each 
 side. The Spaniards had to run the gantlet of a foe 
 whose fury was the fiercer for having been so long re- 
 strained. Darkness of night, confusion in the narrow 
 path, shrieks of the dying, fears of being taken alive, 
 all made this night more fearful. It has always been 
 called by a Spanish phrase which means "the sad 
 night." 
 
 In the welcome dawn Cortes saw that but a frag- 
 ment of his forces was left to him. As he realized 
 his loss, he sank on a stone, bowed his proud head in 
 his hands, and wept bitterly. 
 
 Seven hundred and fifty Spaniards, four thousand 
 Tlascalans, sixty horses, and all his cannon, were gone. 
 He had now but five hundred Spaniards and twenty 
 horses. 
 
THE STORY OF CORTES 51 
 
 Do you think he was beaten ? Never. More firmly 
 than ever he determined to master Mexico. 
 
 Back to the coast he went. There he sent ships to 
 Haiti for reenforcements. His Tlascalan allies still 
 remained true. He spent six months in gaining other 
 tribes of Indians to his side. 
 
 By Christmas of 1520 Cortes was at the head of a 
 strong force. He marched towards the Aztec capital, 
 and in April, 152 1, the siege began. 
 
 In August the city fell, and Cortes entered Mexico 
 in triumph. His iron will had conquered. 
 
 Much of the city was in ruins. These parts were 
 rebuilt. The old heathen temples were swept away. 
 Christian churches were planted in their place. 
 
 There is very little more to our story. The restless 
 spirit of Cortes led him oh many more wilderness 
 marches. He found himself often in many perils, but 
 always his dauntless spirit saw him through. 
 
 He returned to Spain in 1540, and seven years later 
 died at Seville. 
 
A WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 You remember that Columbus had been disappointed 
 because he found no rich cities in the West. The ab- 
 sence of cities had puzzled all the early explorers. 
 
 But after Cortes had found Mexico, such doubts 
 were laid to rest. Plainly there was gold in hea;ps for 
 those who had the courage to seize it. 
 
 This belief was further strengthened by the finding 
 of another rich Indian kingdom thirteen years later. 
 This kingdom was in Peru, many hundreds of miles 
 south of Mexico. The Spaniard who led the expedi- 
 tion into Peru was Pizar'ro. He was a man of greater 
 brutality than Cortes. 
 
 Pizarro had, as second in command, Ferdinand de 
 Soto. De Soto was a man about thirty-five years of 
 age. He was of good family, but poor. De Soto had 
 a towering ambition. He longed to be rich and he 
 longed to be famous. 
 
 In Peru he saw strange dealings with the Indians. 
 He learned lessons here that he never forgot, as we 
 shall see. 
 
 Following the plan of Cortes, Pizarro had seized the 
 Indian king. This king was imprisoned in a room 
 twenty-two feet long and seventeen feet wide. One day 
 
 52 
 
A WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 53 
 
 he made a mark upon the wall as high as he could reach. 
 Then he offered to ransom himself by filling the room 
 up to the mark with gold. Pizarro accepted his terms. 
 
 " The Indian king made a mark upon the wall." 
 
 The gold came in slowly. Much of it was in the 
 form of vases for the temples. After some months the 
 amount required was completed. 
 
 All this gold and a great quantity of silver were 
 divided among Pizarro's band. Then, — ■ what do you 
 
54 FERDINAND DE SOTO 
 
 suppose they did? They strangled the Indian king 
 with a bowstring. 
 
 This was the sort of treatment that De Soto saw con- 
 stantly given to the Indians. No one seemed to think 
 they had any rights. 
 
 De Soto returned to Spain with plenty of money, and 
 King Charles smiled kindly upon him. 
 
 A Spanish explorer now appeared with news of Flor- 
 ida. This country, he said, was the richest in the world. 
 Mexico and Peru were not to be compared to it. 
 
 No one knew better than De Soto the great wealth 
 of Peru. So he asked Charles for permission to con- 
 quer Florida, and Charles granted his request. 
 
 The news of this expedition flew far and wide. Hun- 
 dreds of men were anxious to follow the lead of the dis- 
 tinguished De Soto. He selected six hundred men in 
 early life. It was said that the flower of Spain and 
 Portugal sailed with him. 
 
 Cannon roared and trumpets sounded as the dons in 
 their burnished armor sailed away from Spain. All 
 was gay as a wedding feast. 
 
 In May, 1539, De Soto himself, with nine vessels, 
 five hundred and seventy men, two hundred and 
 twenty-three horses, and a pack of bloodhounds, sailed 
 into Tampa Bay, Florida. 
 
 Let us consider what the party had in their favor. 
 In the first place their band was a large one. They 
 outnumxbered the parties of Cortes and of Pizarro. 
 
' Cannon roared and trumpets sounded." 
 
 SS 
 
56 FERDINAND DE SOTO 
 
 Then they were young, strong, and finely trained. 
 They were superbly equipped in arms. Their pro- 
 visions also were abundant. 
 
 Twelve priests went with the expedition. They 
 carried their vestments and sacred vessels. All the 
 church services were to be held as carefully as in a 
 town. This would help to steady the men and to 
 convert the Indians. 
 
 Another factor for success was the dauntless will of 
 De Soto. He was determined to rival Cortes and Pi- 
 zarro in glory and wealth. He believed that Florida 
 surpassed both Mexico and Peru in stores of gold and 
 silver. He would be the hero to find that hidden wealth. 
 
 De Soto had been trained under the cruel leader 
 Pizarro. As a leader himself, he was no less cruel. 
 
 His plan was to march into an Indian village and 
 demand food for his men and horses. Then he asked 
 for men and women as servants. The men were to 
 act as guides and to carry the camp luggage. The 
 women were to pound the corn and cook the food. 
 These Indian servants the Spaniards would chain in 
 gangs with iron rings about their wrists or necks. Even 
 when a chief had granted all the harsh demands of the 
 Spaniards, they would make him also a prisoner. Not 
 until they had reached another Indian village would 
 they set him free. 
 
 On the march the captives had a sorry time. If the 
 guides were suspected of leading the Spaniards wrong, 
 
A WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS 57 
 
 they were thrown to the bloodhounds. If any escaped, 
 these fierce hounds ran them down and killed them in 
 the swamps. Very few of these Indian slaves ever 
 found their homes again. 
 
 In general, the line of march was northward to 
 the Allegheny Mountains and then westward. But 
 the party were continually changing their direction. 
 Whenever an Indian story of a rich country came to 
 their ears, they went to seek it. Oftentimes Indians 
 told such lies to the Spaniards to hasten their departure 
 from their own village. 
 
 It would be wearisome to follow the march from tribe 
 to tribe. We may, however, learn of a few events in 
 their three years' journeyings. 
 
 At the close of the first year, they had good news. 
 At some distance, they were told, lived an Indian queen. 
 Her wealth was great. Quantities of gold were refined 
 and smelted in her kingdom each year. 
 
 At once De Soto headed his band towards her do- 
 main, but the news of their coming went faster than 
 they. 
 
 The poor queen trembled, but she acted bravely. 
 She came out to meet the enemy with the offer of friend- 
 ship. Her escorts brought shawls and skins as pres- 
 ents for the Spaniards. She herself stepped forward 
 and threw over De Soto's neck a beautiful double 
 chain of pearls. 
 
 That gallant gentleman questioned her closely. 
 
FERDINAND DE SOTO 
 
 De Soto and the Indian queen. 
 
 Soon he had learned all he wished. Straightway he 
 ordered her to be chained about the ankle and held as 
 a prisoner. Then he began to rob her people. He 
 found no gold or silver, and nothing of much value 
 except some pearls. 
 
 Fortunately for the queen, she escaped after a while. 
 She carried with her a large box of pearls that De 
 Soto had secured for himself. He was very angry, but 
 that did not help matters. The pearls were gone. 
 
A WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS 59 
 
 A few months later the Spaniards reached the In- 
 dian village of Mauvila. This stood near where the 
 city of Mobile is to-day. There were many Indians 
 gathered here. They well knew the cruelty of the 
 white men who came to their home. 
 
 The chief received them, sitting under an umbrella 
 of buckskin which was stained red and white. De 
 Soto asked for provisions and porters. The chief 
 granted his requests. He also gave De Soto gifts of 
 fur robes. 
 
 Mauvila was surrounded by a fence or palisade. De 
 Soto with a few companions was invited to enter the 
 town. The chief had seemed so friendly that they 
 came with no thought of fear. 
 
 Suddenly the chief shouted an insult and rushed 
 into a house. Another thief spoke roughly to a Span- 
 iard. A second Spaniard struck this chief with his 
 sword. 
 
 Showers of arrows fell upon the strangers from all 
 sides. Many were slain. Only De Soto and a few 
 others escaped. 
 
 When they had joined their friends outside the town, 
 De Soto swore vengeance. The Spaniards surrounded 
 the town. Then, after a nine hours' fight, they cap- 
 tured and burned it. 
 
 This was one of the bloodiest battles ever fought 
 between the white men and the red. De Soto's loss 
 was twenty men killed and one hundred wounded. 
 
6o FERDINAND DE SOTO 
 
 The Indian loss was far greater. About 2500, it was 
 said, were killed or burned. 
 
 Much of the Spaniards' baggage had been carried 
 into the town, and was lost in this fire. 
 
 The second winter was at hand. In the midst of a 
 driving snowstorm the Spaniards reached their winter 
 quarters, a village in what is now the State of Missis- 
 sippi. The Indians seemed friendly and gave up their 
 houses to the weary band. 
 
 When the party set forth on its third year's wan- 
 derings, De Soto's hopes were still high. His proud 
 will was as firm as ever. Again and again his men had 
 begged him to return, but all in vain. 
 
 This spring of 1541 was to bring him fame, though 
 he never knew it. His thoughts were only of gold, 
 and he judged his failure complete because he found 
 none. 
 
 The white men had wandered far to the westward. 
 Suddenly they came upon the shore of a mighty ri\'er. 
 Dark, strong, and wide, its waters swept past. It was 
 the time of spring floods. The strong current whirled 
 along giant trees like mere straws. 
 
 The Spaniards strained their eyes to see the misty 
 western shore. The river here was a mile and a half 
 broad. 
 
 The Indians called this river Mississippi, which means 
 Great Father of Waters. De Soto and his band were 
 the first white men to look upon it. It is because he 
 
A WANDERING IN THE WILDERNESS 
 
 6i 
 
 discovered the Mississippi River that we remember De 
 Soto's name to-day. 
 He did not think much about the river at the time ; 
 
 " Suddenly they came upon the shore of a mighty river." 
 
 all he wanted was to cross it. This delayed him nearly 
 a month, as boats had to be made. The Indian canoes 
 could carry men across, but not horses. Four large 
 boats were built. 
 
 The Spaniards crossed the Mississippi and m.arched 
 into Arkansas. But west of the river their luck was 
 
62 FERDINAND DE SOTO 
 
 still unchanged. Month after month passed in weary 
 marching, but no gold nor gems rewarded them. 
 
 Disappointment made the Spaniards even more 
 cruel, if that were possible. A very slight cause would 
 lead them to fire a village. Often Indians had their 
 hands cut off or were burned for slight faults. 
 
 Hope was leaving De Soto at last, and pride was 
 changing to despair. Fate was too strong. When the 
 fourth spring came, they retraced their steps to the 
 Mississippi River. At the mouth of the Red River 
 De Soto fell ill of a fever. He died May 21, 1542. 
 
 Alas for De Soto, with his vain dreams of the wealth 
 of Florida! He died poorer than when he had landed 
 at Tampa Bay, three years before. 
 
 De Soto's followers wished to keep his death a se- 
 cret from the Indians. That decided them not to 
 bury him, as the Indians could readily find a grave. 
 They wrapped his body in blankets loaded mth sand. 
 At midnight a boat stole from the shore out upon the 
 broad waters of the Mississippi. The body of De Soto 
 was sunk in midstream. 
 
 The party continued their wanderings another year. 
 Then they built ships and sailed to Mexico. 
 
 These four years of wandering gave the world very- 
 little new knowledge of America. De Soto made no 
 maps ; he left no records of the Indian tribes. Men 
 learned, however, that Florida was not rich in gold 
 and that far in the west rolled the mighty Mississippi. 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 
 
 Ferdestand Magel'lan, as an explorer, was second 
 only to Columbus. Many people think of him as greater 
 than Columbus, and call the expedition that he cap- 
 tained the greatest voyage in the history of the world. 
 
 Magellan's life was not a long one, as he lived but 
 forty-one years. Up to the age of twenty-five he was 
 an idler. But he lived at the court of his native coun- 
 try, Portugal, and so was close to men of action. 
 Magellan saw many expeditions return from the far 
 East, as well as from Africa. He saw Da Gama re- 
 turn in triumph from the first trip to India by way of 
 the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Slowly ambition awoke in Magellan. He would 
 cease to be an onlooker ; he too would do and dare for 
 king and country. 
 
 At the age of twenty-five, Magellan went with a 
 Portuguese expedition to the East. On the voyage he 
 learned all about the sailing of a ship. He became an 
 expert navigator. 
 
 Magellan served the king of Portugal seven years 
 in the far East. In the last year of his absence from 
 home, he sailed to the Spice Islands, southeast of Asia. 
 As their name shows, these islands bore rich crops of 
 
 63 
 
64 
 
 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, — spices which brought 
 a great price in Europe. Magellan thought much 
 about, these islands, as we shall see later. 
 
 In 151 2 he returned to Portugal. The next year war 
 broke out between the Portuguese and the Moors. 
 
 "The friends often talked over Magellan's wanderings." 
 
 Magellan went to Morocco and fought bravely for the 
 king. He was wounded in the leg and thereafter al- 
 ways limped. 
 
 Ferdinand Magellan had a friend who knew astron- 
 omy and astrology. The friends often talked over 
 Magellan's wanderings in the East. The idea came to 
 them of finding a passage south of South America, by 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 65 
 
 which they could sail westward to the Spice Islands. 
 The new lands they found they would claim for the 
 king of Portugal. 
 
 This plan Magellan put before the king, but the king 
 was not interested. He said that he did not care where 
 Magellan went ; moreover, he refused to let Magellan 
 kiss his hand at parting. 
 
 This was the last straw. Magellan and his friend 
 shook the dust of Portugal from their feet. Like 
 Columbus before them, they turned to Spain. 
 
 Spain was ruled over by King Charles, a young man 
 not more than eighteen years old at the time. But he 
 had keen advisers who counseled him to assist the two 
 strangers from Portugal. Charles promised Magellan 
 five ships, provisioned for two years, with 250 men as 
 a crew. Of course all the new lands discovered would 
 now belong to Spain, instead of to Portugal. 
 
 When the king of Portugal heard of Magellan's suc- 
 cess, he was wild with anger. Up to the time of the 
 sailing of the fleet he did his best to stop the under- 
 taking. Men came to Magellan with the offer of great 
 honors if he would return to Portugal ; others were 
 hired to kill Magellan in the streets at night. But the 
 seasoned soldier was always alert. His sword was ever 
 on his hip and his dagger in his hand. He said of 
 himself, "The lame goat never takes a siesta." 
 
 Meanwhile the preparations went steadily on. No 
 man in the world knew better than Magellan just what 
 
 COE F. — 5 
 
66 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 he needed. The ships were small and not new. They 
 were unfit to cross two great oceans, but Magellan tink- 
 ered them up with great skill. One writer, in speak- 
 ing of the boats, says: "They are old and battered, and 
 their ribs are soft as butter. Sorry would I be to sail 
 in them." But as he was a Portuguese, he may have 
 looked on the dark side. The cargo consisted of arti- 
 cles that would please the native islanders and lead them 
 to trade. They were quicksilver, alum, vermilion, 
 velvet, red caps, handkerchiefs, colored cloth, fish- 
 hooks, copper knives, combs, looking-glasses, and 
 20,000 small bells. These last were especially the de- 
 light of savages. 
 
 On September 20, 15 19, Magellan set sail on a 
 most wonderful voyage. His ship was the Trinidad. 
 Here floated his banner by day; and here by night 
 burned his lantern. The Trinidad led the way, and 
 the San Antonio, the Victoria, and the other two ships 
 followed. 
 
 Southward they steered and then southwesterly 
 across the Atlantic Ocean. There were hea\y gales, 
 and it was two months before the northeastern coast 
 of South America was sighted. By this time the cap- 
 tain general foresaw serious trouble with his officers, 
 due to his being a foreigner. The captains of three of 
 his ships were Spaniards, and they murmured constantly 
 against "this Portuguese." Although they had taken 
 a vow in church to be true to their leader, they had 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 
 
 67 
 
 been at sea scarcely a week when they were plotting 
 against him. 
 
 Magellan was wonderfully wise. He let them go 
 just so far and then, when they had put themselves in 
 
 " The natives were very willing to trade." 
 
 the wrong, he turned on them with swift and sharp 
 punishment. 
 
 The fleet made five stops on the eastern coast of 
 South America. The sailors were glad to obtain fresh 
 water, fruits, vegetables, and fowls. The natives 
 were very willing to trade. They gave a full basket 
 of potatoes for a bell, and five fowl for a pack of cards. 
 "Even then they thought they were cheating me," 
 writes one of the Spaniards. 
 
 Magellan went into winter quarters at Port St. 
 
68 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 Julian, in March, 1520. Here the party remained for 
 five months, during the southern winter, and here one 
 of the ships was wrecked. 
 
 The natives of this southern part of South America 
 interested the sailors greatly. They were tall and large. 
 Magellan named them "Patagones," a word which 
 means "clumsy-footed." This was because they 
 wrapped their large feet in guanaco skins, which al- 
 most doubled them in size. Their country is called 
 Patagonia to this day. 
 
 In October, 1520, just as the southern spring was 
 coming on, the ships entered the strait that links the 
 Atlantic with the Pacific Ocean. WTien the men real- 
 ized that this was indeed a broad arm of the sea and 
 not a river, a service of praise was held on deck. To 
 honor the occasion, Magellan wore a velvet jacket, a 
 cap with rich plumes, and a jeweled sword. It was one 
 of the great moments of his life. For this was a great 
 discovery, and his own ! 
 
 He called a consultation of his ofiicers to consider 
 whether they should go on or return. Their stock of 
 provisions was low by this time, and they still had a 
 very long voyage before them. Magellan pointed out 
 that, so far, the only discovery had been the strait. 
 They had spent the king's money with but little to 
 show for it. And he ended with these words: "Even 
 if we are reduced to eating the leather on our ships^ yards, 
 I shall still go on." He carried nearly all with him by 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 
 
 69 
 
 these brave words, and with hearty applause the men 
 voted to sail on. 
 
 There was one man, however, who was much dis- 
 satisfied. He was a skilled navigator on the San An- 
 
 " Magellan carried nearly all with him by 
 these brave words." 
 
 tonio, named Gomez. He was jealous of Magellan and 
 longed to return to Spain. Very soon his opportunity 
 came. The strait divided into several channels, and 
 the San Antonio and another ship were sent ofif to 
 explore one of these passages. The Sa7t Antonio slipped 
 
yo FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 away, returned through the strait, and recrossed the 
 Atlantic Ocean to Spain. There Gomez spread the 
 He that Magellan and all his other ships were lost. 
 
 Magellan spent some time searching for the San 
 Antonio and her crew. He feared the vessel might 
 have sunk, for he could not believe that the men had 
 deserted. 
 
 But days were passing and they could wait no longer. 
 They proudly entered the unknown ocean and headed 
 toward the northeast and its unknown lands. Some- 
 where there were the Spice Islands, their longed-for 
 goal. 
 
 Sea and sky seemed to smile upon the three little ships 
 breasting the unknown ocean. There were no storms 
 and no adverse gales for one hundred days. IMagellan 
 called the ocean the Pacific, and this name it has kept 
 to this day. 
 
 Nevertheless the voyage was not a fortunate one. 
 The food grew poor and scarce. Magellan must often 
 have recalled his pledge to eat the leather on the yard- 
 arms, for that is finally what they did. They cut down 
 the tough old hides, soaked them in water, boiled, and 
 ate them. They ate also sawdust and the rats on the 
 ships. The dreadful sickness called scurw broke out, 
 and many died. 
 
 Through all these trials the leader showed himself 
 of wonderful nobility. He ate the same food as the 
 men. He kept longer watches and never spared him- 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 71 
 
 self. He never complained, nor would he allow others 
 to do so. He steadied all and kept their purpose bright 
 before them. 
 
 At last land was sighted. How refreshing the wav- 
 ing palms and blossoming vines looked to the weary 
 sailors ! The natives brought fresh fruits and vege- 
 tables in exchange for bells and other trifles, and the 
 sick sailors at once began to mend. The natives here 
 stole one of Magellan's longboats, but he soon recovered 
 it. On account of this happening, he named the is- 
 lands the Ladrones, or Robber Islands. 
 
 When the ships reached the Philippines, a much 
 longer stop was made. A hospital was set up on shore, 
 into which were brought all who still continued ill. 
 A trading post was established and a brisk exchange 
 went on. 
 
 So far every step had been wisely taken, but now 
 Magellan attempted to settle a dispute between 
 two rival chiefs. Taking with him sixty men, he went 
 to a neighboring island. He formed his men on the 
 sandy shore. The natives came against them in thou- 
 sands. The Spaniards fought with crossbows and 
 muskets, but they did little harm, as the natives had 
 strong shields. 
 
 Magellan was wounded wdth a poisoned arrow. He 
 ordered a retreat, and the men, in dismay, rushed for 
 their boats. Only six or eight remained beside Ma- 
 gellan. For over an hour they fought, up to their 
 
72 
 
 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 knees in water. At last Magellan was wounded in the 
 
 arm and could not use his sword. 
 
 A sudden blow brought him to 
 
 the ground, and then, writes one 
 
 of his followers, "the Indians 
 
 threw themselves upon him with 
 
 iron-pointed bamboo spears — 
 
 and ran him through — our 
 
 "For over an hour they fought, up to their knees in water." 
 
 mirror, our light, our comforter, our true guide — until 
 they killed him." To the last he had protected the 
 retreat of his men. 
 
 The fate of Magellan is most pitiful, for it was so 
 
THE STORY OF MAGELLAN 73 
 
 needless. The Spice Islands were close by; he would 
 doubtless have returned in triumph to Spain, after the 
 longest voyage ever made up to that time. It was 
 poor judgment that led him, the hero of the Strait of 
 Magellan and of the Pacific Ocean, to throw away his 
 life in a petty skirmish with islanders whom he need 
 not have noticed. 
 
 More disasters followed. Two new captains were 
 chosen in place of Magellan. With part of the crew 
 they attended a native banquet. Scarcely were they 
 on shore when they were killed by treachery. Those 
 left on the ships sailed at once for safer ports. 
 
 One ship was burned, as it was leaking badly. The 
 two others, the Trinidad and the Victoria, reached the 
 Spice Islands in November, 1521, twenty-six months 
 after leaving Spain. 
 
 They laid in a cargo of cloves and other spices, sandal- 
 wood, and skins of birds of paradise. They worked 
 rapidly, as they really had no right to be trading in 
 these Portuguese islands. In six weeks' time they set 
 sail, but alas! the Trinidad now sprang a leak and the 
 Victoria was obliged to sail alone. 
 
 What an eventful voyage lay before that tiny vessel ! 
 She was only eighty-five tons, — ■ far smaller than the 
 American coasting vessels of to-day. Her crew num- 
 bered forty-seven. There were weeks and weeks of 
 tiresome sailing across the Indian Ocean ; there 
 were storms off the Cape of Good Hope that cost her a 
 
74 FERDINAND MAGELLAN 
 
 fore-topmast ; there was slow, slow progress north- 
 ward through the Atlantic Ocean, as the sailors often 
 had to stop for repairs ; there was famine ; there was 
 scurvy with all its horrors. 
 
 In July, 1522, they reached the Cape Verde Islands. 
 These were owned by the Portuguese. They dared 
 not say where they had been. Had they done so, 
 they and their cargo would at once have been seized. 
 They got two boatloads of rice by saying that they 
 had come from America. Then a whisper as to their 
 true history got abroad. Portuguese boats began to 
 gather, and they escaped only by a narrow chance. 
 
 On the eighth of September, 1522, the Victoria docked 
 at Seville and, amid peals of artillery, eighteen men 
 walked ashore. They were all that were left of the 
 two hundred and fifty who had sailed with Magellan 
 three years before. No wonder the Spaniards gazed 
 upon them with pride and wonder and pity. 
 
 But this was a proud day for Spain ! She had found 
 the hoped-for passage ; she first had sailed over the new- 
 found ocean ; unknown lands of great wealth had been 
 won for her ; all that Magellan had promised had been 
 done. Moreover, in the hold of the Victoria was a 
 cargo of spices worth enough to return to King Charles 
 all he had paid out for Magellan. The undertaking 
 had been a great success. If only Magellan could have 
 been there ! A few faithful hearts must have grieved, 
 in the midst of the general rejoicing. 
 
THE CABOTS, DISCOVERERS OF NORTH 
 AMERICA 
 
 So far ajl the explorers in this book have been work- 
 ing for Spain. Let us see now what the Enghsh, the 
 French, and the Dutch have been doing. 
 
 Have you ever known any one who kept a diary? 
 Perhaps the diary was just one of those pretty leather- 
 bound "Line a Day" books. But if it is kept faith- 
 fully, it may be of real service. When was it Aunt 
 Mary died? In what year did your grandfather sell 
 the farm ? Such questions, as time passes, are often 
 asked in families, and the diary can answer, provided 
 that it is kept carefully from year to year. 
 
 What we know of these early American explorers 
 varies greatly. Some kept records themselves, like 
 Columbus ; others had those near them who kept 
 journals of all events as they happened from day to 
 day. This last was Magellan's good fortune. Con- 
 sequently we know much of Columbus and Magellan, 
 but very little of explorers like the Cabots, who neither 
 wrote themselves nor were written about by their 
 acquaintances. 
 
 Thus it happens that the story of the Cabots must 
 be a brief one. 
 
 75 
 
76 THE CABOTS 
 
 There were two Cabots, — John and his son Sebas- 
 tian. They were ItaUans, but like Columbus and Ma- 
 gellan, their voyages were made to benefit a country 
 not their own. They sailed in the service of England. 
 
 At the close of the fifteenth century, the town of 
 Bristol on the west coast was one of the principal sea- 
 ports of England. Here lived and prospered enterpris- 
 ing merchants and sturdy English sailors. From this 
 port went out scores of fishermen to make their living 
 from the fisheries off Iceland. 
 
 Here, in 1490, came John Cabot to make his home. He 
 had lived for over fifteen years in Venice, where he was 
 known as a successful merchant and a skilled navigator. 
 
 To him and to his three sons, just entering manhood, 
 came the news of Columbus's success. To reach the 
 Spice Islands and other rich countries of the East you 
 had only to embark on this gray Atlantic Ocean and 
 sail west and ever west I It seemed a simple and yet 
 fascinating undertaking ! John Cabot had been to 
 Mecca ; he had seen spice-laden caravans moving 
 across the desert towards Europe. He too would like 
 to follow the example of Columbus. So he must often 
 have said to himself as he walked along the wharves of 
 staid old Bristol. 
 
 In 1496, John Cabot obtained a patent from King 
 Henry VII of England. This patent granted to him and 
 to his three sons the right "to sail to the east, west, 
 or north with five ships carrying the English flag." 
 
DISCOVERERS OF NORTH AMERICA 
 
 77 
 
 They were "to seek and discover all the islands, coun- 
 tries, or provinces of pagans in whatsoever part of the 
 world." In one direction they might not go, — -to the 
 
 John Cabot shows his patent. 
 
 south. The Spaniards had explored to the south and 
 made their claims there. The English must avoid 
 that quarter of the world. 
 
78 THE CABOTS 
 
 Fourteen months passed and then, in May, 1497, 
 John Cabot set sail from Bristol. His ship was the 
 Matthew, a tiny vessel of but sixty tons. She was 
 manned by eighteen sailors, and possibly the young 
 man, Sebastian, may have gone with his father. 
 
 After leaving Bristol, the Matthew skirted the coast 
 of Ireland and then turned to the west. On the twenty- 
 fourth of June, 1497, they sighted land, — probably the 
 shore of Labrador. This was supposed to be the 
 Chinese coast. 
 
 There was no reason for the voyagers' remaining. 
 So the end of July found them landing on one of the 
 old Bristol wharves with fellow-townsmen crowding 
 around for the news. What the crew seem to have 
 spoken of with most delight was not so much the land 
 they had found, as the immense shoals of fish they had 
 sailed through far west of Ireland. 
 
 Cabot was much praised. In a letter written at this 
 t'me we read, "Honors are heaped upon Cabot, he is 
 called Grand Admiral, he is dressed in silk, and the 
 English run after him like madmen." Henry VII re- 
 warded him with a gift of ten pounds and a pension. 
 
 In the next year, Cabot again set sail, this time with 
 five ships. His plan was to find again the land he had 
 discovered the previous year. Thence he would sail 
 south to rich Asiatic islands. We hear that one of 
 Cabot's little fleet was driven by storm into an Irish port. 
 But we hear nothing more of Cabot or of his voyage. 
 
DISCOVERERS OF NORTH AMERICA 79 
 
 Tradition says that John died on the voyage, that 
 Sebastian took command, and that many leagues of 
 American coast hne were explored. But these facts 
 are claimed, not proven. 
 
 Why do we remember the Cabots in history ? Their 
 deeds do not compare with those of Columbus, De Soto, 
 or Magellan. Twenty-five years after John Cabot's 
 first voyage, Magellan proved that these unknown 
 lands across the Atlantic were not Asia or islands of 
 Asia. They were a new world, a new continent. The 
 land could then be claimed by the nations of Europe. 
 Spain, Portugal, and France, all were eager for huge 
 slices of territory. But England said, "Wait ! I claim 
 North America." "By what right?" clamored the 
 other nations. "By the voyage of John Cabot in 1497, 
 when the English flag was planted on the bleak rocky 
 coast of North America." 
 
 Out of this claim grew the thirteen colonies, and, in 
 time, our great republic of the United States. Be- 
 cause of the Cabots we are speaking and reading Engl'^li 
 in the United States and also loving with all our hearts 
 the liberty that came to us because the United States 
 was EngKsh-born. 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 
 
 A YEAR after De Soto had begun his pilgrimage, a 
 child was born in the fine old English county of Devon- 
 shire. His name was Francis Drake. His father had 
 twelve sons, most of whom followed the sea. 
 
 This was not strange, considering where many of 
 them were born and brought up. The family were at 
 one time so poor that they were glad to make their 
 home in an old ship. The ship was moored in the 
 harbor of Plymouth. 
 
 From its deck the children could study the sea every 
 day. Winds and waters were their primers. They 
 knew the hours of ebb and flood. They knew currents, 
 and the changing skies with their storms and calms. 
 
 Plymouth was an important English sea town. Like 
 Columbus before him, the boy Francis Drake hung 
 about seamen to listen to their stories of adventures. 
 The Italians had told Columbus of fighting the Moors. 
 But these bronzed old sailors in Plymouth spoke of fights 
 with Spain. 
 
 You must know that Spain and England were en- 
 emies in these days. England would hav^e fought Spain 
 had she dared. But in the middle of the sixteenth 
 century England was small and weak. 
 
 80 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 
 
 Spain, on the contrary, was very powerful. She 
 
 held much of Europe in her grasp. Then Columbus 
 
 had added a new 
 world to her king- 
 dom. Rivers of 
 gold and silver 
 flooded her coffers 
 year by year. 
 
 Spain was very 
 jealous of her new 
 possessions. She 
 ordered other na- 
 tions to keep their 
 hands off. She 
 barred them out of 
 the West Indies as 
 much as possible. 
 Never a flag but 
 the Spanish was 
 seen on the Ameri- 
 can side of the 
 Pacific Ocean. To 
 hold America and 
 the Philippines 
 
 more surely for herself, she kept all true maps secret. 
 
 She also spread much false information. 
 
 There were many Englishmen who longed to trade 
 
 with the Indies, They knew fortunes could be won 
 
 " The children could study the sea every day 
 
82 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 there, and they wished to share the spoil. At least there 
 was plenty of gold on the homeward-bound Spanish 
 ships. What harm in seizing this wealth from the 
 other side of the world ? 
 
 Thus a very strange state of affairs came about. 
 Spain and England were at peace, but their ships 
 fought each other everywhere. They fought in the 
 New World, on the high seas, and in the English 
 Channel. 
 
 Elizabeth, the queen of England, knew this was so. 
 She was secretly pleased to have her enemy weakened 
 by the attacks of privateers acting without her author- 
 ity. If Spain complained, she could express her dis- 
 pleasure with the "pirates." It was no shame to be 
 such a sea robber in those days. Excellent gentlemen 
 were privateers. 
 
 The English Channel was a fine place in which to 
 lie in wait for Spaniards. Both Dutch and English 
 privateers would pounce on their prey and then run into 
 Plymouth or other English ports for safety. Stories 
 of bloody fights and hairbreadth escapes were over- 
 heard again and again by the lad Francis Drake. He 
 was a boy of courage ; it was no wonder that he too 
 longed to lead such a life. 
 
 And now came the first modest step towards his 
 sea career. His father apprenticed him to the master 
 of a dingy little coaster. This vessel ran to and fro 
 between Holland, France, and England. Drake led a 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 83 
 
 hard life, but he was loyal to his mean duties. He won 
 his master's heart. 
 
 Through his faithfulness came the first step up. 
 The master died and left the little bark to Drake. 
 
 The vessel was sold and the money wisely expended. 
 At nineteen Francis Drake started on his first long 
 voyage. He was captain on the ship J^idith, one ot 
 a fleet of five vessels that Captain John Hawkins was 
 to take to the Indies. 
 
 Like his father before him, John Hawkins was a 
 slave trader. He carried negroes from Africa to be 
 sold in Haiti. But in those days slave trading, like 
 privateering, was a respectable calling. 
 
 In the New World, Hawkins loaded his ships with 
 gold, silver, pearls, hides, and sugar, and returned home. 
 Occasionally he captured a Spanish ship and all her 
 treasure. This was a good stroke for England; it 
 was all in the day's work. 
 
 When Drake sailed with Hawkins, the voyage began 
 well. The Englishmen captured five hundred negroes 
 and ran across the Atlantic Ocean. But the Spaniards 
 had been ordered not to deal with them. The English 
 actually had to storm one town before the people 
 would trade with them. 
 
 Though the Spanish governors frowned, the Spanish 
 traders were eager to buy negro help. So the trading 
 went merrily on for a while. 
 
 In crossing the Gulf of Mexico the fleet was struck 
 
84 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 by two severe tempests. For safety Hawkins put into 
 the harbor of Vera Cruz. He said he was an ally of 
 Spain, and claimed Spanish protection. 
 
 The chief men in Vera Cruz did not know what to 
 do. They sent to Mexico for instructions. 
 
 There were, at this time, twelve Spanish ships in 
 the harbor heavily freighted with silver. Five million 
 dollars was almost in the grasp of Hawkins, but he 
 refrained from taking it. He felt he ought to respect 
 hospitality. This was a bitter memory in the light of 
 what followed. 
 
 Suddenly thirteen Spanish ships appeared at the 
 harbor mouth. Hawkins might have prevented their 
 entering. But he did not. Spaniards and English- 
 men promised each other solemnly to keep peace 
 within the harbor. 
 
 All went well for three days. On the fourth day, 
 without a word of warning, the Spaniards attacked the 
 English by sea and land. A fierce naval battle was 
 fought. Only two English ships escaped from that 
 ill-fated harbor. The other three were captured or 
 sunk. 
 
 About seventy English prisoners suffered terrible tor- 
 tures and cruel deaths. To fall into Spanish hands in 
 those harsh days of old was the worst fate a fond Eng- 
 lish mother could fear for her son. 
 
 The Minion and the Judith got away. Hawkins 
 and Drake were safe. Drake, however, never forgot 
 
 i 
 
THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 
 
 85 
 
 this black treachery at Vera Cruz. From this time 
 on he Hved for revenge. Spain had won for herself 
 a sleepless foe. 
 
 Francis Drake decided to trade no more. He would 
 be a privateer. 
 Every ship on 
 which the Spanish 
 flag floated was his 
 lawful prey. 
 
 Heaven seemed 
 to smile upon him. 
 He made three 
 voyages to the West 
 Indies. He took 
 much treasure and 
 grew very rich. 
 
 He had a wonder- 
 ful experience on 
 his third voyage. 
 His ship was near 
 the Isthmus of 
 Panama. He had 
 made friends with 
 the natives. 
 Guided by them, 
 he went part of 
 
 the way across the isthmus and, from a tree top, beheld 
 the wide waters of the Pacific Ocean. This majestic 
 
 Drake sees the Pacific. 
 
86 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 sight filled him with awe. He prayed that he might 
 some day sail this unknown sea. 
 
 Drake was not the first white man to view the Pa- 
 cific from the Isthmus of Panama. Sixty years before, 
 Balboa had discovered the ocean at this point. He 
 had called it the South Sea, and had taken possession 
 of it for Spain. And up to this time the Spaniards 
 had been the only Europeans to sail upon it. 
 
 In the fall of 1577 Drake gathered a fleet of five ves- 
 sels. They were the Pelican, Elizabeth, Swan, Mari- 
 gold, and Christopher. The largest ship, the Pelican, 
 weighed only one hundred tons. It was no larger than 
 a good-sized racing yacht of to-day. 
 
 Drake's flagship, the Pelican, was richly furnished, 
 for Drake was now a man of wealth. He dined from 
 silver dishes, and musicians of talent played and sang 
 during meal times. "Was not this a contrast to the 
 days on board the dreary little coaster ? 
 
 In December they set sail from Plymouth. It was 
 noised abroad in England that Drake was making a 
 voyage to Egypt. This was to deceive the Spanish 
 ambassador. Had he known that their true destina- 
 tion was the South Sea, warning would have been sent 
 posthaste to all Spanish cities and ships in the New 
 World. 
 
 The fleet sailed southward along the African coast, 
 stopping at the Cape Verde Islands to refit. Occasion- 
 ally they took a prize ship, either Spanish or Portu- 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 87 
 
 guese. The gold found on the captured ships was 
 kept, but the men were set free. 
 
 On one ship they found a man well acquainted with 
 the Brazilian coast. He eagerly agreed to go with 
 them when he learned their destination. 
 
 Francis Drake's was a daring scheme. He meant 
 to go through the passage that Magellan had dis- 
 covered some sixty years before. This passage around 
 South America had been almost forgotten. But it 
 led into the Pacific. Drake had never forgotten that 
 prospect from Panama and his fervent prayer on the 
 hilltop. 
 
 The whole company now knew their destination. 
 But the forces of nature opposed them. Storms and 
 gales beat them backward, until many of the sailors 
 felt that the powers of darkness were against them. 
 Drake, however, had no such superstition. At his 
 command the little fleet pressed stubbornly on. 
 
 At the entrance to the Strait of Magellan the name 
 of the Pelican was changed to the Golden Hind. 
 
 Sixteen days were spent in beating through the strait. 
 Head winds were constant. On entering the Pacific 
 a fearful storm drove the Golden Hind far southward. 
 
 "It is an ill wind that blows nobody any good." 
 The good that came to the Englishmen, so far from their 
 proper course, was this : Spain had said that the south- 
 ern shore of the Strait of Magellan was the coast of 
 an extensive continent. Drake proved the contrary. 
 
88 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 There was no land mass here ; merely the lonely, world- 
 end waters of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. " With- 
 out a mark, without a bound," their waters rolled away 
 toward the southern pole. 
 
 One of Spain's monstrous lies was exposed. It was 
 an easy task, not a difficult, to pass from one ocean to 
 the other. 
 
 But Drake's heart was heavy with fear for his lost 
 comrades. The Golden Hind pressed northward search- 
 ing everywhere for the scattered fleet. Alas ! the 
 Marigold had foundered with all on board ! The other 
 vessels either were lost or had deserted. 
 
 Drake's second officer, the captain of the Elizabeth, 
 had lingered for a while in the straits. He had built 
 bonfires in conspicuous places, but with no result. It 
 had been agreed that the fleet, if scattered, should meet 
 at Valparaiso. This captain should have carried out 
 the agreement. He believed, however, that the sea 
 had swallowed up Francis Drake and the Golden Hind. 
 A few days more passed ; then he hastened to tell the 
 bad news to England. 
 
 Drake's courage did not fail. AU alone he sailed 
 northward over these uncharted seas. Finally, he 
 reached Valparaiso. An enormous treasure ship called 
 the Great Captain of the South was in the harbor. 
 
 Now you must remember that no English ship had 
 ever been seen in the Pacific. The Great Captain, 
 taking the Golden Hind for a Spanish ship, welcomed it 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 89 
 
 with drumbeats. Furthermore, an invitation was sent to 
 the Englishmen to come on board and pass a merry night. 
 
 They accepted, but it was a surprise party for the 
 Spaniards when grim old Tom Moore climbed over 
 the side of their ship, shouting in his broken Spanish, 
 "Down, dog, down !" A lusty band of English sailors 
 were at his heels. They clapped the crew under hatches 
 and then eagerly pillaged the ship. Her cargo con- 
 sisted of fine wines and gold. They also found a splen- 
 did "gold crucifix beset with emeralds." 
 
 Till now Spain had had everything her own way in 
 these seas. Ships were richly freighted at ports on the 
 west coast of South America. They then sailed for 
 Panama. There the goods were unloaded and carried 
 by negroes across to the Atlantic coast. There they 
 were reshipped to Spain. From Panama to Spain the 
 sailors had to keep a sharp watch for pirates and Eng- 
 lish privateers. 
 
 But now a hated English privateer was in the Pacific 
 Ocean, where never freebooters had been seen before. 
 The Golden Hind had everything her own way. She 
 frolicked along the coast, pillaging ships and cities. 
 Richer and heavier grew her cargo. Amazement met 
 her ; she left blank dismay behind. 
 
 On the coast of Peru, Drake slipped into a harbor 
 at dead of night. He was aided by a pilot whom he 
 had taken prisoner. There the English ransacked all 
 the vessels, but found no gold. But they heard that 
 
90 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 a vast quantity had been recently shipped to Panama 
 in a ship called Spitfire. 
 
 Here was a prize worth chasing. Off they started, 
 but a calm fell. It lasted three days. During that time 
 four ships put out from the harbor to attack Drake. 
 But they feared the bold English rover. While they 
 hesitated what to do, a breeze arose. The Golden 
 Hind showed them "a clean pair of heels," and their 
 chance to strike was gone. They went home to mold 
 bullets to be ready for Drake's return. 
 
 The Spitfire was fourteen days ahead, but the 
 Golden Hind was as swift as her name. She pressed 
 on, skimming over the miles. The Spitfire was but 
 two days ahead. 
 
 "A golden chain to the man who first sights the 
 chase!" cried Drake. It fell to his nephew, young 
 John Drake, who first saw the sail. 
 
 In the darkness of night they stole alongside the 
 Spitfire. A single shot was fired, and the ship was 
 theirs. Oh, the rich booty ! It would have bought a 
 petty kingdom. Stuffed with gems and gold, bal- 
 lasted with silver, the Golden Hind could carry no more. 
 She must up sail for home. 
 
 Some days later the poor Spitfire crept into Panama 
 with her strange news. Thence word at length reached 
 England, through the Spanish envoy, that Drake was 
 not dead, as the sailors of the Elizabeth had said. Nay, 
 rather, he was very much alive; the west coast of 
 
THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD' 
 
 91 
 
 America was at his mercy. You can imagine how 
 glad and proud the EngHsh were. Still they often 
 wondered whether he would ever see home again. 
 
 Bringing booty to the Golden Hind. 
 
 And that was indeed a serious question with Drake. 
 The whole west coast of South America was in arms, 
 preparing cannon and bullets to give him a hot welcome 
 on his return. 
 
92 
 
 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 W 
 
 Drake decided not to return. He would continue 
 northward. Perhaps he might find a northeast pas- 
 sage to Europe. The weather 
 grew very cold. Ice formed ''"" '-" ' "^./-^ ''V^J 
 on the rigging and the men 
 actually suffered. No east- 
 ward channel appeared. 
 
 Then Drake turned the 
 prow of the Golden Hind 
 southward. He had a new 
 and bold idea. But before 
 
 ^ The Indians offered to make him their king." 
 
 it could be carried out, the Golden Hind must be re- I 
 fitted. 
 
 Some twenty miles north of the Bay of San Francisco 
 
"THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD" 93 
 
 a harbor was found. There they encamped and began 
 the repairing of their stanch httle vessel. 
 
 There were plenty of Indians in the neighborhood. 
 At first they were very timid and kept their distance. 
 Later they grew bolder and came in great and stately 
 processions to pay court to the strangers. 
 
 I am glad to say that Drake treated the natives 
 kindly. The Indians grew so fond of the Englishman 
 that they finally offered to make him their king. They 
 brought him a rude crown and many bone necklaces. 
 
 Drake thought he ought not to refuse the gift of this 
 country for the queen's sake. He therefore accepted 
 it in her name. He set up a stout pillar with a state- 
 ment of the gift engraved upon it in brass. He also 
 left with the Indians portraits of their new queen in 
 the shape of sixpences. 
 
 And now the Hind was ready for her new venture. 
 The masts were strengthened, the cordage mended, the 
 water casks filled. Drake turned her prow westward. 
 Gathered on the headland, the Indians burned bonfires 
 as a farewell to their white friends. 
 
 Where is the Golden Hind going ? Around the world 
 and home. 
 
 One of the treasures found on a captured ship had 
 been a map of the seas and shoals of the East Indies. 
 No such precious bit of parchment had ever been in 
 the hands of an English captain before. This would 
 be of infinite value in Drake's bold venture. 
 
94 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE 
 
 He dared not follow the usual ocean paths, for he 
 carried too rich a treasure. Once the Golden Hhid ran 
 upon a reef, where she stuck fast. It seemed that she 
 had reached her last resting place. But Drake did 
 not despair. This treasure must reach England. He 
 ordered guns, spices, anything of slight value to be 
 thrown overboard. In this way the vessel was light- 
 ened, and suddenly she floated off as unexpectedly as 
 she had floated on. 
 
 Time fails us to tell of the rounding of the Cape of 
 Good Hope and other adventures. 
 
 One day in the fall of 1580, a worm-eaten little craft 
 came laboring into Plymouth harbor. Her keel was 
 covered with weeds and barnacles, but her decks were 
 in brave array. Her masts were gilded and her men 
 were dressed in silks with jeweled ornaments. 
 
 The news of the return spread like wildfire. Crowds 
 flocked to see the famous vessel that had plowed a 
 "furrow about the world." A train of pack horses 
 bore her choicest treasure to London. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth showed great honor to Drake. She 
 attended a banquet on the Golden Hind, and at its 
 close she knighted the daring sea captain. She also 
 ordered that his ship be carefully preserved. When 
 at last the Golden Hind began to fall apart, a chair 
 was made of its timbers, which now may be seen at 
 Oxford. 
 
 This voyage of 15 77-1 580 was the crowning glory 
 
" Elizabeth knighted the daring sea captain. 
 95 
 
96 
 
 SIR FR.\NCIS DRAKE 
 
 of Sir Francis Drake's life. What remains may be 
 very briefly told. 
 
 During the next four years he was mayor of Plym- 
 outh. Then Queen Elizabeth decided on war with 
 Spain. She sent 
 her trusty captain 
 with a strong fleet 
 and land force to 
 the West Indies. 
 There Drake pil- 
 laged the Spaniards 
 as relentlessly as 
 Cortes and Pizarro 
 had pillaged the 
 Indians in the early 
 part of the cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Spain began to 
 gather a great fleet 
 with which to in- 
 vade England. It 
 was called the In- 
 vincible Armada. 
 The Armada was in the harbor of Cadiz, a Spanish 
 seaport. 
 
 Drake entered the harbor, destroyed much shipping, 
 took a good deal of booty, and then withdrew. It was 
 a most daring deed, and the Spaniards were completely 
 
 Drake in the fight with the Armada. 
 
" THE FURROW ABOUT THE WORLD " 97 
 
 taken by surprise. How the English laughed when 
 they were told the story of Drake's "singeing the king's 
 beard!" 
 
 The Armada came the next year. She had floating 
 castles of ships and four times as many men as England. 
 But might did not conquer, or, if it did, it was the might 
 of the strong heart and not of the bigger fleet. 
 
 Lord High-Admiral Howard, Drake, Hawkins, Ra- 
 leigh, Frobisher, and other brave captains went out 
 against her. England won, and from the time of the 
 defeat of the Armada, Spain lost power steadily. 
 
 Seven years later, Drake asked Elizabeth to let him 
 lead one more expedition against Spain. His plan was 
 to capture Panama and to seize the treasure that 
 came across the isthmus to be shipped to Spain. Sir 
 John Hawkins was to accompany him. 
 
 The expedition was a complete failure. The Span- 
 iards had been forewarned everywhere, and resisted 
 successfully. Hawkins died, overcome by his misfor- 
 tunes. Drake's proud spirit could not bear this, his 
 first and only reverse. He feU ill of a fever and died 
 on board his ship. His body was placed in a leaden 
 casket and sunk in the sea. 
 
SIR WALTER RALEIGH, PIONEER 
 
 The English have a proud saying that the sun never 
 sets upon the Enghsh flag. This means that the lands 
 they own encircle the earth. Because England con- 
 trols Canada, India, Australia, and South i\frica, she 
 calls her government an empire. 
 
 Who first thought of empire? Who took the first 
 step in this direction ? It was Walter Raleigh, a sol- 
 dier and courtier of the time of Queen Elizabeth, 
 and his half-brother, Humphrey Gilbert. Raleigh 
 said to himself : "It is well and good for Drake to sail 
 around the world in the Golden Hind. We are proud 
 to have the English flag carried into the Pacific Ocean. 
 It is well and good for us to visit these new lands, to 
 explore them in our search for gold, and to trade with 
 the Indians. But England should do more. She 
 should settle the land with sturdy Englishmen and their 
 famihes, that so her power may grow in America." 
 
 This was a very far-sighted thought for those days. 
 It was an idea that few had at the time. But 
 Raleigh did not merely think ; he acted. Again and 
 again he sent out colonists and supplies, until he had 
 spent what to-day would equal one million dollars. 
 
 Before thinking about the success of these ventures. 
 
ENGLISH PIONEER 
 
 99 
 
 let us learn a little more of the man who sent them 
 forth. 
 
 Walter Raleigh, like Drake, was a Devonshire boy. 
 He too knew and loved the sea from his birth. He too 
 
 " Raleigh liked to talk with old sea captains." 
 
 delighted to talk with old sea captains of their adven- 
 tures by sea and by land. The tales he loved best 
 were those of explorations in rich and beautiful America, 
 and of fights with Spain, the enemy of England. 
 
 Walter Raleigh's best friends were his half-brothers, 
 Humphrey and Adrian Gilbert. They were a num- 
 ber of years older than himself, but he delighted to be 
 
lOO SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 with them. Both Humphrey and Adrian Gilbert had 
 high aims in Ufe, and the young boy caught their spirit. 
 He too would make himself of value to England and 
 to Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 When he was about sixteen years old, Raleigh entered 
 college at Oxford. He spent but one year there. Then 
 he went to France to serve as a soldier. For twelve 
 years he trained himself in arms, fighting in France, 
 in Holland, and in Ireland. In France he also gained 
 a poHsh of manner and a charm of bearing that after- 
 ward made him one of the ornaments of Elizabeth's 
 court. 
 
 At the age of thirty Raleigh came to London, to 
 present himself at court. Queen Elizabeth, magnifi- 
 cently dressed, was walking in her park. Some 
 courtiers were attending her and others were standing 
 near. It was after a rainfall, and in her progress the 
 queen came upon a muddy place in the path. She 
 hesitated to advance. Immediately a young man 
 hastened forward and threw his rich velvet cloak before 
 her so that she might pass dry-shod. The deed was 
 gallantly done and pleased the queen, who loved 
 romance. 
 
 The young man, she saw, was handsome and grace- 
 ful. She called him to her and chatted with him awhile. 
 Raleigh showed that he had keen wit and high intclH- 
 gence. Elizabeth was charmed. She had heard of 
 Raleigh, and now she decided that he should remain at 
 
' Raleigh threw his rich velvet cloak before her." 
 
I02 SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 court, among the able and brilliant men whom she 
 delighted to gather around her. 
 
 The young man's fortune was now assured. The 
 queen gave him estates, revenues, and many honors. 
 Always his petitions for others were granted in those 
 days. Raleigh was glad to find that he could help his 
 beloved brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert. Gilbert 
 wished to make a settlement in America. He had 
 ventured once before, but the effort had failed. Now, 
 in 1583, he was glad to try again. 
 
 With five ships Sir Humphrey Gilbert set sail from 
 Plymouth. One of these ships Raleigh had paid for. 
 Their party landed in Newfoundland, and there Gil- 
 bert tried to make a settlement. But the men were 
 not pleased with the place, and insisted on going 
 home. 
 
 On their return voyage a fierce storm arose when they 
 were off the Maine coast. Gilbert was in a small vessel, 
 the Squirrel. His men had urged him to sail in the 
 larger ship, the Golden Hind, but he had refused. He 
 would not desert the little company with whom he had 
 shared so many perils, he said. The captain of the 
 Golden Hind tells the story of what followed in these 
 words : 
 
 " Sitting abaft with a book in his hands, amid the 
 fury of the storm. Sir Humphrey Gilbert called out re- 
 peatedly to the sailors of the Golden Hind : ' We are as 
 near to heaven by sea as by land.' The same Monday 
 
ENGLISH PIONEER 103 
 
 night, about twelve of the clock, suddenly the lights of 
 the Squirrel disappeared, and withal our watch cried 
 out our general was cast away, which was too true ; for 
 in that moment the frigate was devoured and swallowed 
 up in the sea." So perished Sir Humphrey Gilbert, 
 one of the many gallant captains of Queen Elizabeth's 
 time. 
 
 But Raleigh's purpose was unchanged by his brother's 
 death. Elizabeth made him a large grant of land in 
 America. Raleigh promptly sent out two ships to ex- 
 plore. They entered various inlets and sounds on the 
 coast of what is now North Carolina, and finally 
 discovered Roanoke Island. 
 
 On their return to England they told of the balmy 
 climate, the beautiful harbors and rivers, the abundant 
 game and fish, the luscious fruits, the noble forests. 
 What could man want more ? All who listened were 
 charmed, and especially Elizabeth. She herself gave 
 to this region the name of Virginia. This name was 
 chosen "that men might know that the country was 
 explored in the time of the virgin queen." As further 
 proof of her satisfaction, Elizabeth knighted Raleigh. 
 Henceforth he was known as Sir Walter Raleigh. 
 
 In the spring of the next year, 1585, seven vessels 
 owned by Raleigh sailed from Plymouth. They carried 
 one hundred and eighty colonists to Virginia. Sir 
 Richard Grenville, a very lion for bravery, commanded 
 the little fleet. 
 
I04 SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 Storms met them on the American coast. They were 
 nearly wrecked off a point that they named Cape Fear. 
 But at last Grenville landed them all safe and sound 
 upon Roanoke Island. Then, promising to return with 
 supplies by the next Easter, he sailed away. 
 
 Few American colonies behaved so foolishly as this 
 one from which Raleigh hoped so much. The men 
 should have tilled the ground and sowed seed that 
 would have yielded a good harvest in the fall. But they 
 spent their time in looking for gold mines, that they 
 might grow rich without hard work. They also quar- 
 reled with the Indians. 
 
 Food was scanty and the people were much dis- 
 couraged. Suddenly sails appeared on the horizon. 
 They proved to be, not Grenville's vessels, but Drake's. 
 He was returning from a cruise in the Spanish Main 
 (Caribbean Sea), and had stopped to see how the Eng- 
 lish colony was progressing. 
 
 The colonists begged to be taken home, and finally 
 Drake yielded to their prayers. Thus the colony was 
 abandoned, to Raleigh's bitter disappointment. 
 
 Supply ships from Raleigh came soon after the colo- 
 nists had gone, so that they had not been forgotten, as 
 they thought. Grenville also appeared at Roanoke and 
 was distressed to find no one there. "But the colony 
 must not be given up so lightly," he thought. "We 
 must hold this land for England." So he left fifteen 
 men at Roanoke Island, with supplies for two years. 
 
ENGLISH PIONEER 105 
 
 The next year, 1587, Raleigh sent out another colony 
 of farmers and mechanics. Their governor was John 
 White, and they were to settle farther north, on the 
 shores of Chesapeake Bay. But first they were to 
 stop at Roanoke to take off the fifteen men whom Gren- 
 ville had left. 
 
 There was some misunderstanding. The captains 
 landed the colonists at Roanoke Island and then sailed 
 away and left them. It was found that Grenville's 
 fifteen men had been killed by the Indians. And now 
 here they were, in this unlucky place, instead of be- 
 ginning happily a new venture on Chesapeake Bay. 
 
 One ship had been left them, and in that Governor 
 White went home for supplies. He left behind at 
 Roanoke his daughter, and her husband, and their 
 child, his baby granddaughter. This little girl was 
 named Virginia Dare. She was the first English child 
 born in America, and her parents chose to name her for 
 the country. 
 
 It was three years before White returned. This was 
 not his fault, but was due to the war with Spain. In 
 1 591 he landed at Roanoke and looked around for his 
 family and friends. They were not to be found. The 
 spot was deserted ; grass was growing in the block- 
 house ; five broken chests stood near a clump of cedars ; 
 tattered leaves from books fluttered here and there. 
 The place was most forlorn. 
 
 There was but one clew to the fate of the colonists. 
 
io6 
 
 SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 On the trunk of a tree was carved the word Croatan. 
 
 Now there is an island of that name not far from Roa- 
 noke. The captain 
 agreed to take White 
 there, but a severe storm 
 arose and the captain 
 dared not linger near the 
 coast. He sailed away 
 to England, and the 
 poor old grandfather 
 never knew what be- 
 came of little Virginia 
 Dare. Some say that 
 
 ■ On the trunk of a tree was carved the word Croatan." 
 
ENGLISH PIONEER 107 
 
 the colonists went to live with the Indians, but no one 
 will ever know. 
 
 All these failures did not alter Raleigh's purpose. 
 He was still determined to make a settlement. Year 
 after year he sent forth his vessels, until nine ex- 
 peditions had been sent. But all were failures. 
 Raleigh was most patient and most generous, for all 
 these ventures he paid for himself. But now he had 
 spent all he had, and could do very little more; 
 £40,000, then worth as much as a million of our dollars 
 to-day, had gone for America, and what had been the 
 returns ? 
 
 Much of the coast of Virginia had been explored, 
 and two American plants had been made known to 
 the English. These were the potato and the tobacco 
 plants. The first potatoes raised by Englishmen were 
 grown on Raleigh's estate in Ireland. Think what a 
 useful vegetable the potato is to-day ! As for tobacco, 
 the Indians showed Raleigh how to smoke. He had 
 a silver pipe made like their clay ones, and then he 
 taught the court the use of the weed. Elizabeth was 
 much interested. Tradition says that she even smoked 
 a pipe of tobacco herself from curiosity. 
 
 Once Raleigh was reading and smoking his long silver 
 pipe. A new servant entered the room with a mug of 
 ale. The man had never before in his life seen any 
 one smoke. He thought Raleigh was on fire, and, to 
 save his life, threw the ale all over him. 
 
io8 
 
 SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 There was one thing Raleigh might have done for 
 his settlements that he did not do. He might have 
 come himself. He was a great worker ; he could "toil 
 
 terribly"; it may 
 be that he alone 
 could have plucked 
 success out of fail- 
 ure. But Raleigh 
 did not come, be- 
 cause he was too 
 many-sided. He 
 was trying to be 
 too many kinds 
 of men, all at 
 once. He was the 
 soldier, the sea 
 captain, the colo- 
 nizer, the courtier, 
 and the poet. 
 But Raleigh the 
 soldier and the 
 
 " Raleigh fought most gallantly." 
 
 courtier helped Raleigh the colonizer too. 
 
 The fate of the Roanoke colony proved that no Eng- 
 lish settlement could succeed in America until England 
 had conquered Spain . Ships of supplies were sent out by 
 Raleigh, only to be captured by Spain. When the Span- 
 ish Armada came, Raleigh fought most gallantly. Every 
 blow was struck for America as well as for England. 
 
ENGLISH PIONEER 109 
 
 The last years of Raleigh's life were sad ones. When 
 Elizabeth died, his star set. King James distrusted 
 him, and sent him to the Tower. There he was tried 
 for treason, and condemned to death. But James 
 dared not kill Raleigh, who was popular with the peo- 
 ple. So Raleigh lived on a prisoner in the Tower. 
 
 Twelve years passed. They were hard years for a 
 man who had led such a free, active life. But Raleigh 
 only grew in nobility and dignity of mind. To occupy 
 himself he wrote a history of the world. 
 
 At last King James released Raleigh, but he did not 
 pardon him. The reason for his release was that the 
 king was poor and needed money. Before Elizabeth 
 died Raleigh had visited a part of South America called 
 Guiana. Here he had found gold. 
 
 King James set Raleigh free so that he might lead a 
 party to Guiana to bring back gold for himself and his 
 king. Raleigh knew that his liberty and his life de- 
 pended upon his success. He knew that he went with 
 a halter round his neck. However, it would be life in 
 the open once more, and he was willing to take the risk. 
 
 Now Guiana was claimed by Spain, so that Raleigh 
 was to walk into the jaws of his old enemy. The suc- 
 cess of the undertaking depended upon its being kept 
 a profound secret. James asked Raleigh to point out 
 his route to him. Raleigh asked of the king, in return, 
 his royal word not to reveal it, and the king pledged it. 
 Then Sir Walter told him. Almost before Raleigh 
 
no SIR WALTER RALEIGH 
 
 had set sail, the silly and faithless James told the whole 
 plan to the Spanish ambassador. 
 
 Then, of course, the undertaking was doomed to 
 failure. The South American colonists were warned, 
 and when the EngHsh fleet arrived at the mouth of the 
 Orinoco River, a Spanish force was waiting to attack 
 it. Nevertheless Raleigh made brave efforts, but his 
 captains played him false ; his son and heir, a very 
 noble young man, was slain ; the gold mine could not 
 be found ; he himself was ill and crushed with grief at 
 the death of his son. At last he returned to England, 
 a hopeless old man. He was promptly arrested and 
 returned to the Tower. 
 
 A short time passed and then the ax fell. Raleigh 
 met death with the courage and noble bearing that had 
 marked his whole life. He felt the edge of the ax and 
 then kissed it. 
 
 "This," said he, "gives me no fear. It is a sharp 
 medicine, to cure me of all my troubles." 
 
 Stevenson says, "God has made nobler heroes, but 
 he never made a finer gentleman than Walter Raleigh." 
 
CHAMPLAIN, THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 In the very year when Francis Drake was making 
 his first voyage to the West Indies, there was born in 
 France a child who was named Samuel de Champlain. 
 His birthplace was a little fishing town on the stormy 
 Bay of Biscay. His father was a captain in the navy. 
 Thus Champlain, like Columbus and Drake, heard the 
 call of the sea from his earliest years. 
 
 He had training not only as a sailor, but also as a 
 soldier. He served in the army of King Henry IV of 
 France. 
 
 After the war was over, Champlain spent some 
 months in Spain, studying the people and their famous 
 cities. While there, he was asked to command the St. 
 Julian, a Spanish ship sailing with others to the West 
 Indies. Thus he had the opportunity of visiting 
 Mexico and other well-known towns of the Spanish 
 colonies. 
 
 Spain was jealous of her colonies. No foreigners were 
 welcomed on her coasts. Her charts she kept for her- 
 self alone. 
 
 Because the first discoverers were Spanish, Spain 
 claimed most of the New World for herself. But now 
 both England and France were thoroughly roused 
 
112 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 
 
 to the needs of the time. They felt they must assert 
 their claims in America by means of settlements. Spain 
 had strong settlements, and France longed to know the 
 secret of her success. 
 
 This, Champlain was shrewd enough to see. From 
 place to place he went, observing keenly. Night after 
 night he recorded what he had seen by day. At the 
 end of two years he sailed for home. There he laid 
 valuable information before King Henr}'. 
 
 It was at once decided that a French settlement must 
 be made in the New World. France laid claim to 
 northeastern America because two captains in her 
 employ had sailed along the coasts. 
 
 In 1603 Champlain made his first voyage to northern 
 America. His purpose was to select a good site for a 
 settlement. He entered the St. Lawrence River and 
 sailed up that noble stream to the Lachine Rapids. 
 He could go no farther in his ship. He also followed 
 a branch of the river for thirty or forty miles from its 
 mouth. The dark, sullen waters, the strong current, 
 the lofty cliffs, the surrounding wilderness, charmed 
 Champlain. He longed to explore the forests, to find 
 the beautiful lakes, and to follow the broad rivers that 
 he knew must be there. 
 
 The red men interested him, too. He visited them in 
 their wigwams and talked with them as well as he could. 
 His gentle courtesy won their hearts. For over thirty 
 years he was the truest friend these Indians had. It is 
 
THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 "3 
 
 " He visited the red men in their wigwams." 
 
 a joy to read of Champlain's kindness, after hearing of 
 the cruelty of Cortes, Pizarro, and De Soto. 
 
 Next year Champlain came to America with De 
 Monts. The king had granted De Monts the American 
 fur trade. He had also granted him the right to plant 
 a French colony. It was thought best to seek a warmer 
 region than the St. Lawrence. They coasted along 
 
114 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIX 
 
 Nova Scotia and finally settled at Port Royal on the 
 Bay of Fundy. 
 
 Champlain was not in the colony summers. He was 
 away exploring. He grew familiar with the Atlantic 
 coast from Xova Scotia to Vineyard Sound. The 
 Bay of Fundy, ]\It. Desert Island, the rivers of Maine, 
 Cape Cod, — all these dehghtful summer resorts he 
 plotted on the first accurate maps of that coast. 
 
 The colony struggled for a few years with harsh 
 conditions. Then, in 1607, the Frenchmen gave up 
 the unequal contest and returned to France. 
 
 In 1608 Champlain was again sailing up the St. 
 Lawrence. He came to a spot where the river suddenly 
 narrows. There, on the shore, at the foot of a lofty 
 cliff, he decided to make a settlement. The Indians 
 called the place Quebec, which means "narrowing." 
 This name Champlain gave to his little colony, — the 
 first permanent settlement in New France, or Canada. 
 
 How the men toiled that summer I One band 
 chopped down trees, another sawed the timber into 
 beams and planks, while still another dug cellars. The 
 storehouse and other necessary buildings were erected 
 in the summer. An autumn planting came in October. 
 WTieat and rs^e were the crops chosen, while vines also 
 were set out. 
 
 The winter was most severe. There was lean fare 
 at Quebec and gaunt famine in the neighboring Indian 
 settlements. Now and then keen distress would drive 
 
THE FATHER OF NEW FR.\XCE 115 
 
 the Indians to seek aid from the white men. Cham- 
 plain always gave what could be spared from his o\vn 
 meager supplies. 
 
 Once a band of starving Indians tried to cross the 
 St. Lawrence in canoes. The river was full of huge 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 V — .^n.— /: 
 
 ?■■■ • . . 
 Stockade at Quebec. 
 
 cakes of floating ice, dri\'en rapidly along by a fierce 
 wind and a strong current. The canoes were crushed 
 or capsized. The savages saved themselves by spring- 
 ing upon the ice cakes. Finally they reached Quebec 
 in safety. i\mong them were several squaws with 
 papooses upon their backs. 
 
 Before the end of winter, sickness broke out in Que- 
 bec. Many died of scurvy. Of the twenty-eight Euro- 
 peans, only eight were still alive when reenforcements 
 came in the spring. 
 
ii6 
 
 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 
 
 The duties of Champlain as lieutenant governor were 
 not severe. He had to keep order, see that the men 
 were kept busy in the fields, and superintend the ship- 
 ment of furs. To these Champlain added another task, 
 
 Buying furs from the Indians. 
 
 which appealed to him most of all. It was to explore 
 this vast, mysterious, wondrous North America. 
 
 He was a stanch friend of the Canadian Indians, — 
 the Hurons, Ot'tawas, and Algon'quins. That made 
 him the foe of their foes, they thought. And their 
 great foes were the Iroquois (ir-o-kwoi'). 
 
 The Iroquois were a powerful federation of Indian 
 tribes who lived in central New York. The strife be- 
 
THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE 117 
 
 tween them and the Algonquins was of long stand- 
 ing. Their ancestors had fought, and so they fought. 
 
 The Algonquins proposed that Champlain and his 
 men should go with them on the warpath against the 
 Iroquois. The white men had guns. These would 
 overwhelm their foes. They were wild with glee when 
 Champlain assented. His main purpose was to ex- 
 plore rivers and lakes which he had heard of but had 
 not seen. 
 
 A little party of twelve white men in a shallop, ac- 
 companied by scores of Indians in their canoes, went up 
 the St. Lawrence as far as the Richelieu (ree-she-looO- 
 They followed the latter river until falls stopped their 
 advance. The Indians had lied to Champlain ; they 
 had told him there were no difficulties ahead. He 
 blamed them severely, but said that he would still 
 keep his word to them. 
 
 Nine Frenchmen returned to Quebec with the shallop ; 
 meanwhile Champlain and two comrades continued on 
 their way with sixty Indians. In canoes they reached 
 the headwaters of the Richelieu River and came out 
 upon the gleaming waters of a large and beautiful lake. 
 Day after day they paddled southward, skirting its 
 western shore. On the left rose the Green Mountains, 
 while on the right were seen the rugged Adirondacks. 
 
 Soon they proceeded with more caution. They slept 
 by day and moved southward by night. Champlain 
 realized that the enemy must be close at hand. 
 
ii8 
 
THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE ng 
 
 At last, late one afternoon, they caught sight of a 
 large company of painted braves. They were the long- 
 sought Iroquois. They were gathered near a rude log 
 fort which they had made. 
 
 Each party yelled at sight of the other, but each de- 
 layed the attack till morning. During the night, how- 
 ever, taunts and insults flew to and fro between the 
 hostile camps. 
 
 In the morning the Algonquins proudly advanced 
 to the attack. As they had hinted during the night, a 
 great surprise was in store for the Iroquois. Champlain 
 with his gun was posted in the midst. Warriors hid 
 him from the enemy. His two comrades were at the 
 right and left side of the Indian line of battle. 
 
 The Algonquins advanced towards the enemy. 
 Three Iroquois chiefs were in advance. Suddenly the 
 Algonquin warriors parted. Champlain appeared. He 
 took a few steps forward and aimed his gun. The 
 Iroquois chiefs stared. Champlain fired and a chief 
 fell dead. The other Frenchmen fired also and several 
 more were killed and wounded. 
 
 This was enough for the Iroquois ! They shrieked 
 and fled into the woods, leaving all their belongings 
 behind. The delighted Algonquins packed the booty 
 into their canoes and set out toward home. The 
 little surprise they had arranged for their foes had 
 proved a complete success. More than ever did they 
 pin their faith upon their French allies. 
 
I20 SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 
 
 Thus Champlain first saw the peaceful waters of the 
 lake that was henceforth to be called by his name. 
 Thus too the feud began between the French and the 
 Iroquois. It was a small skirmish in the wilderness. 
 But henceforth the Iroquois, the most powerful group 
 of Indians in eastern America, hated the French and 
 sought the Dutch and the English as allies. 
 
 Throughout his life Champlain was untiring in his 
 devotion to the interests of Quebec. Nearly every 
 year he made the voyage to France on business for the 
 colony; and often these were not fair-weather voyages. 
 
 Once his vessel was surrounded by towering icebergs. 
 Ice floes also hemmed it in on all sides, while fogs added 
 greatly to the danger. The rigging was stiff with frost, 
 and again and again the boats were made ready for all 
 hands to quit the ship. Only good seamanship saved 
 her. Seventy-four anxious days passed before she 
 reached safe moorings in the St. Lawrence. 
 
 Not only did Champlain found Quebec, but he also 
 established Montreal. In his day, however, it was 
 nothing but a trading post. Thither, in the early 
 summer, the Indians thronged. They knew and trusted 
 Champlain, but felt little confidence in the strange 
 traders who later appeared at Montreal. 
 
 There is very Uttle more to be told of Champlain. 
 In the latter years of his governorship, he invited 
 priests to come from France to convert the Indians. 
 Madame Champlain, his young wife, spent a few years 
 
THE FATHER OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 121 
 
 in Quebec, and aided in the Indian mission. The Indians 
 became quite fond of her. She wore, according to the 
 fashion of the day, a Httle mirror as a charm. The 
 
 "An English fleet came sailing up the St. Lawrence." 
 
 red men loved this little trifle. They said Madame 
 Champlain carried their faces on her heart. 
 One day in 1628 an English fleet came sailing up the 
 
122 SAMUEL DE CIL\MPLAIN 
 
 St. Lawrence. England and France were at war in 
 Europe, and now Captain Kirk called for the surrender 
 of Quebec. 
 
 The little settlement was quite unprepared for siege. 
 The men were few in number, and the provisions were 
 low. No supply ships had come for over a year. 
 
 Champlain, however, returned a gallant reply. He 
 refused the demand for surrender so stout-heartedly 
 that the English feared to attack, and soon with- 
 drew. 
 
 Then followed a starving winter. "We ate our peas 
 by count," the governor wrote; and, after all, Quebec 
 had to surrender. In the summer of 1629 Kirk tried 
 again, and this time was successful. But this good 
 came from the plucky resistance. When peace was 
 made, all territory the English had won in 1628 was 
 retained; what was won in 1629 was returned. Had 
 Champlain not resisted. Old France would have lost 
 New France forever. 
 
 As it was, Champlain returned to spend the last two 
 years of his life in his beloved Quebec. He died on 
 Christmas Day in 1635. 
 
 He was one of the most remarkable Frenchmen of 
 his day, and richly earned his title of Father of New 
 France. His was a beautiful character, — -"devout 
 and high-minded, brave and tender." 
 
THE STORY OF HENRY HUDSON 
 
 The story of Henry Hudson is the story of four voy- 
 ages. They were made in four successive years, — 
 1607, 1608, 1609, and 1 6 10. 
 
 Before 1607 we know hardly anything of Hudson. It 
 is believed that he was a native of London. It is also 
 believed that he was grandson of one of the founders 
 of the Muscovy Company. This company had for its 
 aim trade with the East. 
 
 The hope of finding a shorter passage to India and 
 China was still alive in the hearts of merchant princes. 
 It had led Columbus westward in 1492 ; now, after 
 more than one hundred years, it was still a will-o'-the- 
 wisp to be reckoned with. It still beckoned to dan- 
 gerous enterprises. 
 
 The journey to India around the Cape of Good Hope 
 was long and expensive; so was the journey by way of 
 Cape Horn or the Strait of Magellan, which was, be- 
 sides, barred by the Spaniards. A shorter route found 
 to the northeast or northwest would put money into the 
 treasury of the Muscovy and other trading companies. 
 
 Henry Hudson was known as a daring navigator. 
 His energy, his skill, his courage, had been proved. 
 
 Under the employ of the Muscovy Company, he 
 
 123 
 
124 HENRY HUDSON 
 
 made two voyages to the northeast in 1607 and 1608. 
 These voyages proved that it was impossible to reach 
 India in this direction. But new and interesting 
 facts about Arctic regions were brought back by Hud- 
 son, He had also sighted the island of Spitzbergen 
 and had seen multitudes of whales in the waters near 
 it. As English ships immediately turned their attention 
 to this new fishing field, Hudson may be called the father 
 of whale fisheries at Spitzbergen. 
 
 Because of Hudson's reports, the Muscovy Company 
 ceased explorations and devoted itself to whaling. 
 
 But the Dutch East India Company had been in- 
 terested in Henry Hudson's voyages. In the spring of 
 1609 they employed him for another voyage to the 
 Arctic. " He was to think of discovering no other routes 
 or passages except the route around by the north side 
 of Nova Zembla." 
 
 He sailed on the sixth of April in the Half Moon, a 
 vessel of eighty tons. He had a mixed crew of sixteen 
 men. Part were English and part were Dutch. 
 
 Just a month from the day of sailing, they passed 
 the North Cape. This grim sentry must have been a 
 familiar landmark by this time to Henry Hudson. 
 The Half Moon now bore away steadily to the east, 
 heading for Nova Zembla. But the men began to 
 grumble. The cold was intense ; the sea was very 
 lonely. Soon the grumbling changed to actual rebel- 
 lion. 
 
THE STORY OF HENRY HUDSON 
 
 125 
 
 Then Hudson decided to change his route, in spite of 
 his definite orders to proceed to Nova Zembla. He 
 presented two possible courses to his crew. They might 
 
 The Half Moon. 
 
 sail west to Davis Strait, off the southwest coast of 
 Greenland, and explore from there. The other plan 
 was even bolder. They might sail to the North 
 American coast and there seek for a passage westward, 
 
126 HENRY HUDSON 
 
 somewhat to the north of Virginia. Many people in 
 those days believed that northern America was a narrow 
 land, and that a strait might lead through it. 
 
 Davis Strait offered a climate as arctic as Nova Zem- 
 bla. The North American strait would have a milder 
 temperature. With one accord the men declared for 
 North America. 
 
 Hudson was a daring man to disobey his orders 
 flatly. He was bound to succeed, now that he was 
 acting for himself. That passage must be found. 
 
 It was a cold and stormy westward voyage. The 
 crew, chilled to the bone, quarreled constantly. 
 
 They passed near the Grand Banks of Newfound- 
 land. There they saw French vessels hard at work 
 fishing, but the Half Moon did not greet them. Euro- 
 pean nations were not overcordial in the New World. 
 
 But Hudson's ship was in need of repairs. All were 
 glad to put into Penobscot Bay. Here they stayed 
 for a week mending sails, strengthening the mast, and 
 feasting on cod and lobsters. 
 
 Nine days later they landed at Cape Cod. They 
 found it a pleasant spot in August, for grapes and wild 
 roses were abundant. 
 
 Soon after this, Hudson began his search for the strait. 
 On the 3d of September his hopes were high. He had 
 entered New York Bay. The scenery was lovely and 
 all were delighted with the noble hills, the deep water, 
 and the large and delicious fish. 
 
THE STORY OF HENRY HUDSON 127 
 
 But what pleased Hudson more than all else was 
 the discovery of a broad stretch of water entering the 
 
 Mending the Half Moon's sails. 
 
 bay on the north. This, of course, might be a river, 
 but it might also be the long-sought-for strait. Hope 
 whispered to Hudson that he was on the eve of success. 
 
128 HENRY HUDSON 
 
 On September 12 he set out to explore the beautiful 
 river that now bears his name. Think of seeing the 
 wonderful Palisades and Catskills for the first time ! 
 At each fresh bend a new beauty appeared. A great 
 curiosity laid hold of ev^ry heart as the ship pressed 
 onward where never white man had sailed before. 
 
 By night they anchored, and the lights of the Half 
 Moon "formed the one gleam of life in the silent ex- 
 panse of river and forest." 
 
 At the end of six days they had reached a spot near 
 Albany. Here they paused to make some slight re- 
 pair. A boat was sent northward and returned with 
 sad news for Hudson. The stream grew narrower and 
 shallower the farther it went. Above all, the water 
 was fresh. 
 
 There could no longer be any doubt. They were 
 following a great river, and could find no westward 
 strait on this voyage. With a heavy heart, Hudson 
 gave the word to return. 
 
 Hudson had failed, but his voyage was a fruitful one 
 for Holland. Because he had first found the noble 
 Hudson, the Dutch claimed a wide region in the New 
 World. Fur-bearing animals were abundant here, ac- 
 cording to Hudson. Dutch vessels hastened to the 
 scene, and a profitable trade in skins grew up almost 
 immediately. 
 
 This third voyage of Henry Hudson is the most im- 
 portant one to us Americans. But I believe you are 
 
THE STORY OF HENRY HUDSON 129 
 
 interested enough in the bold Arctic adventurer to 
 wish to hear of his fourth and last voyage. 
 
 In April, 16 10, he sailed on the Discovery, on an- 
 other quest for a westward passage. The Muscovy 
 Company were again his employers. His previous 
 voyages had made him sure that there was no such 
 passage to the south of Newfoundland. His next 
 venture would be in the far northwest. 
 
 His crew again was a company of rough, grumbling 
 men. They reached Greenland, but were unable to land 
 on account of the ice. Finally they entered a broad west- 
 ward passage which is known to-day as Hudson Strait. 
 This channel led into a vast bay. As Hudson gazed on 
 the wide waters, he felt sure that his life's work was 
 completed, that the short way to the Pacific was found. 
 
 But he must be able to prove it to the world. With 
 the exact patience of the scientist he began to explore 
 the shores. For four months he followed the eastern 
 coast southward. October found the Discovery in 
 James Bay. Here Hudson decided to winter. The 
 vessel was hauled aground and soon was frozen in. 
 
 There is no doubt that Hudson by this time was most 
 unpopular. He was so wrapped up in his purpose that 
 he often acted unwisely. Once the explorers came 
 across an Eskimo's storehouse. It was full of fowls 
 hanging by the neck, — a fine winter supply. The 
 crew wished to secure this for themselves, but their 
 leader refused to stop for it. 
 
I30 
 
 HENRY HUDSON 
 
 Another time the Discovery had been anchored for 
 eight days on account of stormy weather. Finally 
 Hudson, impatient at losing precious time, decided to 
 move on. He ordered up the anchor against the re- 
 monstrances of the crew. They obeyed reluctantly. 
 Immediately their fears were justified. A sea struck 
 the vessel, the anchor was lost, and a few men were 
 thrown down and hurt. Murmurings began among 
 them. 
 
 During the long winter in James Bay the men suffered 
 from intense cold. Many had their feet frozen, and 
 one man died. The supply of game was fortunately 
 large. The explorers killed and ate one hundred dozen 
 ptarmigans. But at times they were in such straits 
 that they ate Arctic moss. One man wrote of the moss 
 as follows : "I take the powder of a post to be much the 
 better." 
 
 In June the Discovery moved into open water. But 
 milder weather and the hope of a fresh start had no 
 effect upon the men. They had done with Hudson as 
 leader. Their one longing was for England, and they 
 knew that he would insist on further study of this 
 ghastly sea. 
 
 They were ready to mutiny on the slightest pretext. 
 It came when Henry Hudson began to divide the scanty 
 food. They shouted that he had kept much more than 
 his share for himself, and they seized and bound him. 
 
 Then they placed him and his young son and six 
 
THE STORY OF HENRY HUDSON 
 
 131 
 
 seamen in a small boat which was to be set adrift. 
 
 The carpenter proved himself a fine, honest man. 
 
 When he found 
 
 what the crew had 
 
 determined to do, 
 
 he threw in his lot 
 
 with Hudson. He 
 
 showed presence of 
 
 mind also in taking 
 
 with him a musket, 
 
 some powder and 
 
 shot, a few pikes, 
 
 an iron pot, and a 
 
 little meal. 
 
 Thus the little 
 boatload was cast 
 away with certain 
 death staring them 
 in the face. What 
 an end to ambitious 
 
 Henry Hudson, " The little boatload was cast away." 
 
 who believed he was on the eve of brilliant success ! A 
 ship was sent from England the next year to search for 
 him, but nothing was ever learned of his fate. We leave 
 him adrift on " that vast inland sea that was at once his 
 tomb and his monument." 
 
JOHN SMITH, THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 In 1580 there was born in England a wonderful man. 
 His name was John Smith. He had a nature so bold 
 and vigorous that adventures seemed to seek him out. 
 Even from his boyhood, wherever he went, things 
 happened. 
 
 When a youth of sixteen, he went to the Netherlands 
 and joined the Dutch in fighting against the Spaniards. 
 Here he spent three years, learning much in this fine 
 school of arms. 
 
 At nineteen he decided to return home, and on the 
 way suffered shipwreck. 
 
 John Smith did not remain long in England. Affairs 
 were too quiet there. He decided to go to eastern 
 Europe, where the Christians and Turks were at war. 
 There he became a soldier in the Christian army. His 
 experience in Holland made him very useful to his com- 
 mander. Soon he was promoted. He was Captain 
 John Smith. 
 
 Once the Christians were besieging the Turks in a 
 city. One Turk challenged any Christian captain to 
 single combat. Many captains were eager to go, but 
 Smith, with his usual luck, drew the lot. 
 
 The city walls were crowded with ladies. Both 
 
 132 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 ■^33 
 
 armies looked on with interest. The Turk appeared 
 with three servants, — one to carry his lance, the other 
 two to lead his horse. Smith had but one attendant. 
 
 The fight was brief. Smith overthrew his enemy 
 with the lance and 
 then cut off his 
 head. Loud were 
 the rejoicings in 
 the Christian camp. 
 
 The Turks did 
 not wish the tri- 
 umph to be with 
 the Christians. A 
 second Turk, a 
 friend of the man 
 whom Smith had 
 slain, challenged 
 him. If Smith 
 were conquered, 
 he was to give up 
 the head of the first 
 
 John Smith slays the Turk. 
 
 Turk, Smith, however, won this combat also and cut 
 off the head of the second Turk. , 
 
 Then Smith thought he would challenge the Turks 
 in his turn. The Turk who took up the challenge had 
 his choice of weapons. He chose battle-axes. They 
 fought as before, in sight of both armies. 
 
 Smith was at times in great danger, for his new foe 
 
134 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 was strong and skillful. At last Smith's ax flew from 
 his hand. He dodged a blow from the Turk, whipped 
 out his sword, and ran him through. 
 
 The commander gave Smith the right to have three 
 Turks' heads on his coat of arms. 
 
 Some time after this a great battle was fought be- 
 tween the two armies. Captain John Smith was 
 wounded and left on the battle field. The Turks often 
 killed the common soldiers who were found on the 
 battle field. But Captain John Smith was richly 
 dressed. So they took him prisoner. 
 
 Later he was sold as a slave. His master fastened 
 a spiked iron collar about his neck, and set him at work 
 threshing grain in a remote building on his estate. 
 Think of such a plight for a proud young man like 
 Smith ! 
 
 The master sometimes came to watch Smith at his 
 work. Often he jeered at him, and one day he beat 
 him. That was too much for Smith. He caught up 
 his flail and struck his master a blow on the head which 
 killed him. 
 
 Smith was now in danger; but he acted promptly. 
 He dressQjd himself in his master's clothes, mounted 
 his horse, and rode away. Not knowing the roads, he 
 wandered about for a day or two. 
 
 At length he came to a crossroad with a guidepost. 
 One of the arms bore the sign of the cross, "x^t last !" 
 thought Smith, "this leads to a Christian land." 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 135 
 
 On and on he rode for days. At last he came into 
 Russia. There he told of his misfortunes as a slave to 
 the Turks. The Rus- 
 sians were sorry for 
 him, and the ugly collar 
 was struck from his 
 neck. 
 
 He returned to Eng- 
 land in the nick of 
 time. A company of 
 Englishmen were about 
 sailing to plant a colony 
 in America. Here was 
 a part of the world 
 Smith had not seen. Here was a bold enterprise for 
 king and country. He would take a hand in it. 
 
 No one knew it, but the fate of the new colony de- 
 pended upon the decision of this keen-eyed, vigorous 
 young soldier of twenty-six. 
 
 The ruler of England was now James the First. He 
 had given a large tract of country in America to a 
 group of men called the London Company. It was 
 the business of this Company to plant colonies in the 
 New World. Sir Walter Raleigh and others had tried 
 and failed sadly. Much was now hoped from this new 
 venture. 
 
 On December 19, 1606, three ships set sail. They 
 were the Susan Constant, the Godspeed, and the Dis- 
 
 The Susan Constant. 
 
136 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 The Discovery. 
 
 covery. They carried one hundred and five planters 
 and a crew of thirty-nine. The Susan Constant was 
 
 commanded by Christo- 
 pher Newport, the 
 admiral of the little 
 fleet. The Godspeed 
 was commanded by 
 Bartholomew Gosnold, 
 a captain who had 
 made many discoveries 
 in America. The 
 Discovery was com- 
 manded by John Rat- 
 cliffe, of whom we shall hear more later. 
 
 It was a long voyage, for it was not until April 26, 1607, 
 that they came in sight 
 of Virginia. The first 
 point of land was a cape 
 at the entrance to Ches- 
 apeake Bay. The Eng- 
 lishmen named it Cape 
 Henry, after the eldest 
 son of James I. The op- 
 posite cape later received 
 the name of Charles, 
 
 after the second son. The Godspeed. 
 
 At the time of sailing a box had been placed on board. 
 In this box were the names of those who were to govern 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 137 
 
 the colony. On the evening of April 26 the box was 
 opened and the list read. Christopher Newport, 
 Bartholomew Gosnold, John Ratcliffe, John Smith, 
 and Edward Wingfield were five of the seven men named 
 by the king. 
 
 John Smith had fallen into trouble on the voyage. 
 His colleagues were jealous of his military glory; his 
 temper, moreover, 
 was at times fiery. 
 The result was 
 that Smith was im- 
 prisoned at the time 
 when the party first 
 sighted the low 
 Virginian shores. 
 
 The other six 
 leaders refused to 
 permit Smith to sit 
 with them and vote. 
 Smith was determined to have his rights and demanded 
 a trial. This was granted some six weeks later. Smith 
 was declared innocent and then given the right to work 
 with the other councilors. 
 
 The ships entered Chesapeake Bay and sailed up one 
 of its large rivers. This river they called the James, in 
 honor of their king. About fifty miles from the mouth of 
 the James River they came upon a low-lying peninsula. 
 Should they settle here? Gosnold and Wingfield dis- 
 
 Smith was imprisoned.' 
 
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 agreed. Gosnold thought the place low and unhealthful. 
 Wingfield pointed out how readily it could be defended 
 by fortifications built across the narrow neck. Another 
 advantage was the great depth of water in the river. 
 Even close to the shore the water was six fathoms deep. 
 
 " The settlers went promptly to work." 
 
 To-day we know that Gosnold was right. In 1607, 
 however, Wingfield won the argument. The English 
 landed here on May 13, and Jamestown was estab- 
 lished. Wingfield was chosen governor. The settlers 
 went promptly to work, building houses and a fort. 
 
 Captain Newport was soon to sail to England for 
 fresh supplies. His duty was to explore the neighbor- 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 139 
 
 hood. It would be an advantage to the London Com- 
 pany to know of the mountains and rivers of Virginia. 
 It would also be a service to the new colony to dis- 
 cover what friends or foes were near them. With 
 Captain Newport went John Smith and twenty-two 
 others. 
 
 During a short sail up the James River they found 
 several Indian villages of the Powhatan' tribe. The 
 explorers were treated kindly everywhere, and often 
 feasts were spread for them in the Indian villages. 
 Roasted deer, turkeys, turkeys' eggs, corn, beans, and 
 strawberries delighted the travelers. 
 
 The most important chief of the Powhatan In- 
 dians was known as the Powhatan. The explorers 
 were told much about him. He was chief over a large 
 tract of country, but his principal village was Wero- 
 woco'moco, twenty miles north of Jamestown. 
 
 The white men and the Powhatan Indians along the 
 James agreed solemnly that they would always be 
 friends. Beads and other trinkets were distributed, to 
 the delight of the Indians. 
 
 The Englishmen, in their little shallop, had now 
 reached the headwaters of the James. Their way was 
 barred by rapids. Accordingly they set up a wooden 
 cross with their king's name and the date to mark the 
 spot. 
 
 The cross troubled the Indians. Newport, however, 
 explained that the two arms of the cross were the Indian 
 
I40 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 chief and himself, while the central shaft marked their 
 union in friendship. With this reading of the riddle 
 the savages were well content. 
 
 Newport explains the meaning of the cross. 
 
 Jamestown welcomed the return of Newport and 
 Smith. The day before, the settlement had been at- 
 tacked by two hundred Indians of another tribe. Led 
 by Governor Wingfield, the settlers had beaten them 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 141 
 
 off. Twelve white men had been wounded, and two 
 afterwards died. 
 
 In June, 1607, Newport sailed for home. The 
 Susan Constant was loaded with cedar and sassafras. 
 The Company had expected gold and precious stones, 
 but none had been found. 
 
 Newport hoped to return with food in twenty weeks' 
 time. He left behind supplies for only fifteen weeks. 
 The colonists were at once put on short rations, and 
 began to suffer. 
 
 The bulk of the colonists were gentlemen, — men 
 who had had no training in hard manual labor. They 
 were quite unequal to toil in the fields under a blazing 
 southern sun. Malaria broke out, and the sickness 
 was increased, not only by the heat, but also by the 
 scanty food. A half pint of wheat and a half pint of 
 barley, boiled with water, was a man's portion for a 
 day. Moreover, much of the grain was spoiled on 
 account of having been stored for so long in the ship's 
 hold. 
 
 Who can be surprised that half the settlers had died 
 by the end of September ? 
 
 In this emergency Smith came more and more to 
 the front. His fellows came to lean on his judgment 
 and firm will. He had been ill himself, but soon we 
 find him able to nurse the other sick. Next, he is 
 scouring the country, securing food from the Indians. 
 With wonderful insight into Indian nature, he rarely 
 
142 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 made a mistake. He saw just when he should coax 
 the savages, and when he should frighten them, to 
 carry out his purpose. 
 
 Meanwhile where was the governor ? He had shown 
 himself so unfit for ofhce that he had been deposed in 
 September. John Ratcliffe had been elected in his 
 place. But as a matter of fact John Smith was really 
 "the man of the hour." 
 
 The late fall brought cooler weather, and the health 
 of the settlement mended. WUd fowl were shot, and 
 the men's food was improved. Newport must soon 
 return, and Smith was anxious to have more facts 
 about Virginia to set before him. Therefore he 
 started to explore the Chickahom'iny River. Nine 
 white men and two Indians went with him. 
 
 The river grew shallower, and Smith, leaving seven 
 men with the large boat, went on in a canoe. His crew 
 consisted of two white men and two Indians. 
 
 With one Indian guide he started to explore the for- 
 est, telling the men in the canoe to fire a gun in case of 
 danger. Suddenly a distant shot came to Smith's ears. 
 He turned on his guide and tied the Indian's arm to his 
 own. "If you are false to me, I will shoot you," he 
 cried. 
 
 The Indian swore he was true to Smith, and urged 
 him to fly. At this moment a flight of arrows fell 
 around them. At a distance, slowly closing in on 
 them, appeared some Indians. Smith held his Indian 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 143 
 
 guide before him as a shield. He used his pistols again 
 and again. 
 
 It seemed at one time as though they might escape. 
 But in moving backward Smith fell into a swamp. His 
 
 John Smith shows his compass to the Indians. 
 
 Indian friend tried to pull him out, but he fell in too. 
 Smith saw then that he must surrender. 
 
 He threw away his weapons, and the Indians drew 
 him from the swamp and took him before their chief. 
 
 This Indian brave gave orders for Smith to be put 
 to death. But Smith thought of a little ivory compass 
 
144 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 that he wore. He drew it forth and began to explain 
 its working to the chief. The brave was charmed. He 
 questioned Smith, until the Englishman had told all he 
 knew of the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. 
 
 Then the Indians changed their minds about Smith. 
 They began to feast him, bringing him food enough for 
 ten men. But John Smith was not deceived. He 
 knew that he was being prepared for torture. And at 
 length the day came. 
 
 He was marched into the great hall of the Powhatan. 
 The chief sat on his throne with a young squaw on each 
 side. His braves stood in double lines along the sides 
 of the hall. Behind them were two rows of women. All 
 had their faces and necks painted red. Chains of white 
 shells hung about their necks, and white feathers were 
 in their hair. 
 
 A stone was placed before the Powhatan. Captain 
 John Smith was stretched on the ground with his head 
 on the stone. Two men with clubs drew near to beat 
 out his brains. 
 
 The clubs were raised. Smith drew what he thought 
 was his last breath, when suddenly a child of thirteen 
 flung herself beside him, clasped his head in her arms, 
 and laid her own head upon his. 
 
 The little maiden was Pocahon'tas, the daughter of 
 the Powhatan. The executioners turned to the Pow- 
 hatan. He raised his hand, and Smith's life was saved. 
 
 Smith did not understand the deed of Pocahontas 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 
 
 145 
 
 at the time. It was, however, an Indian law that any 
 one in the tribe could save the life of a prisoner whose 
 appearance or whose bravery pleased him. The person 
 thus saved was afterwards adopted into the tribe. 
 Thus the warm-hearted child had saved the soldierly 
 
 " Suddenly Pocahontas flung herself beside him." 
 
 young paleface. From this moment Pocahontas was 
 the firm friend of the English. 
 
 Shortly after Smith's return home, Newport sailed 
 up the James, bringing one hundred and twenty new 
 colonists. They were much needed, for now there were 
 but thirty-eight left of the first band. 
 
 Provisions often ran short, but the settlers got 
 through the winter with the help of Pocahontas. She 
 
 COE F. — 10 
 
146 CAPTAIN JOHX SIMITH 
 
 often brought corn, and sometimes venison and rac- 
 coons. 
 
 In April, 1608, Newport sailed again for England. His 
 cargo consisted of sassafras, cedar posts, walnut boards, 
 and iron ore. There was also on board a coop of plump 
 turkeys. These were the first ever eaten in England. 
 
 After Newport's departure the colonists were again 
 on a low diet. Meal and water was their chief food. 
 
 The summer was spent by Captain Smith in exploring 
 Virginia. He cruised around the shores of Chesapeake 
 Bay and explored the Potomac, the Rappahannock, and 
 the Susquehanna rivers. He then drew a map of 
 Virginia so exact that it is a marvel. It was used as 
 late as 1873 to settle a boundary question between 
 Maryland and Virginia. 
 
 In September the colonists deposed Ratcliffe, and 
 made Smith governor. Now, with a man at the helm, 
 matters began to mend. Smith made even the lazy 
 work. He divided the settlement into squads of ten 
 or fifteen, and insisted on six hours' work a day. The 
 church was repaired, the storehouse covered, and maga- 
 zines built. Corn was obtained from the Indians. 
 
 By April, 1609, the colony was in a flourishing con- 
 dition. Twenty houses had been built, thirty acres of 
 ground had been planted, and a well of pure water had 
 been dug in the fort. Nets and weirs were in use in 
 the river, and a new fort had been begun upon a com- 
 manding hill. 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 147 
 
 In the summer word came from England of changes. 
 Lord Delaware had been made governor of Virginia 
 for life. Nine ships had set sail for Jamestown. In 
 August, seven of the nine ships arrived. 
 
 Lord Delaware had not yet come, and Captain John 
 Smith determined to continue as governor. Nearly 
 every one saw it to be best for the colony. 
 
 But alas, his service to Virginia was nearly over ! 
 An explosion of gunpowder injured him seriously. It 
 was necessary for him to go to England for treatment. 
 
 Then, with John Smith gone, we see clearly what he 
 had been to the colony. In six months' time but sixty 
 of the five hundred souls left by Smith remained alive. 
 Many were so weak they could scarcely totter, while 
 others had lost their reason. Some had died of cold, 
 some had been killed by Indians, while many had died 
 of hunger in the "starving time " that spring. So great 
 was the famine that a few had eaten human flesh. 
 
 A similar fate would have befallen the colonists 
 earlier, had it not been for the wisdom and energy of one 
 man, — John Smith. 
 
 In June, 16 10, the poor little handful gave up the 
 fight with such odds. They left Jamestown to the 
 wilderness and started down the James River on their 
 way to England. At its mouth they were amazed 
 to meet a ship's boat of Englishmen. The news was 
 that three ships, bringing the new governor and many 
 colonists, were entering Chesapeake Bay. 
 
148 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 With new hope, the party returned. As Lord Dela- 
 ware stepped from his boat upon the soil of the New 
 World, he fell on his knees and gave thanks to God that 
 he had come in time to save Virginia. 
 
 But what of Smith, the first savior of the English 
 colony ? 
 
 The rest of his life was less eventful. He drew maps 
 and wrote accounts that are read eagerly to-day. 
 He also made several trips to New England. 
 
 He saw his friend Pocahontas once more. She grew 
 up to be a woman of dignity and sweet character. 
 She became the wife of John Rolfe, an Englishman, and 
 came to England to visit the land of her husband. 
 She was looked upon as a king's daughter and was 
 called the Lady Rebecca. 
 
 When Smith spoke to her by that name, she was 
 not pleased. "Oh, Father," she cried, "call me your 
 child. You always did at home. Why should you 
 change now?" 
 
 Captain John Smith died in 1631. He will always be 
 "a great and commanding figure in American history." 
 
 Could we have returned to Virginia seventy years 
 after John Smith and others had settled Jamestown, 
 we should have found a large and prosperous colony 
 which contained neither cities nor towns. Jamestown 
 was still the capital, and Jamestown consisted of but a 
 church, a state house, and eighteen or twenty houses. 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 149 
 
 There were plenty of people in Virginia, but they did 
 not live in Jamestown. Their estates were scattered 
 along the shores of the many rivers. They grew tobacco, 
 and were called planters. As tobacco is a crop that does 
 best in new soil, the planters nee'ded wide plantations, 
 so that they could give new fields to it every few years. 
 
 The early settlers had begun by raising wheat and 
 Indian corn as well as tobacco. The latter crop, how- 
 ever, was raised so easily and paid so well that it soon 
 crowded out nearly all other crops. Just enough 
 cereals and vegetables were raised to meet the needs of 
 the planters for their own tables. The raising of to- 
 bacco prevented manufacturing and other forms of in- 
 dustry. Great quantities of tobacco were shipped to 
 England, and the value of this export increased from 
 year to year. 
 
 Tobacco was used as money as early as 1619. Taxes, 
 fines, and salaries were often paid in pounds of tobacco. 
 
 The tobacco was raised, gathered, and prepared for 
 the market by slaves. These were both white and 
 black. The blacks were slaves for life; the whites for 
 only a term of years. 
 
 It may seem strange to you that there should be 
 white slaves. It came about in this way. Certain 
 very poor people would sell themselves for a number 
 of years, to get money with which to pay their passage 
 to Virginia. Sometimes boys and girls were kidnapped 
 in London and sent to Virginia to be sold in the same 
 
I50 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH 
 
 way. Criminals were also shipped to the colonies as 
 slaves for seven or fourteen years. These persons 
 were often dangerous characters. 
 
 The first negro slaves in Virginia were brought there 
 by a Dutch man-of-war in 1619. There were but 
 twenty of them. It was long before black slaves be- 
 came numerous in the colony. As the culture of 
 tobacco increased, however, more and more slaves were 
 brought from Africa to labor on the plantations. 
 After 1650 their numbers multiplied rapidly. 
 
 During the first seventy years of the Virginian 
 colony, two serious Indian uprisings occurred, — one in 
 1622, and the other in 1676. 
 
 After the death of the chief Powhatan, the friend of 
 Captain John Smith, the savages became jealous of the 
 increasing power and numbers of the whites. The 
 English also grew confident and careless. Quarrels 
 between the white and red men were frequent. 
 
 The Indians plotted an attack, and on March 22, 
 1622, they fell suddenly upon the English and slew 
 three hundred and forty-seven persons, among them 
 women and little children. The shock was so great 
 that some planters gave up their plantations; many 
 settlers returned to England ; and only 2500 persons 
 were left, where there had been 4000. It was a crush- 
 ing blow; but the Indians were soon conquered, and 
 before long Virginia was growing rapidly again. 
 
THE FOUNDER OF VIRGINIA 151 
 
 Another great Indian rising came when Sir William 
 Berkeley was governor of Virginia. Berkeley was most 
 unpopular with the people. 
 
 In the spring of 1676 the Indians rose and began to 
 kill whites on the frontiers and even to wipe out whole 
 plantations. Stories of torture inflicted on some of the 
 prisoners made Virginian blood run cold. The colonists 
 called upon the governor to take immediate action. 
 Many were eager to be led against the Indians. 
 
 In this crisis Berkeley acted very strangely. He did 
 not find them a leader and he did not permit them to 
 depart. It was said that he had two reasons. One 
 was that he had a profitable fur trade with these very 
 Indians and wished to keep on good terms with them. 
 The other reason was that he scented a possible danger 
 to himself in arming so many people. Most of the people 
 were dissatisfied.. Who could tell what they might do? 
 
 In this crisis Nathaniel Bacon, a handsome and 
 talented young planter, came to the front. He was 
 indignant at the state of affairs and said that if the 
 Indians harmed any of the people on his plantation, he 
 would lead the Virginians himself. 
 
 Shortly after this his favorite overseer was killed. 
 Bacon promptly applied to the governor for permission 
 to lead an army against the Indians. Berkeley refused. 
 
 About five hundred men were willing to march 
 against the Indians if they could have a leader. News 
 of fresh butcheries by the red men came to their ears. 
 
IS2 
 
 VIRGINIA 
 
 Bacon could delay no longer. Flinging caution to the 
 winds, he led the colonists against their enemies, with 
 success. 
 
 Governor Berkeley promptly declared Bacon a rebel 
 and sent men to arrest him. There was civil war in 
 
 " Bacon led the colonists against their enemies." 
 
 Virginia for a few weeks, Bacon leading one party and 
 Berkeley the other. In the midst of all the discord, 
 Bacon made a second campaign against the Indians. 
 
 He did wonders in the space of four weeks. By his 
 efforts the hostile tribes were crushed. The Virginia 
 settlers now could breathe freely once more. 
 
MILES STANDISH, CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 Miles in name, leagues in valor, and but a few inches in 
 stature. — John Lothrop Motley. 
 
 We have seen how one man saved the colony at 
 Jamestown. New England owes as much to Captain 
 Miles Standish as Virginia does to Captain John Smith. 
 Without such leaders, the settlements would have 
 been failures. 
 
 Little is known of the early life of Standish. He was 
 born in the rugged north of England in 1584. His 
 father was heir to large estates of which he had been 
 deprived by fraud. Some young men might have let 
 this fact spoil their lives ; they might have wasted 
 their youth in idling about the court, seeking to make 
 friends with the rich and great who might help them 
 regain their lost lands. But not so Miles Standish. 
 His aim was to 
 
 " act, act in the living present." 
 
 At eighteen he determined to go to Flanders to fight 
 against the Spaniards. The Dutch were holding the 
 city of Ostend against them, and Queen Elizabeth of 
 England was helping the Dutch. 
 
 The friends of Standish did not wish him to go as an 
 
 153 
 
154 MILES STANDISH 
 
 ordinary soldier. They secured for him the position 
 of Heutenant. Let us see what the young officer looked 
 like. "A young man of eighteen, perhaps not more 
 than four feet six inches in height, a chubby face still, 
 a little brown hair on the upper lip and chin, fine large 
 dark-blue eyes with hot temper flashing in the cor- 
 ners — ^" this is the little lieutenant who served Eliza- 
 beth. Some might laugh at his size, but a second glance 
 at his firm and honest face would assure them that here 
 was every inch a man. 
 
 Miles Standish fought well in the long siege of Os- 
 tend, which lasted for over three years. WTien the 
 town surrendered, a long truce was declared. During 
 these peaceful years Captain Standish was engaged in 
 garrison duty. 
 
 He was stationed at several posts and at last was 
 sent to Leyden (li''den). Among the new acquaint- 
 ances he now made was a certain John Robinson. 
 Robinson was a serious man some ten years older than 
 Standish. The two soon became fast friends. 
 
 Robinson introduced Standish to dear friends of his. 
 They were William Brewster, William Bradford, 
 Edward Winslow, and others. In time Miles came to 
 know all the Pilgrims, as they called themselves. 
 
 The Pilgrims were a company of English people liv- 
 ing in Leyden. They had left England because there 
 they were not permitted to worship God as they wished. 
 The English law was unjust. In Holland they had 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 155 
 
 found the freedom of worship they sought. Here they 
 could hve in peace. 
 
 Years passed by and a spirit of unrest began to dis- 
 turb the Pilgrims. Their children were growing up to 
 speak the Dutch tongue ; year by year they were less 
 
 4 "ftfif \:z4 -4, 
 
 A 
 
 f 
 
 
 A ^ 
 
 
 A street in Leyden. 
 
 and less English in thought. This must not be. More- 
 over, war was soon to begin again between the Spaniards 
 and the Dutch. 
 
 These were some of the reasons that made the Pil- 
 grims wish to seek another home. Their plans were 
 bold. They decided to establish their new home in 
 America. The long ocean voyage, the harsh shores, 
 the fierce savages, were forgotten as they faced their 
 
156 MILES STANDISH 
 
 exalted purpose, — a free church and a free state for 
 themselves and their children. Who would not greatly 
 dare in such a cause ? 
 
 John Robinson saw that the company needed a good 
 soldier to protect them against the Indians. He pro- 
 posed Captain Standish for the post. Many shook 
 their heads, — for Standish was not a member of their 
 church. Still Robinson urged and at last prevailed. 
 Thus it came to pass that the peppery little captain 
 was to play sheep dog to this flock. 
 
 How came Miles Standish to go ? There were two 
 reasons: first, the wild life in a new country looked 
 attractive to him ; and second, he liked the Pilgrims 
 and believed that he could serve them. It seemed his 
 duty to go. 
 
 Accordingly, he embarked in the Speedwell, which 
 carried a goodly number of the Pilgrims to England. 
 There they were joined by the Mayflower, a larger ship 
 than the Speedwell. The Mayflower brought other Pil- 
 grims, and on August 15, 1620, the two vessels set sail. 
 
 They had gone but a short distance when the Speed- 
 well sprang a leak. They put into an English port to 
 refit. About a week later they set sail again. For 
 three hundred miles all went well. Then dangerous 
 leaks again appeared in the Speedwell. There was 
 nothing to do but to return once more. 
 
 The truth was, that the captain of the Speedwell 
 was a coward. He did not relish the undertaking, and 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 157 
 
 SO disabled his ship. Some of the Pilgrims were dis- 
 heartened and remained behind. Others crowded into 
 the Mayflower. Her freight was one hundred souls as 
 she faced the great Atlantic waves for the third time. 
 
 It was a cold, bleak voyage of sixty-three days. The 
 Pilgrims were at one time in great danger. A storm 
 
 The Mayflower in a storm. 
 
 caused one of the main timbers of the Mayflower to 
 bend threateningly. No remedy seemed at hand, when 
 one of the passengers remembered that he had among 
 his stores a large jackscrew. This was at once used, and 
 thus all these precious lives were saved. 
 
 The Pilgrims had wished to settle near the Delaware 
 River. But they had been driven far to the north, and 
 the first land they sighted was Cape Cod. The ship's 
 
158 MILES STANDISH 
 
 captain and the crew refused to go on to the Delaware, 
 so the Pilgrims saw they must find a home in this region. 
 
 On November 11, 1620, two days after they had 
 sighted land, a compact was signed in the cabin of the 
 Mayflower. All the men, forty-one in number, wrote 
 their names upon this important paper. By this they 
 pledged themselves faithfully to keep what laws should 
 be made. This compact marks the beginning of a free 
 state. At the same time John Carver was chosen 
 governor for one year. 
 
 For five weeks the Pilgrims stayed on shipboard. 
 During this time Miles Standish led several expeditions 
 to find a good place in which to settle. These were no 
 fair-weather trips. The shallop offered little protec- 
 tion. It was now winter. The weather was severe 
 and the seas were tempestuous. On land the explorers 
 sometimes lost their way in the forests. Always there 
 was danger from the red men. 
 
 At last, in the latter part of December, Captain 
 Standish found Plymouth. The bay seemed excellent ; 
 there were streams and wooded hills. Altogether the 
 site appeared promising. The little company hastened 
 back to the Mayflower with the good news. 
 
 On December 21, 1620, the Pilgrim Fathers landed 
 at Plymouth. And this event is now honored every 
 year by the celebration of Forefathers' Day.^ 
 
 ' On account of a mistake in reckoning the change from Old Style to New 
 Style, the celebration is usually held on December 22 instead of December 2 1 . 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 159 
 
 "The breaking waves dashed high 
 On a stern and rock-bound coast ; 
 And the woods against a stormy sky 
 Their giant branches tossed. 
 
 "And the heavy night hung dark 
 The hills and waters o'er, 
 When a band of exiles moored their bark 
 On the wild New England shore." 
 
 It was not an easy landing. Many had to wade 
 ashore through the ice-cold water. This sowed the 
 seeds of illness and death. But only part of the Pil- 
 grims landed in December. Many women and children 
 remained on the Mayflower for a few more weeks. 
 
 At first the Pilgrims were housed under one roof. 
 Miles Standish saw Indians watching them from the 
 forest, and hastened the laying of a platform on the 
 hill behind the settlement. Here five cannon were 
 placed with their muzzles pointing in different direc- 
 tions. "Beware !" they seemed to say. 
 
 These first days in New England were dark ones for 
 the Pilgrims. They were often hungry ; they were 
 cold ; and saddest of all, many fell sick and died. Little 
 children, delicate women, and strong men were laid to 
 rest under the snow. Full half their number died in 
 this first winter. 
 
 At one time Miles Standish, Brewster, and five other 
 men were the only members of the colony able to tend 
 the sick or bury the dead. Miles forgot his soldierly 
 
i6o MILES STANDISH 
 
 dignity, and did whatever his big warm heart prompted 
 him to do, even to cooking food and washing clothes. 
 
 But through all this pain and sorrow, the Pilgrim 
 spirit was undaunted. Brewster spoke for the whole 
 band when he said: "It is not with us as with men 
 whom small things can discourage or small discontent- 
 ments cause to wish themselves home again." Were 
 they not nearer God in New England than in Leyden 
 or in England ? 
 
 In the early spring the settlers had a surprise. The 
 Indians, warned by the cannon, had kept away. On 
 this day a single Indian was seen coming straight for 
 the town. Men sprang to their guns and waited. 
 
 As the red man drew near, he smiled and exclaimed, 
 "Welcome, Englishmen !" 
 
 You can imagine every one's surprise ! The name 
 of this friendly Indian was Sam'oset. He had picked 
 up what English he knew from some EngHsh fishermen. 
 
 He talked with the Pilgrims for an hour, ate the little 
 feast they spread for him, and then departed. 
 
 A few days later he returned with another English- 
 speaking Indian, named Squan'to. They brought great 
 news. Mas'sasoit, chief of the Wampano'ags, was on 
 his way to visit the Pilgrims ! He was attended by 
 his brother and a hundred warriors. 
 
 Massasoit and his band appeared, decked out in all 
 their savage bravery. Their hair was oiled; their 
 faces were painted in red, white, yellow, and black ; 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 i6i 
 
 their dress was of deerskin. Massasoit wore a tobacco 
 pouch and had a great knife hanging before his chest. 
 At the edge of the settlement the chief stopped and 
 asked for a hostage. Edward Winslow was sent on 
 this dangerous errand. He carried with him presents. 
 
 " The party were met by Captain Standish and his soldiers." 
 
 There were knives and a copper chain for Massasoit, 
 and similar gifts for his brother. 
 
 The party were met by Captain Standish and his 
 soldiers, who fired a salute. They then led the Indians 
 
 COE r. — II 
 
1 62 MILES STANDISH 
 
 to the chief house in the village and invited them to sit 
 upon a rug and cushions. 
 
 The governor then appeared, escorted in state. He 
 and Massasoit greeted each other warmly with a kiss. 
 A feast was eaten. After this a treaty of friendship 
 was drawn up and signed. Massasoit then departed, 
 Winslow returned, and the great occasion was over. 
 This must have been a relief to both parties, for there 
 were moments when both hosts and guests were most 
 uneasy. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that this treaty of 162 1 was 
 never broken so long as Massasoit was alive. White 
 men and red kept its terms faithfully. 
 
 The Indian Squanto spent much of his time in Plym- 
 outh. He taught the Pilgrims the best way of plant- 
 ing corn. Under each hill of corn the Indians put a 
 fish, for fertilizer, and thus secured a rich harvest. 
 Squanto also showed the Pilgrims how to catch eels by 
 treading them out of the mud with their feet. 
 
 Another service of Squanto the Pilgrims did not 
 know of for some time. He spread the news among 
 the tribes of Indians that the white men owned a huge 
 cask. It was called the cask of the great plague. 
 When it was opened, plague and death fell upon all 
 their enemies. 
 
 It is a fact that the Indians troubled the Plym- 
 outh settlers less than those in other settlements. 
 Something was due to the fact that the New England 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 
 
 163 
 
 Indians were not so numerous or so fierce as those in 
 
 other sections of our country ; indeed, 
 
 no Indians were living within ten miles 
 
 of Plymouth. Something also was due 
 
 to the lies of Squanto. But most of the 
 
 glory for the safety of Plymouth should 
 
 be given to Captain Standish. 
 
 Standish understood the nature of the 
 Indians. He knew that his friends were 
 safe so long as they kept up a brave 
 front and showed no signs of fear. In 
 a difficult position his plan was always 
 to move first. By this policy, again and 
 again he "plucked victory from defeat." 
 Many stories might be told to prove 
 this. Let us listen to two. 
 
 The fierce tribe of Narragansetts num- 
 bered five thousand warriors. They 
 were never happy except when on the 
 warpath. One day two messengers 
 came to Plymouth. They bore a bundle 
 of arrows fastened together with a snake 
 skin. It was a declaration of war from 
 the Narragansetts. 
 
 Standish and Governor Bradford re- 
 turned exactly the right answer. By 
 one messenger they sent this word : 
 "If you love war rather than peace, you 
 
1 64 MILES STANDISH 
 
 may begin as soon as you like. We fear you not." 
 By the other, they returned the snake skin with a 
 handful of bullets. 
 
 This unshaken front had its effect. The tribe did 
 not take the warpath. They even returned the bullets, 
 which were to them unknown and dangerous objects. 
 
 At one time there was a widespread plot to kill all 
 the white men. Many chiefs had pledged themselves 
 to this work. Massasoit had been asked to join and 
 had hesitated. 
 
 Soon after, news came to Plymouth that Massasoit 
 was ill. The Pilgrims at once sent Edward Winslow 
 and one other man with medicine and other comforts 
 to the sick chief. 
 
 They found poor Massasoit blind and helpless. Eight 
 women were chafing his hands and feet. Most of the 
 tribe were within the room or just outside. All were 
 uttering "such a hellish noise as it distempered us that 
 were well." 
 
 When Massasoit heard of the arrival of Winslow, he 
 called him to his side. 
 
 "Art thou Winslow?" 
 ' "Yes." 
 
 "0 Winslow, I shall never see thee again !" 
 
 Winslow stated his errand, and Massasoit consented 
 to try the white man's medicine. It worked wonders ; 
 in a few days he could see once more. Soon he was on 
 the road to recovery. 
 
CAPTAIN OF PLYMOUTH 165 
 
 "The English are my friends and love me," said 
 Massasoit. "While I live I shall never forget the kind- 
 ness they have shown me." 
 
 Massasoit kept his word. He told Winslow of the 
 plot against the Pilgrims. He named the ringleaders 
 and advised that they be seized at once. "Don't let 
 the English wait to be attacked ; they must be the 
 first to strike." 
 
 This was serious news for the little colony. But Miles 
 Standish acted promptly. He selected eight men to go 
 with him. He was urged to take more, but he declined. 
 
 His plan was to let the Indians think he had come to 
 Massachusetts Bay on a peaceful trading trip. He suc- 
 ceeded. In groups of twos and threes they came to 
 look the white men over. Often they uttered threats 
 and flourished their knives, even sharpening them in 
 Standish's face. 
 
 Peck'suet was the most insulting. He said to 
 Standish, "Though you are a great captain, yet you 
 are but a little man. Though I be no sachem, yet I 
 am a man of great strength and courage." 
 
 One day Standish, with great tact, drew Pecksuet 
 and three other leading warriors into a room by them- 
 selves. Then with three of his men he entered and 
 locked the door. As a signal he plunged his knife into 
 the breast of Pecksuet, "the man of great strength and 
 courage." The other white men fought valiantly, and 
 soon all four of the boastful leaders were slain. This 
 
i66 
 
 MILES STANDISH 
 
 prompt attack had its effect. The Indians were afraid, 
 and gave up their plan of massacre. 
 
 Many such stories could be told of the doughty little 
 captain. ^\lways he stood ready to buckle on his har- 
 
 Home of Miles Standish at Duxbury. 
 
 ness for the good of the colony. Thirty-three years he 
 toiled for Plymouth. 
 
 The later years of his life were spent in Duxbury, not 
 far from Plymouth. Here he owned much land, and 
 here, in 1756, he died, honored and beloved by all. 
 
JOHN WINTHROP, BUILDER OF A FREE 
 
 STATE 
 
 It is a beautiful day in early April of the year 1630. 
 Four vessels are leaving the English coast. The flag- 
 ship is the Arbella. On the deck of the Arhella stand 
 men, women, and children, shading their eyes and 
 gazing over the sea. 
 The vessel is sailing 
 westward, but they 
 are not gazing west- 
 ward. Instead, 
 they are straining 
 their eyes to the 
 east to catch the 
 last glimpse of 
 the rocky shores 
 of Cornwall. They 
 love England, their 
 dear old home, and 
 nearly all of them 
 will never see her 
 shores again. No wonder their lips tremble and their 
 eyes are full of tears. 
 
 The people on board the Arhella seem a very goodly 
 
 167 
 
 The Arhella 
 
1 68 JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 company. There are noble-looking men, gentle, stately 
 women, and sweet little children. Near the stern 
 stands a man whom you look at again and again. It 
 is not because he is handsome. It is rather because 
 of the beautiful expression of his face. There is seen 
 wisdom, great kindness, and gentleness. His two boys 
 of nine and twelve stand beside him. Little Adam 
 clings to his father's hand, for he loves him dearly. 
 Twelve-year-old Stephen presses close to his father's 
 arm, and together they look their last on old England. 
 
 Who is this man ? He is John Winthrop, sometimes 
 called the Washington of the colonial period. This 
 means that, at the time when our country was being 
 settled, he filled a place such as Washington filled when 
 we were fighting the Revolutionary War. Winthrop 's 
 face is sad as he gazes off towards the ever fainter coast 
 line. What is he leaving behind ? He leaves an hon- 
 ored position, a comfortable income, a beautiful old 
 estate, a dear wife and children, and many true old 
 friends. But more than all, he is sad because he sees 
 dark days ahead for England. And he loves England, 
 although he is leaving her forever. 
 
 Forty-two years ago, in the year when Winthrop was 
 born, the Spanish Armada met its great defeat. That 
 was a golden year for Englishmen. How they gloried in 
 good Queen Bess and the liberty she had given them! 
 But times have changed since then. King Charles 
 the First is trying to crush all freedom in England for- 
 
BUILDER OF A FREE STATE 169 
 
 ever. But free-born Englishmen will not live under 
 this yoke. Cromwell and his friends are making ready 
 to draw the sword. Others who do not wish for civil 
 war seek a new home elsewhere. Thus the Pilgrims 
 went, first to Holland and then to Plymouth. And now 
 this much larger company is crossing to Massachusetts 
 Bay. 
 
 When Winthrop thinks of America, his heart is full 
 of hope. The reason is that on this very Arhella is one 
 of the most precious possessions a ship ever carried 
 across the Atlantic Ocean. Is it bars of gold or silver ? 
 Heaps of pearls ? Tons of spice ? No, it is just a 
 piece of parchment. But this same bit of parchment 
 gives the members of the colony the right to govern 
 themselves. They are practically free men from the 
 moment they step on the new soil of America. The 
 rank and file of the colony do not realize this. But 
 John Winthrop and the other leaders do. That is 
 why there are people of high station among the set- 
 tlers. They are not all humble people like the Pil- 
 grims at Plymouth. 
 
 Before this, English companies had always kept 
 their charters in England, where most of the men of 
 the company lived. There the king could easily con- 
 trol them. Also, charters could be withdrawn and 
 destroyed. But when the king granted the Massa- 
 chusetts Bay Company land in America and a charter, 
 the Company acted unexpectedly. They did not send 
 
I70 JOHX WIXTHROP 
 
 forth a colony; instead, they became the colony and 
 carried their charter overseas themselves. The king 
 would never have permitted this, had he known. 
 
 The voyage was long, cold, and stormy. One fierce 
 storm lasted ten days. There was seasickness among 
 the women and children, and even among the men. 
 Governor Winthrop was fully as good as a doctor. 
 He had medicines that he gave to the sick, and he tended 
 and cheered them with his warm sympathy. 
 
 On the 2 2d of June the ships cast anchor in Salem 
 Harbor. A poor little settlement had been made 
 there two years before. The people of Salem wel- 
 comed the newcomers bravely. Cannon were fired, and 
 Governor Endicott of Salem came on board to welcome 
 the company. 
 
 The new arrivals did not care to settle in Salem, for 
 it did not seem to them a healthful place. They ex- 
 plored the neighborhood, and finally decided to go to 
 Charlestown. But there they soon were troubled by 
 a scarcity of water. 
 
 Across the river lived William Blackstone, who had 
 a large estate on Beacon Hill. He heard of the suf- 
 ferings of Winthrop's company, and he sent a most gen- 
 erous proposal to Charlestown. This was that the 
 people should settle on his land, where there was a 
 famous spring. Was not this a beautiful act of hos- 
 pitality? Winthrop was glad to accept Blackstone's 
 invitation, and a large number of his people settled upon 
 
BUILDER OF A FREE STATE 
 
 171 
 
 the land that was to become Boston. They paid 
 Blackstone for the land they took, but his kindness is 
 
 none the less to be re- 
 membered. 
 
 But there were so 
 many people that they 
 did not all wish to re- 
 main in one place. So 
 they spread out and 
 settled the towns of 
 Cambridge, Roxbury, 
 Dorchester, and Water- 
 town. 
 
 Busy months fol- 
 lowed, for homes had 
 to be built for all these 
 people. Then came a 
 sad and terrible care. 
 This was sickness. It 
 was due to the discom- 
 forts of the cold and 
 stormy voyage, and to the poor shelter that was all 
 they could provide for themselves in the early weeks 
 of the settlement. 
 
 One sweet and gentle Englishwoman who had crossed 
 the sea was the Lady Arbella Johnson, "the daughter 
 of an Earl." The flagship had been named for her. 
 She lived only three days after reaching land. As the 
 
 
 "They explored the neighborhood." 
 
172 JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 preacher, John Cotton, said, "She took New England 
 on her way to heaven." Her husband, Isaac Johnson, 
 the wealthiest man in the colony, lived but one month 
 longer. 
 
 It was a fearful winter for the settlers. Used as 
 they were to the mild seasons of Old England, New 
 England seemed ferocious, as it buried them in its 
 snOws and froze them with its cold. Plenty of good 
 food was needed to help them through the winter. But 
 instead they ate clams and mussels from the beach, 
 and acorns and groundnuts from the woods. Some- 
 times they had fish, and sometimes they were able 
 to get a little corn from the Indians. But often the 
 settlers were hungry as well as cold. "Surely the 
 winter stars never looked down on a forlorner sight." 
 
 Nine hundred came out in June, and by December no 
 less than two hundred had been buried. "It may be 
 said of us," wrote the deputy governor, "almost as of 
 the Egyptians, that there is not a house where there is 
 not one dead." 
 
 Governor Winthrop was the life and hope of the settle- 
 ment. He nursed their sick and prayed with their 
 dying. He worked with his own hands, in order to 
 encourage the idle to better things. As Cotton Mather 
 says, "he was Joseph unto whom the whole body of 
 the people repaired when their crops failed them. And 
 the Lord was with him as with Joseph of old. One 
 winter day he drew the last handful of meal from the 
 
BUILDER OF A FREE STATE 
 
 173 
 
 barrel to give to a poor man at the door. Where the 
 next bread was to come from he knew not. And lo, 
 he lifted up his eyes and beheld a ship at the harbor's 
 mouth laden with 
 provisions for them 
 all." You can im- 
 agine with what 
 thankful hearts a 
 day of thanksgiving 
 was kept. 
 
 The people of the 
 Massachusetts Bay 
 Colony were deeply 
 religious. Unlike 
 thePilgrimsof Plym- 
 outh, they did 
 not separate them- 
 selves from the 
 Church of England. 
 They wished rather to stay in it and to purify it. 
 Hence they were called Puritans. 
 
 When the supply ship returned, one hundred faint- 
 hearted people went back to their old homes in England. 
 That was a large number. ' Winthrop was much dis- 
 turbed. He loved his new country and hoped all 
 things for it. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was to 
 him as a child, and he cherished it tenderly. 
 
 The fall of 1631 brought his dear wife Margaret, his 
 
 " A ship at the harbor's mouth." 
 
174 
 
 JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 eldest son John, and others of his household. In all, 
 a thousand people came to Massachusetts Bay in 1631, 
 and as the number kept on increasing in the next few 
 years, John Winthrop saw strong and flourishing towTis 
 arising along the curve of Massachusetts Bay. 
 
 The arrival of Winthrop's wife. 
 
 When you are older and are studying government, 
 you will understand more fully the wonderful service 
 of Governor Winthrop to Massachusetts. But let me 
 try to tell you a little very briefly. 
 
 To begin with, he was governor twelve of the nine- 
 teen years that he lived in the colony. Whenever there 
 was a crisis, Winthrop was made governor to tide the 
 settlers over the difficulty. 
 
 In the second place, Winthrop held the charter for 
 
BUILDER OF A FREE STATE 175 
 
 Massachusetts. Again and again it was demanded by 
 those in power in England. Governor Winthrop was 
 very skillful in his excuses for not sending it. Once 
 the General Court of the colony met and passed a vote 
 that meant plainly, "We won't give it up." The 
 governor was then directed to write a letter to that 
 effect. Was not this a hard task ? But Winthrop 
 performed the duty with masterly wisdom and grace. 
 His letter was tactful ; yet it put the matter in such 
 a Hght that the other side seemed in the wrong. 
 Massachusetts was aided in holding the charter by the 
 civil war in England. Just when she was in great 
 danger of losing it, something of far more importance 
 would occur in England, and the charter would be for- 
 gotten for a few years. 
 
 A third service of Winthrop's was the building up of 
 a free government in Massachusetts. Some one has 
 said that Winthrop worked out in eighteen years what 
 it took Europe eighteen centuries to arrive at. The 
 reason why he succeeded was that he was teachable. 
 His plan for the government of the colony was one thing 
 when he came, but events, as they arose, taught him to 
 modify his idea. Because he had a sweet, teachable 
 spirit, he shaped the conduct of afTairs to meet the 
 needs of the people. He was ever ready to admit 
 himself in the wrong and to promise to do better. Thus 
 the people came to know his character, and, holding him 
 as their greatest man, followed his lead without question. 
 
176 JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 The fourth service of Winthrop's was the gift to 
 Massachusetts of an ideal patriot. How he loved his 
 adopted country ! From the moment his foot trod 
 her shores New England was "the best land the sun 
 shone on." Her interests came first always. It was 
 years before the General Court voted him a tiny salary. 
 At one time, when the governor was under sharp criti- 
 cism, the General Court asked him to present his ac- 
 count for inspection It was then found that he had 
 paid over live thousand dollars out of his own pocket 
 for the benefit of the colony. This had been intended 
 for a gift ; no one would have known the fact if the 
 General Court had not made its demand. 
 
 Winthrop was generous in smaller ways. Let us 
 read the story of the woodpile as Cotton Mather tells 
 it. 
 
 "In a hard and long winter, when wood was very 
 scarce at Boston, a man gave him private information 
 that a needy person in the neighborhood stole wood 
 sometimes from his woodpile ; whereupon the governour 
 in a seeming anger did reply, 'Does he so? I'll take 
 a course with him ; go, call that man to me, I'll warrant 
 you I'U cure him of stealing.' When the man came, 
 the governour considering that if he had stolen, it was 
 more out of necessity than disposition, said unto him, 
 'Friend, it is a severe winter, and I doubt you are 
 meanly provided for wood ; wherefore I would have 
 you supply yourself at my woodpile till this cold sea- 
 
BUILDER OF A FREE STATE 
 
 177 
 
 son be over.' And he then merrily asked his friends, 
 whether he had not effectually cured this man of 
 stealing his wood ? " 
 
 " I would have you supply yourself at my woodpile." 
 
 No wonder the Massachusetts Bay Colony loved its 
 governor ! He was, as all felt, a true Christian. 
 
 Two great acts of the Puritans must never be for- 
 gotten. They established Harvard College at Cam- 
 
 COE F. — 12 
 
178 JOHN WINTHROP 
 
 bridge in 1636. They established pubhc schools, where 
 all children could find free education, in the year 1647. 
 All within their borders were to have the chance to 
 become educated citizens. 
 
 "What do you raise here from this sand and these 
 rocks?" asked a traveler in the Old Bay State. And 
 the answer was, "We raise men." 
 
JOHN ELIOT, THE MISSIONARY PIONEER 
 
 There is a famous story of schoolboy life in England 
 that you all will want to read very soon. It is Tom 
 Brown's School Days at Rugby. Tom Brown is a 
 good football player and a fine, manly lad who be- 
 friends a younger boy named Arthur. Arthur grows 
 to be the honored dean of Westminster, Dean Stanley. 
 Dean Stanley once paid a visit to America, and at that 
 time some one said to him "What are the places that 
 you would like to visit?" "There are two," said the 
 Dean. "One is the place where the Pilgrims landed, 
 and the other is the place where John Eliot preached." 
 
 Now, as a matter of fact, John Eliot preached in 
 many places. His parish was a wide one. It stretched 
 from the Merrimac River on the north to Providence 
 on the south, and from Nantucket on the east to Brook- 
 field on the west. Its compass was about equal to half 
 of Massachusetts to-day. How did it happen that a 
 simple minister of the gospel should have duties to call 
 him so far afield ? What is the story of his life ? 
 
 John Eliot was born in 1604 in Hertfordshire, Eng- 
 land. He was a graduate of Cambridge University. 
 While in college, he showed that he had great ability 
 in the study of languages. 
 
 179 
 
l8o JOHN ELIOT 
 
 At the age of twenty-seven the young man, now a 
 minister, came to Massachusetts Bay. This was in 
 1 63 1, when the settlement was new and feeble. Eliot 
 preached in the Boston church for a while. The people 
 were delighted with him and wished him to remain, but he 
 preferred to go to Roxbury, where he was settled in 1632. 
 
 Eliot's church stood on a hill. The buUding was 
 about thirty feet long, twenty feet wide, and twelve 
 high. It was made of logs, plastered with clay. The 
 roof was thatched and the floor was of earth. A fine 
 old colonial meetinghouse to-day marks the spot where 
 once stood the humble house of the first church in 
 Roxbury. 
 
 Eliot's own little home was at the foot of the hill, 
 about a stone's throw from the meetinghouse. 
 
 There was an early law that every one should build 
 within a half mile of the church. This was to secure 
 the greater safety of the colonies against the Indians. 
 That shady half mile of village street might have been 
 John Eliot's world. Here he might have led a quiet 
 and useful life, writing his sermons in his cottage home, 
 going up to the meetinghouse to preach them, calling 
 upon his people at their houses along Roxbury Street, 
 occasionally going the two miles to Boston to consult 
 with his brother ministers over church or state matters. 
 Such a life would have been good and useful, but it 
 would have lacked the devoted sacrifice that makes us 
 honor John Eliot so greatly. 
 
THE MISSIONARY PIONEER 
 
 i»i 
 
 From the time of his arrival in America, Eliot had 
 been interested in the Indians. Daily he passed them 
 in the village street ; beyond the village he saw them 
 gliding through the woods, perhaps close beside his 
 own path. He knew their bad qualities as well as 
 
 
 " Eliot passed them in the village street." 
 
 their good. On the one hand they were idle, cruel, 
 and most bitter enemies. Like the grass around a 
 cabin door that a spark turns into a roaring blaze, so 
 a look, a word would turn them into raging devils. 
 On the other hand, they were good to their children 
 and true to their friends. Eliot was especially inter- 
 ested to know that they worshiped one whom they 
 
1 82 JOHN ELIOT 
 
 called the Great Spirit. Him they seemed to see in 
 the passing clouds, in the forest shades, and in the 
 mighty faces of rugged mountains. 
 
 Eliot's thoughts might have run something like this : 
 "Here are these poor red men whose land we whites 
 have taken in order to enjoy our religion, of which they 
 know nothing. We should hasten to give them the best 
 we have, — the gospel, education, all that we possess that 
 they lack. This is an instant duty. It is not some- 
 thing to be done by and by. As it is, we have waited 
 too long." 
 
 The first step was to learn the language of his Indian 
 neighbors. He found a young Indian who had been 
 a servant in an English household and who understood 
 English well. With his aid, Eliot made rapid progress. 
 
 In three years' time he felt ready to attempt a little 
 sermon. A company of Indians were gathered in Chief 
 Waban's wigwam near Newton. To that place came 
 Eliot and told the simple gospel story. Then he asked 
 if they had understood. How eagerly he listened for 
 the answer ! Had his labors been successful after all ? 
 A shout of assent was the reply, and then followed eager 
 questions upon what he had taught them. Plainly 
 these Indians not only had understood, but also cared 
 to know more. 
 
 Eliot was a man of practical good sense. He knew 
 that to give the Indians the gospel alone was not enough. 
 What they also needed was education. 
 
THE MISSIONARY PIONEER 
 
 183 
 
 So Eliot began to gather his red men into villages. 
 At first he had these villages near the white settle- 
 ments. Later, he altered his plan, preferring to place 
 
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 Eliot preaching to the Indians. 
 
 the Indians by themselves. His most successful vil- 
 lage was Natick. 
 
 Eliot taught the Indians how to live. Under his 
 guidance they opened up roads, built log houses, 
 cleared their farms, planted trees, sowed seed, built 
 
1 84 JOHN ELIOT 
 
 Stone walls and bridges. The women learned to spin. 
 The villagers gave up wearing the skins of beasts and 
 accepted the dress of the white men. 
 
 As the work grew, more and more villages were 
 formed. At one time there were seventeen. Those 
 were very busy years for Eliot. He was most faithful 
 to his duties in Roxbury, but the days when he could 
 leave home were spent in riding from one Indian vil- 
 lage to the next, preaching, advising, rebuking, en- 
 couraging. Often wet to the skin all day long, wring- 
 ing the water from his clothing when he halted for the 
 night, shelterless, and with no fire, he speaks of such 
 hardships with joy: "God stepped in and helped — 
 for I considered that word of God, ' Endure hardness as 
 a good soldier of Christ.'" Dangers and death lurked 
 beside the lonely roads, but this made no difference to 
 the apostle Eliot. 
 
 Much of John Eliot's success with the Indians was 
 due to his kindliness. He was not stern nor austere. 
 He was most winning in manner. He carried with 
 him apples, cakes, and other goodies for the papooses, 
 and tobacco for the men. Often, after a long sermon, he 
 would pass these welcome gifts around. 
 
 But all the time Eliot had been planting and tending 
 Indian villages, months and years of toil had gone 
 into another wonderful service. He had translated 
 the Bible into the Indian tongue. Considering that 
 the language had never been written, the task was 
 
THE MISSIONARY PIONEER 
 
 185 
 
 stupendous. After a day of great bodily fatigue, this 
 gentle old saint would toil by the light of a tallow candle 
 far into the watches of the night. 
 
 The last years of Eliot's life were saddened by the 
 failure of his mission. This was largely due to King 
 
 Philip's War. Some 
 of the Christian 
 Indians joined their 
 kith and kin and 
 made war against 
 the whites. The 
 result of this action 
 was that the English 
 came to distrust all 
 the "praying In- 
 dians." Many of 
 the villages were 
 broken up. The 
 Indians of Natick 
 were removed to Deer Island. There they were prac- 
 tically under guard. They could do no harm on an 
 island, as they might in the open. 
 
 Eliot did all that he could for his people in these 
 trying times. He spent his money to supply their 
 needs and protected them as far as he was able. But he 
 could not be everywhere at once, and the poor Indians 
 suffered much. 
 
 Eliot died in 1690, at the age of eighty-six. On al- 
 
 Eliot giving cakes to the Indian children. 
 
1 86 JOHN p:liot 
 
 most the last day of his hfe he taught a Httle Indian 
 boy his a 6 c's. 
 
 His work had crumbled to naught. Had anything 
 remained ? This. He proved that the Indian could 
 be educated, and showed us the one way in which he 
 could be reached, — by brotherly fellowship. After 
 two hundred and fifty years of error in dealing with 
 the red man, we are coming to see that John Eliot's 
 way is the only path to follow. There are noble schools 
 to-day at Hampton in Virginia, Carlisle in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and other places, where Indians are taught high 
 ideals and the useful arts of life. With them in mind 
 we can say of John Eliot : "His soul is marching on !" 
 
PHILIP, CHIEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 
 
 Do you remember Massasoit, the friend of the people 
 of Plymouth ? When he was ill, Edward Winslow went 
 to him with medicine that cured him, Massasoit was 
 grateful, and all his life long he was a friend to the 
 white men. The treaty that he made with them in 
 162 1 was kept for forty years. 
 
 When Massasoit died in the year 1660, he left two 
 sons. They had been given the English names of 
 Alexander and Philip. Alexander was the elder, and 
 so he became chief of the Wampanoags in place of his 
 father. 
 
 The principal village of the Wampanoags was situated 
 on the slope of a beautiful hill overlooking the spar- 
 kling waters of Narragansett Bay. The houses of the 
 village were wig\vams built of poles fastened together 
 at the top with tough bark from the walnut tree. The 
 tent-shaped skeleton was covered with mats made of 
 reeds or flags. Openings were left for doors, which 
 were closed with mats, or left open, according to the 
 direction of the wind. 
 
 In the center of the wigwam burned the fire. A few 
 skins thrown upon the ground were almost the only 
 furniture. 
 
 187 
 
1 88 PHILIP 
 
 Near the wigwams were underground storerooms, 
 where corn was laid away for the winter. Here also 
 were kept salted meats and fish. 
 
 The Indian brave led a very simple life. Every 
 spring and fall he went on a hunting trip which lasted 
 for three months. The remainder of the year he fished 
 or idled away his time in the village, either sleeping or 
 watching his squaw at work in the fields. The life of 
 an Indian chief differed very little from that of his 
 warriors. 
 
 Alexander and Philip were tall, erect men with 
 bronzed faces and coarse black hair hanging over their 
 shoulders. Like all the braves, they were clothed in 
 the skins of animals. Their moccasins were made of 
 deerskin. On festive occasions they decked themselves 
 with earrings, bracelets, and necklaces made of pebbles, 
 fishbones, or brightly tinted shells. Their faces were 
 gayly painted and their heads were crowned with curious 
 headdresses made of feathers. 
 
 Now, in those days, the Indians were far from con- 
 tented. They had many grievances against the white 
 men. 
 
 In the first place, they saw their lands passing rapidly 
 into the Englishman's hands. He paid for them, it is 
 true, but when he wished to buy he would not take no 
 for an answer. So the Indians of New England found 
 themselves crowded into peninsulas along the coast. 
 With their foes surrounded on three sides by water, the 
 
CHIEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 189 
 
 white men needed to guard but one side in case of 
 trouble. The hunting grounds of the Indians had 
 become towns and villages ; their parks were now 
 pastures ; even their fishing grounds were thronged 
 by the newcomers. The natives could not go west, 
 because the land there belonged to other tribes. There 
 was nothing for them to do but to remain where they 
 were. 
 
 Another matter that perplexed and angered the 
 Indians was the work of John Eliot. They saw 
 that the praying Indians separated themselves from 
 their savage friends. They lived near the whites ; 
 they tried to be like them. The red men thought the 
 Englishmen were strengthening themselves by adopting 
 these converted Indians "into their tribe." You re- 
 member how Captain John Smith was adopted into the 
 tribe of the Powhatans in Virginia. Adoption was a 
 common custom among the Indians. But they thought 
 the white men were adopting on too large a scale. 
 
 A third cause for grievance was the careful way in 
 which the Indians were watched by the colonies. If 
 they did anything that displeased the English, they were 
 called to appear before the courts and explain. There 
 they were fined or punished in some fashion. It was 
 very humiliating. The worst part of it all was that 
 they had, by treaty, made themselves subjects of the 
 English king. Perhaps they had not then realized 
 exactly how it would seem. But they were forced, as 
 
IQO PHILIP 
 
 by an iron hand, to submit to the orders of the white 
 men's courts, and to keep all the terms of the treaties. 
 
 " The Indians were forced to submit to the orders of the white men's courts." 
 
 Alexander did not remain sachem very long. The 
 court of Plymouth ordered him to present himself be- 
 
CHIEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 191 
 
 fore them. Certain charges had been made against 
 him, and from these he must clear himself, Alexander 
 was angry at being ordered about in this fashion. But 
 he went and satisfied the Plymouth court that the 
 charges against him were false. On the way home he 
 was taken sick and died. His brother Philip always 
 believed that the English had poisoned him. 
 
 Canon'chet, the chief of the powerful Narragansetts, 
 had a grievance very much like Philip's; still other 
 chiefs had other troubles. Thus it came to pass that 
 when the leaders met, they talked over their woes, as 
 was very natural. These things came to the ears of 
 the English ; the rumor was that Philip was plotting 
 to make war on the settlements. 
 
 Again and again the English sent for Philip to ex- 
 plain himself. At these times Philip would make fresh 
 promises of friendship, or perhaps sign a new treaty. 
 Once he agreed that his tribe should give up their 
 muskets. In the early days of the colonies, the Indians 
 had had only bows and arrows. But now, through 
 trade with the Dutch, the French, and even the 
 English themselves, they were well armed with mus- 
 kets. What is more, they were very skillful marksmen. 
 The Indians were now stronger foes than ever, in case 
 of war. Only a few dozen muskets were surrendered 
 by Philip's tribe, but the colonists let matters rest 
 there. 
 
 A few more years passed by, and then in June, 
 
192 PHILIP 
 
 1675, suddenly the Wampanoags fell upon Swansea, 
 a settlement in the Plymouth colony, near Rhode 
 Island. Some of Philip's young warriors burned two 
 houses. A company of Massachusetts men were 
 promptly sent out to punish these young men. As the 
 English drew near Swansea, they were horrified to see 
 dead and mutilated bodies strewn along the road. A 
 second raid had been made upon the town, the houses 
 had been burned, and the people slain. An Indian 
 war — the most fearful sort of conflict — had begun 
 in New England. 
 
 Philip was surrounded in his home at Mt. Hope by 
 troops from Boston and Plymouth. The Indian vil- 
 lage was soon taken, but Philip and his braves had 
 escaped. The Nipmucks were rising, and the Wam- 
 panoags joined with them. 
 
 And now the weak little settlements along the Con- 
 necticut River might well tremble. Here was the far 
 frontier of Massachusetts, and with often only a hand- 
 ful of families in a village, what stand could be made 
 against hundreds of shrieking savages ? The settlers 
 were poor men. All they had in the world was their 
 log huts and their wide fields of standing corn, wheat, 
 and grass. It was at harvest time that the danger came, 
 — in late summer and fall ! What should be done ? 
 
 The family of the farmer would be safe from Indians 
 in Boston. True, but if he found no work in the town, 
 they might starve or be obliged to accept charity. A 
 
CHIEF OF THE WAMPANt)AGS 
 
 193 
 
 few weeks more on the farm, and the harvest would be 
 in. Thus many and many a man took the risk. But 
 it was bitterly hard to leave wife and children in the 
 
 " The father might be shot in the field." 
 
 morning, not knowing whether you would ever meet 
 again. The father might be shot in the field, the wife 
 and babies killed and scalped in the kitchen, and the 
 house fired over their heads, all in a short quarter hour. 
 No wonder mothers hugged their little ones closely as 
 
 COE F. — 13 
 
194 PHILIP 
 
 the twilight fell ; no wonder fathers lingered on the 
 doorstone before setting forth to the fields in the morn- 
 ing. Behind the familiar bush or friendly haystack, 
 the savage might lurk even then, and death might come 
 at any moment. 
 
 All that golden autumn the red terror stalked through 
 the fair Connecticut Valley. The cry of alarm went 
 up from Brookfield, Deerfield, Northfield, Hadley, and 
 Springfield. We cannot tell the story of all these 
 towns, but you may be interested to learn what hap- 
 pened in Brookfield and Hadley. 
 
 On August 2, 1675, a party of three hundred Indians 
 attacked Brookfield. The village was a small one, as 
 it did not contain more than thirty or forty men. 
 These, with some fifty women and children, took ref- 
 uge in one large house. Here they held out for three 
 days. The other houses were burned, and then the 
 savages gave all their attention to this building. Ar- 
 rows tipped with burning rags were shot against the 
 roof. But there were careful watchers, and the 
 sparks were promptly put out. The second story was 
 an "overhang," so that the settlers could prevent the 
 savages from coming close to the house walls. They 
 kept up a strong defense with their muskets. 
 
 On the third day the Indians set about making a 
 rude cart from barrels and planks. Upon this they 
 heaped tow and shingles. These they meant to fire, 
 and then the whole was to be launched against the 
 
CHIEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 195 
 
 wooden walls of the house, which would probably burn 
 like tinder. The plan was clever, but it failed. A 
 heavy rain fell, and the "fire cart" was useless. 
 
 Just after sundown rescue came ! Curtis, a scout, 
 had made his way out of Brookiield through the ranks 
 of the savages. At noon that day he found Simon 
 Willard and his little party of forty-seven horsemen. 
 He told them of the peril of the people of Brookfield, 
 and at once Willard decided to aid the besieged. 
 Thirty miles, over a poor road, they galloped that after- 
 noon, and at the close of day they scattered the Indians 
 and freed the poor villagers, who had fought for their 
 lives so long and well. 
 
 Hadley was attacked while the people were in church. 
 In the midst of the Sabbath hush a wild yell was heard. 
 The Indians were upon them ! The men seized their 
 guns and rushed out of doors. All around them was 
 the painted, leaping, shrieking foe. It is not strange 
 that, in the face of the sudden assault, the white men 
 should have wavered. 
 
 Suddenly a voice of command was heard. A stately 
 old man with keen eyes and snow-white beard stood 
 before them. In his hand glittered a drawn sword. 
 He took command, and all obeyed his orders. In a 
 very short time they had beaten off the savages. They 
 looked around for their leader, but he was nowhere to 
 be seen. Hence it was often said that the Lord that 
 day sent his angel to fight for the people of Hadley. 
 
ig6 
 
 PHILIP 
 
 This was true, but the so-called angel was still in 
 the flesh. He was William Goffe, one of the judges 
 who had sentenced King Charles I to be beheaded 
 during the civil war in England. After Charles I's son, 
 Charles II, came to the English throne, the lives of 
 these "regicide judges" were not worth a penny. Two 
 
 "He took command and saved the day." 
 
 of them were hiding in New England. At the time 
 of the attack, Goffe had been sitting at a window in 
 the house of a friend. He had seen the stealthy 
 approach of the redskins, the rush into the \illage, 
 and the moment's panic of the farmers. He had once 
 been a great general, and old impulses returned to 
 him. He took command and saved the day. 
 
 All this time the powerful Narragansetts had not 
 taken the field. Philip's friends, the Nipmucks, had 
 
CmEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 1 97 
 
 done the fighting in the Connecticut Valley. Some of 
 the Wampanoags had taken refuge with the Narra- 
 gansetts. The latter had a treaty with the whites 
 by which they were not to harbor the enemies of the 
 English. The English called upon the Narragansetts 
 to give up the refugees by a certain time. The Narra- 
 gansetts were much impressed by the Indian successes 
 along the Connecticut. They were half inclined to 
 throw in their lot with Philip, in spite of their 
 many treaties with the whites. While they were yet 
 undecided, the day passed for the giving up of the 
 hostages. The Narragansetts did nothing. Rumors 
 were about that they were making ready for war. 
 
 Then the English determined to act promptly and 
 forcefully. They made ready to send a winter ex- 
 pedition against the Narragansetts. Massachusetts, 
 Plymouth, and Connecticut sent troops for the under- 
 taking. The expedition numbered one thousand men. 
 Its commander was Governor Winslow of Plymouth. 
 
 Now, the village of the Narragansetts was not easily 
 attacked. It was situated on some five or six acres of 
 rising ground in the midst of a swamp. A wooden 
 palisade twelve feet thick surrounded the village. 
 There was but one entrance, and that was reached by a 
 bridge made of a log two feet thick. This bridge was 
 raised five feet from the ground and was protected by 
 a blockhouse. The blockhouse was filled with sharp- 
 shooters, and the log was slippery with ice. Altogether 
 
1 98 PHILIP 
 
 the place was a formidable fort, to storm which required 
 great skill. 
 
 It was Sunday, the 19th of December. The colo- 
 nists had made a hard march of eighteen miles through 
 deep snow. By noon they had reached the neighbor- 
 hood of the Narragansett village. Should they attack 
 that day? As their provisions were running short, 
 Winslow decided that there must be no delay. He ar- 
 ranged his men and they started across the swamp, 
 which was now frozen. The men of Massachusetts 
 led and the men of Plymouth followed. They forced 
 their way in at the door of the blockhouse, while the 
 men of Connecticut entered through a weak place in 
 the palisades. 
 
 And now within the fort were enacted terrible scenes 
 on that wintry Sunday afternoon ! Wigwams were 
 fired ; stores of grain were destroyed ; one thousand 
 men, women, and children were either shot or burned 
 to death ; in a few hours the place was laid in ashes. 
 This was a terrible blow to the Narragansetts, from 
 which they never fully rallied. 
 
 The rest of the war may be told very briefly. Sur- 
 prises and massacres began again in the spring. At 
 length the forces of the Narragansetts and the Nip- 
 mucks were broken ; many of them were captured. 
 Next, Philip's wife and little son of nine years were 
 taken prisoners. "My heart breaks," said Philip. 
 "Now I am ready to die." 
 
CfflEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 199 
 
 With a very few followers he drifted back to his old 
 home, Mt. Hope. He was followed and closely hemmed 
 in by Captain Church and his men. One of Philip's 
 warriors suggested that now was the time for Philip 
 to make terms of peace. Philip was furious and slew 
 the man with his tomahawk. Then the brother of the 
 dead man crept away and sought Church. He offered 
 to guide the English to Philip. 
 
 Early in the morning Philip and his men awoke. 
 They saw their enemy stealing forward to surround 
 them. Philip sprang to his feet and, grasping his 
 gun, made a dash for liberty. Two men fired, — an 
 Englishman and a friendly Indian. The Englishman's 
 gun missed fire, but the bullet of the Indian went home. 
 Philip fell face foremost into a pool in the swamp. 
 
 These were harsh old times. Philip's head was cut 
 off and sent to Plymouth, where it was set upon a pole 
 and displayed on the village green. At the same time 
 a thanksgiving was held in the church at Boston. 
 Many of the chief sachems were hanged. Many war- 
 riors, together with women and children, were sold as 
 slaves to the West Indies. That was the sad fate of 
 Philip's wife and son. 
 
 The war was now over in southern New England, 
 but every^vhere was sorrow and mourning. Of ninety 
 towns, twelve were gone, while over forty had been the 
 scene of fire or massacre. About six hundred men had 
 been killed in battle or murdered, to say nothing of 
 
200 
 
 PHILIP 
 
 women and children. One family in eleven had been 
 burned out, and every eleventh soldier had fallen. 
 
 The colonies were heavily in debt ; it was a time of 
 deep gloom and sadness everywhere. 
 
 ^'»^>^^ 
 
 Death of Philip. 
 
 It is hard to tell just how far the war was due to 
 Philip. Very likely he had an understanding with 
 the Nipmucks, and possibly with the Narragansetts. 
 
CHIEF OF THE WAMPANOAGS 201 
 
 But there was no carefully planned conspiracy. He has 
 been likened to the match that explodes the powder 
 cask. 
 
 Writers are not agreed as to Philip's character. 
 Some claim that he was no organizer, and that he was 
 a great coward, "the first to fly in any attack." 
 Others assert that he was far-sighted, keen to see what 
 was best for his people, and truly patriotic. Some day 
 you may read and judge for yourself the truth con- 
 cerning " this most famous Indian of colonial times." 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 
 
 Pilgrim and Puritan ! These are names you will 
 hear again and again in reading the liistory of our coun- 
 try. Let us see exactly what the difference is. 
 
 The Pilgrims and the Puritans were alike dissatisfied 
 with the Church of England. The Puritans, however, 
 thought the Church of England could be reformed, 
 while the Pilgrims thought otherwise. The Pilgrims 
 left the Church of England and established their own 
 church. For this reason they were sometimes called 
 Separatists. 
 
 Ten years after the Pilgrims came to Plymouth, a 
 band of Puritans, as you know, settled at Boston. 
 They were many in number, and the leaders were 
 men of wealth and influence. The settlement was a 
 success from the first. Boston was soon an important 
 town. The Massachusetts colony became much larger 
 than Plymouth, and emigrants from Massachusetts made 
 settlements also in Rhode Island, Connecticut, and 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 The people of New England have always been hard 
 workers. Their climate and soil forced them to industry. 
 
 Farming was the chief occupation. ^Although in the 
 Connecticut Valley the land was fertile, by far the 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 203 
 
 greater number of farms in New England were barren 
 and poor. By ceaseless toil the father and his growing 
 boys wrung a living from the stony hillsides and sandy 
 plains. 
 
 Fishing was the most profitable pursuit. The fish 
 were excellent and plentiful. Many were salted and 
 shipped to the West Indies and to Europe. All sorts 
 of comforts were returned to the colonies in exchange 
 for the fish. Thus commerce began. 
 
 Shipbuilding was another industry that began early. 
 Fine timber was abundant, and the Englishmen were 
 then, as always, able boat builders, navigators, and 
 saUors. 
 
 In the early days at Plymouth and Boston the set- 
 tlers had many hardships to face. The means of liveli- 
 hood were about the same at each place. Consequently 
 life was much the same in the two small towns between 
 the wilderness and the deep sea. 
 
 Should you like to enter a Pilgrim home? Should 
 you care to know what the Pilgrims wore, what they 
 ate, and how they spent their week days and their 
 Sundays ? 
 
 The first house in Plymouth was the storehouse. 
 Many crowded into the building, while their friends 
 continued to live on the Mayflower. It was estimated 
 that nineteen houses would hold all in comfort. Nine- 
 teen house lots were laid out along the first street, and 
 the men began to build homes for their families. But 
 
204 
 
 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 when seven houses had been built, they stopped. So 
 many Pilgrims had died that seven houses were all 
 that were needed. 
 
 These houses, and those built by later settlers, looked 
 much alike. They were made of logs. The space 
 between the logs was filled with a kind of mortar made 
 
 
 " They were made of logs." 
 
 of mud and chips. The windows at first were of oUed 
 paper. Later, glass was brought from England. 
 
 Fear of the Indians led to the prompt building of a 
 fort. The fort stood on Burial Hill, at whose base 
 nestled the seven houses of Plymouth. The fort was a 
 large square building with a roof of heavy timbers. 
 On this roof cannon were planted. 
 
 The large square room within the fort served for a 
 meetinghouse. Nine months later a high fence was 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 205 
 
 built around the village. This fence, or palisade, was 
 made of upright logs set in the ground side by side. The 
 palisade ran up the hill to the fort. It had three gate- 
 ways which were carefully guarded. A sentinel was 
 stationed on the platform of the fort also. 
 
 Let us enter one of the early Massachusetts homes 
 to see what comfort was possible in the seventeenth 
 century. 
 
 The chief room in the house is the kitchen, or living 
 room. This room is blessed with a glorious fireplace, 
 lofty, wide, and deep. Enormous logs can burn in this 
 cavern of a fireplace. 
 
 That iron arm, fastened to one side of the fireplace 
 and crossing almost to the other side, is the crane. 
 From the crane dangle many hooks, upon which are 
 hung various kettles and pots when a meal is being 
 prepared. 
 
 Notice the andirons on the wide stone hearth. 
 Some families have two pairs, and even three. What 
 is this tin object close by ? It is a bake oven, used in 
 baking biscuits. In the wall of the fireplace is the 
 brick oven. Here are baked such delicious things ! 
 Baked beans, brown bread, chicken, cakes, and golden 
 pumpkin pies ! 
 
 The furniture is made of wood. There were no chairs 
 at first. Benches and stools were used instead. Plates 
 were made of square blocks of wood, hollowed out with 
 knives. These wooden plates were called trenchers. 
 
2o6 
 
 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 Drinking cups and spoons also were made of wood. 
 Knives were common at table, but forks were rare. 
 
 Two people usually ate from one trencher. They 
 might be two children, or a man and his wife. One 
 drinking cup often served a whole company. These 
 
 cups were sometimes 
 made of leather. 
 This led the French 
 to say of the English 
 that they drank ale 
 out of their boots. 
 
 The one dainty 
 touch about the 
 tables was the linen. 
 Holland linen was 
 not expensive, and 
 the Pilgrim mothers 
 had brought good 
 supplies across the 
 seas. They were 
 excellent laun- 
 dresses, so the gloss on the linen was always perfect. 
 
 An important article in the living room was the spin- 
 ning wheel. Sometimes there were several wheels in a 
 household. Hours and hours were spent by the women 
 at their wheels. All the wool and linen with which to 
 clothe their large families had to be spun, woven, dyed, 
 cut, and sewed by them. There was no buying of 
 
 Early New England tableware. 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 
 
 207 
 
 ready-made clothing, or even of cloth by the yard in 
 those early days. 
 
 Let us suppose it is a winter evening when we visit 
 this early Massachusetts home. We find the family 
 gathered as close to the fire as possible. Drafts of cold 
 air enter through the chinks between the logs. Often- 
 times faces burn while backs 
 are freezing. 
 
 Stools, benches, and spin- 
 ning wheels hug the hearth. 
 The boys are whittling teeth 
 for rakes or reels for yarn. 
 The father is reading a book 
 of sermons. The mother 
 is knitting; the daughter, 
 spinning. The room is 
 lighted by burning pine 
 knots. These are called 
 candle wood. 
 
 The light flickers uncer- 
 tainly, sometimes showing wide stretches of the sanded 
 floor and causing the strings of dried apples and herbs, 
 dangling from the ceiling, to cast strange shadows. 
 The crackle of the fire, the cheep of the knife, the whir 
 of the wheel, give a sweet sense of home cheer, even in 
 the wilderness. 
 
 No one is anxious to break up the pleasant circle. 
 Cold as is the living room, the bedrooms are freezing. 
 
 Spinning. 
 
208 
 
 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 On these nights the warming pan is in demand. This 
 
 is a sort of a brass sauce- 
 pan with a cover and a 
 very long handle. Live 
 coals are placed in the pan 
 and the cover is shut down. 
 Then the warming pan is 
 passed between the linen 
 sheets to take off the chill. 
 The bedsteads are four- 
 posters with testers and 
 curtains. Still, nothing 
 Ice must actually be broken in 
 
 A warming pan. 
 
 can keep out the cold 
 
 the water pails in the morning. 
 
 The Pilgrim dress was simple and 
 sensible. The men wore long coats 
 and breeches reaching to the knee, 
 woolen stockings, and hea\y shoes. 
 In the early days ruffs were worn, 
 but these gave way to the rolling, 
 or falling collar, tied with a white 
 string and tassels. Hats were large, 
 with broad brims. 
 
 The gowns of the women were 
 usually of wool, and sensibly short. 
 The bodice was often slashed at the 
 sleeves or shoulders to show the 
 pretty white or colored underwaist. 
 
 Pilgrim clothes. 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 
 
 209 
 
 On gala occasions, a white handkerchief was folded 
 over the neck and shoulders, and deep lace-edged cuffs 
 were worn. A dainty white cap gave the final touch 
 of grace. Out of doors the women wore a close velvet 
 bonnet tied under the chin. 
 
 Children were very quaintly dressed. They were 
 
 A church meeting in Boston. 
 
 like tiny copies of their parents. Very small boys, 
 however, looked much like girls. They wore skirts 
 that reached to their ankles, and round, wide-brimmed 
 hats that tied under their chins with ribbons. 
 
 Both Pilgrims and Puritans were deeply religious 
 people. The Sabbath was kept with great strictness 
 both in Boston and in Plymouth. 
 
 Most people stopped work by three o'clock on Satur- 
 
 COE F. — 14 
 
2IO NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 day. The first Sabbath service was held Saturday 
 evening in the family. A long prayer was said, a 
 psalm was sung, and then all sat down, silently thinking 
 over the sins of the week. 
 
 Only necessary work was done on the Sabbath, as 
 the meals were largely prepared the day before. No 
 unnecessary talking was permitted. 
 
 After breakfast, the children recited their catechism 
 to either their father or their mother. Then all pre- 
 pared for church. 
 
 Morning service was at half past eight. In the 
 early days in Plymouth, the men, at beat of drum, gath- 
 ered at the door of Miles Standish, each with his musket. 
 There they formed in line three abreast. The governor 
 brought up the rear. On his right was the preacher. 
 On his left walked Captain Miles Standish with his side 
 arms. In this order the little procession wound up 
 Burial Hill to the meetinghouse. 
 
 In church each man set his musket near him, for none 
 knew when the Indians might make an attack. The 
 boys sat on the pulpit stairs. They watched the hour- 
 glass eagerly, as the preacher turned it from time to 
 time. The sermons were very long ; so was the prayer, 
 through which every one stood. Still no one dared to 
 nod, for the tithingman was watching ! 
 
 The tithingman seemed to the children more im- 
 portant than the minister. He was a curious person 
 who carried a long rod. On one end of this rod was a 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 211 
 
 fox's tail ; on the other, a rabbit's foot. If a woman 
 fell asleep, the tithingman tickled her face or neck 
 with the soft tail; but if a little boy nodded, he 
 might be rapped smartly with the rabbit's foot. 
 At two o'clock came another long service. In the 
 
 " On one end of this rod was a fox's tail." 
 
 evening the family talked over the two sermons, and the 
 children were again drilled in their catechism. 
 
 No matter how lovely the summer day, there must 
 be no sitting out of doors and no walking for pleasure. 
 That, alas, would be "walking profanely on the Sab- 
 bath !" It is no wonder that the Sabbath seemed to 
 
212 
 
 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 many a weary little Puritan as long as all the other six 
 days of the week together. 
 
 Great respect was paid to the preacher. Any man 
 or woman speaking ill of the sermon might 
 
 be dragged to the whipping j^i post to receive 
 a given number of lashes. 
 
 " The whipping post was set up very early in 
 New England." 
 
 This whipping post was much 
 used in England and was set up 
 very early in New England. Lying, swearing, and 
 sleeping in church were offenses to be punished by 
 whipping. 
 
 The stocks were another means of punishment some- 
 times found at church doors. They consisted of a 
 framework of boards with holes for the ankles. The 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 213 
 
 offender sat with his legs stretched straight before him 
 and held in the stocks. It was a sort of slow torture. 
 
 A person sleeping, laughing, or joking in church might 
 be seized by the tithingman and thrust into the stocks. 
 How the elders would frown and the children would 
 stare at the victim in passing out of meeting ! 
 
 Parents gave their children very curious names in 
 those days. They often chose the names of virtues 
 they themselves wished to have, — such as 
 Love, Fear, Humility, Thanks, Hopestill. 
 Wrestling, Preserved, and Supply are names 
 still more surprising. Oceanus Hop- 
 kins and Seaborn Cotton were named 
 for their birthplace, — the ocean. 
 
 The Puritan 
 children were 
 
 most respect- ^^^^^^^^^LfS^ "^"^ 
 
 ful and obedient. They stocks, 
 
 shared early in the cares 
 
 of their parents. But home tasks rarely kept them 
 from school. 
 
 The Boston boys attended the Latin School, which 
 was established in 1635. Little children and the older 
 girls went to a dame's school. This meant a school 
 kept by a woman. Here they learned reading, writing, 
 and keeping accounts. There were no drawing lessons, 
 no music, no delightful nature study, such as we have 
 to-day. Think how much they missed ! 
 
214 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 Here are a group of little boys and girls returning 
 home from the dame's school in the late afternoon. 
 Several of them wear a curious object tied by a cord 
 about their necks. It looks like a small hand mirror 
 or a very large locket. 
 
 "What is this that you are wearing, little girl?" 
 
 "My hornbook." 
 
 Yes, it is a book, or rather a small page backed with 
 wood, covered with horn, and framed in brass. It must 
 be a precious page to be kept so carefuUy. How fine 
 and close the printing is ! First comes the alphabet ; 
 next syllables, — a b, ab, etc.; next the figures; and 
 last of all the Lord's Prayer. The hornbook is the 
 Puritan's primer. 
 
 When a child can read the Lord's Prayer, he is ready 
 to be promoted to the second reader. The second 
 reader was sometimes the Book of Psalms. 
 
 You will be sorry to know that neither in Boston nor 
 Plymouth was Christmas a holiday. The twenty- 
 fifth of December passed like any other day. No 
 stockings, no Santa Claus, no Christmas tree ! Poor 
 little Puritans ! 
 
 They had, however, a happy time at Thanksgiving. 
 That holiday did not come every year. Neither was 
 it always in November. Sometimes it came in October, 
 sometimes in February. 
 
 The first Thanksgiving was held at Plymouth in 
 162 1, and lasted nearly a week. The crops had been 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 
 
 215 
 
 fairly successful, and Governor Bradford decided to 
 spend a few days in rejoicing. He sent out four men 
 with guns, who shot enough game to last the colonists 
 a week. Undoubtedly many of the birds were turkeys. 
 In those days turkeys often weighed as much as forty 
 pounds. 
 
 Massasoit and ninety of his braves were asked to the 
 
 feast. They did not come 
 empty-handed. One day, 
 out of the three they 
 passed with the Pilgrims, 
 
 was spent in hunting. They returned with five deer, a 
 welcome addition to the larder. The deer, and possibly 
 the turkeys, were cooked at fires made in the open air. 
 Four women, assisted by one servant and a few young 
 girls, did all the cooking for three days for one hundred 
 and twenty men. Surely that task called for courage 
 in the Pilgrim mothers. 
 
2l6 
 
 NEW ENGLANDERS 
 
 Indians and white men passed the time in competi- 
 tions in running, leaping, and jumping. Both parties 
 thoroughly enjoyed the occasion. This feast helped to 
 
 
 
 " Both parties thoroughly enjoyed the occasion." 
 
 bring about the cordial understanding with the In- 
 dians that led to the success of the colony. 
 
 The Pilgrims had known famine in the past. They 
 were to be often in want during the next few years. 
 But whether their table was graced with turkey and 
 venison or spread with clams and water, their spirit of 
 
PILGRIM AND PURITAN LIFE 217 
 
 thanks was the same. Grace before meat and thanks 
 after, was their daily custom. 
 
 When Brewster had nothing to eat but clams, he 
 gave thanks that he was "permitted to suck of the 
 abundance of the seas and the treasures hid in the 
 sands." Every soul in Plymouth was ready to join 
 with George Herbert in his beautiful Thanksgiving 
 hymn : — 
 
 "Thou that hast given so much to me, 
 Give one thing more, — a grateful heart : 
 Not thankful when it pleaseth me, 
 As if thy blessings had spare days, 
 But such a heart whose pulse may be 
 Thy praise." 
 
NEW NETHERLAND: OLD NEW YORK 
 
 You have read of the beautiful river discovered by 
 Henry Hudson. Awe and wonder filled his mind as 
 he sailed up the great stream northward through a land 
 *'as fair as man with feet may tread." 
 
 Because Hudson was sailing for the Dutch, all the 
 region he discovered was claimed by them. They 
 named it New Netherland. But the Dutch did not 
 think of making settlements at first. They thought 
 of the country as a vast trading ground. 
 
 Furs were in great demand in Europe. People of 
 wealth, and many of moderate means, trimmed their 
 robes with fur. They also wore cloaks of beaver and 
 other furs. Fortunes were made in the fur trade. 
 
 It is not to be wondered at that traders flocked to 
 New Netherland. Trading posts were established here 
 and there in the wilderness. Often they consisted 
 merely of a warehouse, with a few huts ; but some- 
 times these were defended by a fort. The two most 
 important posts were at Fort Orange, the Albany of 
 to-day, and on Manhattan Island. 
 
 The Dutch were firm friends of the powerful 
 Iroquois. They were also on friendly terms with the 
 Algonquins and other tribes of the region. Beads 
 
 218 
 
OLD NEW YORK 
 
 219 
 
 and ribbons brought in return rich and glossy furs. 
 The harvest was abundant and the harvesters were 
 few. "Good hunting!" might well have been the 
 greeting called from one trader to another, as their 
 skiffs passed each other on the shining river. 
 
 Trading post on Manhattan Island. 
 
 But with the year 1621 more serious plans were 
 forming in Holland. A new trading company had been 
 organized, called the Dutch West India Company. 
 This company was to have the sole right to the fur 
 trade in New Netherland. 
 
 The Dutch West India Company decided to make 
 settlements here. To hold this rich fur country more 
 securely they must colonize it. The English had al- 
 
2 20 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 ways claimed the land which the Dutch called New 
 Netherland; the English settlements in Virginia and New 
 England were growing year by year. Plainly the Dutch 
 must "occupy the land," or they might be driven from 
 it at no distant day. 
 
 In 1623 the first shipload of colonists arrived in New 
 Netherland. They were scattered among the different 
 trading posts, where it was hoped they would at once 
 begin to till the land. 
 
 Three years later a still more important step was 
 taken. The company sent out a colony under Peter 
 Min'uit. He was to be governor of New Netherland. 
 
 Minuit's company landed on Manhattan Island. 
 Here a fort had stood for the past twelve years. Minuit 
 bought the island for twenty-four dollars' worth of 
 beads, brass buttons, ribbons, and red cloth. The 
 Indians were delighted. To-day New York city 
 covers the ground of the purchase, and the land could 
 not be bought for several thousand million dollars. 
 What a change of values in less than three hundred 
 years ! 
 
 The village that grew up here was called New Am- 
 sterdam. The two chief buildings were the fort and 
 the storehouse. The fort was a rude blockhouse girt 
 by a high fence of red cedar. The storehouse was of 
 stone with a thatched roof. The houses were log huts 
 of one story, also with thatched roofs. 
 
 The houses stood at haphazard, for each man built 
 
OLD NEW YORK 
 
 221 
 
 where he chose, with no thought of future streets or the 
 welfare of the town that was to be. Here and there a 
 windmill arose, flapping its arms as naturally as if it 
 stood by a canal in Holland. The Dutch loved to see 
 
 " Minuit bought the island." 
 
 the windmills, for they made the new strange country 
 seem like the Fatherland. The Indians dared not 
 come near the windmills. They feared " their long 
 arms and big teeth biting the corn in pieces." 
 
 Years passed by and the company found that very 
 little land was cultivated. Many of the farmers be- 
 
22 2 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 gan to trade on their own account. Trafficking in skins 
 offered a short cut to fortune, beside which the clearing 
 and working of wilderness farms seemed tedious. 
 
 Then the Dutch West India Company made a new 
 offer. Any member of the company who would take 
 out fifty adults to New Netherland should receive a 
 liberal grant of land. He might claim sixteen miles of 
 water front on any river, or eight miles on each bank. 
 His claim ran backwards indefinitely into the forest 
 wilderness edging the river valley. Such a landholder 
 came to be called a patroon. 
 
 The patroon was bound to clear the land and to pro- 
 vide his settlers with houses, barns, cattle, and tools. 
 The settlers were to remain on the estate for ten years 
 after their arrival. They were to give the patroon a part 
 of each crop as rent. 
 
 Almost immediately a good number of patroonships 
 were established along the Hudson River. The great 
 patroons often ruled over domains larger than those of 
 German princes. They were practically kings. Their 
 will was law, as no one could call them to account on 
 their own land. 
 
 After 1640, more settlers began to come to New 
 Netherland. This was due to two reasons: first, 
 the company had made new and generous offers to 
 settlers; and, second, religious freedom was promised 
 to every one. Germans and French who had been per- 
 secuted in the Old World, English who were dissatisfied 
 
OLD NEW YORK 
 
 223 
 
 with New England, servants who had worked out their 
 freedom in Virginia, all flocked into New Netherland. 
 Soon it was reported that fourteen different languages 
 were spoken in New Amsterdam. 
 
 In 1647 there came to New Netherland a new gov- 
 ernor, named Peter Stuyvesant (stiVe-sant). He had 
 been a soldier in the Dutch West Indies. There he had 
 
 " Peter Stuyvesant entered New Amsterdam with pomp." 
 
 lost a leg. It had been replaced by a wooden one bound 
 with silver bands. On this account he was called Old 
 Silver Leg. 
 
 Peter Stuyvesant entered New Amsterdam with 
 pomp. Everything was done to impress the citizens 
 with his great dignity. At the time of taking com- 
 mand at Fort Amsterdam, he sat with his hat on in 
 the presence of many of the principal citizens. They, 
 meanwhile, stood uncovered before him. 
 
224 
 
 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 This extreme dignity he loved. One citizen said of 
 him, ''Governor Stuyvesant struts about like a pea- 
 cock, — as if he were the czar of Muscovy." In truth, 
 czar was a very good name for the peppery, hot-tem- 
 pered, honest old soldier. 
 
 Some of his speeches amaze us to-day. He wished 
 the people to accept his will as law. They were not to 
 appeal to the government of Holland. Said Stuyvesant : 
 "If any one, during my administration, shall appeal, I 
 will make him a foot shorter and send the pieces to 
 Holland and let him appeal in that way." 
 
 But Peter Stuyvesant had many virtues that we 
 must not overlook. He was brave, honest, and 
 energetic. 
 
 Stuyvesant settled boundary questions that had long 
 
 been in dispute. He 
 built a twelve-foot 
 wall across Manhattan 
 Island. This was to 
 aid in the defense of 
 the city against the 
 English or French. 
 Wall Street, to-day, 
 occupies the ground 
 upon which the old 
 New Amsterdam wall once stood. Here is the central 
 stock market of the United States, where fortunes are 
 made and lost in a day. 
 
 The New Amsterdam wall. 
 
OLD NEW YORK 
 
 225 
 
 Stuyvesant let the people elect a council, but he still 
 had his own way. The councilors might propose cer- 
 tain measures. If they suited the governor, well and 
 good; if not, he would pound on the floor with his 
 
 
 :^ 
 
 New Amsterdam in 1664. 
 
 wooden leg and say what was to be done. And done 
 it always was. No wonder his people dubbed him 
 Peter the Headstrong and Peter the Testy. 
 
 What did old New Amsterdam look like in the spring 
 of 1664? 
 
 The town of fifteen hundred inhabitants occupied 
 the southern end of Manhattan. At the extreme south 
 was the fort, no longer of wood, but of stone. It 
 mounted twenty guns. 
 
226 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 From Fort Amsterdam, the town stretched north- 
 ward to the wall. Its eastern and western boundaries 
 were the two rivers, — East River and Hudson River. 
 Many houses were built along the river fronts, as the 
 worthy Dutchmen loved to sit on their porches, or 
 stoops, and smoke their pipes of a late afternoon. 
 
 The low houses of stone or brick were set comfort- 
 ably apart, with pleasant flower plots or vegetable 
 gardens about each. Most of the houses were placed 
 with their gable ends toward the street. These gables 
 were built of small yellow and black bricks imported 
 from Holland. Each roof was topped by one or two 
 generous chimneys and a weathercock. 
 
 The doors were divided midway into an upper and 
 a lower door, each with its own hinge and lock. Small 
 bull's-eye panes of glass sometimes appeared in the 
 upper door. Those within could thus cautiously sur- 
 vey the visitor before opening to him. The brass or 
 iron knocker was often of fine design. Old Dutch 
 custom gave to every new Amsterdam house its front 
 porch, or stoop. 
 
 Here the people liked to sit during mild evenings. 
 Perhaps their view commanded an outlook over the 
 harbor, or perhaps a peep at a windmill lazily turning its 
 great sails in the evening light. Canals crossed by little 
 bridges were other pleasant reminders of the Fatherland. 
 
 Within doors everything showed exquisite care, for 
 Dutch women are famous housekeepers. The wooden 
 
OLD NEW YORK 227 
 
 floors were covered with sand, in which a pattern was 
 traced. On one side of the Hving room was the huge 
 fireplace. This was, in many cases, bordered with tiles 
 on which were pictures of Bible stories in bright colors. 
 Sitting in the chimney corner, chubby Hans and 
 flaxen-haired Gretel might trace Old Testament his- 
 
 Dutch living room. 
 
 tory from the garden of Eden to the prophet Jonah. 
 The flames might burn brightly, but the pink Joseph 
 and his blue brethren held a greater charm. 
 
 Over the mantel hung racks of various kinds. 
 Platters of wood and pewter were ranged in long rows 
 in the plate racks. The pipe rack was filled with quaint, 
 long-stemmed pipes. 
 
228 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 Cupboards full of china and glass, carved chests, 
 and the steady old Dutch clock with its curious moon 
 face, added charm to the room. Such a home was 
 only a few miles from New England, yet how marked 
 was the difference! 
 
 The dress of the women of New Amsterdam differed 
 much from the Puritan costume. The Puritans chose 
 sad-colored hues, but the Dutch clothing was almost as 
 gay as their own tulips. A housemother wore a loose 
 sacque and many short petticoats of linsey-woolsey. 
 On her head was a little cap of quilted calico. Her 
 feet were clothed in blue worsted stockings with fine 
 red clocks and high-heeled leather shoes with shining 
 silver buckles. About her waist was a girdle from 
 which fell red ribbons or chains of brass or silver. At 
 the ends of the chains were scissors, a pincushion, and 
 the household keys. 
 
 The men wore cloth breeches and coats with silver 
 buttons, silver buckled shoes, and broad-brimmed hats. 
 The hats were often of beaver and were worth several 
 pounds apiece. The wealthy carried ivory-headed canes 
 on state occasions, and a true Dutchman, whether rich 
 or poor, was rarely separated from his long-stemmed 
 pipe. He filled it with native tobacco after his hearty 
 breakfast, and, smoking slowly and solemnly, went 
 down the street to his daily work. 
 
 What was his occupation ? If he were middle-aged 
 and prosperous, he traded in furs and lumber; if he 
 
OLD NEW YORK 229 
 
 were young and strong, he threshed grain in the barn, 
 ground corn at the windmill, or felled trees on the 
 hills; if he were old and feeble, he fished in the river 
 from morning till sundown. 
 
 The fur traders had boasted in the early days of 
 New Netherland that the wealth of the colony lay in 
 her furs. Time, however, proved this false. The fertile 
 river valleys brought forth harvests of grain so rich and 
 abundant that the great sails of the many windmills 
 were kept always at work. The golden grain, not the 
 sleek beaver, was the foundation of the colony's success. 
 
 The Dutch had several holidays, the most important 
 of which were New Year's Day and May Day. These 
 days were celebrated by firing of cannon and much 
 calling amongst friends and neighbors. Maypoles 
 wreathed with flowers were raised on May Day. 
 
 The custom of New Year's calls was passed by the 
 Dutch to the English, and for more than two hundred 
 years it has been observed in New York city. 
 
 Dutch rule in New Netherland lasted more than 
 fifty years. Then, like a clap of thunder out of a clear 
 sky, came the attack by the English in August, 1664. 
 
 England's claim to New Netherland was weak. But 
 she had long coveted the territory. It divided her colony 
 of Virginia from New England. It possessed the finest 
 harbor on the Atlantic coast. It controlled the great 
 waterway by the Hudson and the lakes into Canada. 
 
 King Charles II of England now gave to his brother 
 
230 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 James, the Duke of York, all the Dutch territoty in 
 America. James at once fitted out a fleet to seize it. 
 He gave the command to Colonel Richard Nicolls, who 
 had been a member of his household. 
 
 The success of the expedition depended upon its 
 secrecy. Still, rumors reached the keen ears of Stuy- 
 vesant, and he urged the Dutch government to send him 
 a fleet. They decided against his request and had 
 only themselves to blame for what followed. 
 
 In August, 1664, Nicolls appeared at New Am- 
 sterdam with four ships, carrying ninety guns and two 
 hundred and fifty fighting men. He demanded the sur- 
 render of the fort and town. The odds were mightily 
 against Stuyvesant. Still the old soldier had but one 
 answer to return. "While I have a leg to stand on 
 and an arm to fight with, I will never surrender." 
 
 Nicolls sent a second summons, promising to respect 
 lives and property. The magistrates asked that the 
 proclamation be read to the people. At this proposal 
 the headstrong governor tore the letter into shreds. 
 
 The magistrates, however, put the pieces together, 
 made a fair copy, and read it to the people. The 
 Dutch citizens hated the rule of Stuyvesant ; the Eng- 
 lish rule might be freer. So there was but one voice 
 from high and low. That voice said. Surrender ! 
 Stuyvesant stood alone, but he was forced to yield. 
 
 It was a terrible blow to the old soldier's pride. "I 
 had much rather be carried out dead," he said. 
 
OLD NEW YORK 
 
 231 
 
 On September 8, he marched at the head of his sol- 
 diers to the ships in the harbor. There they embarked 
 for Holland. 
 
 The Dutch flag fell and the English flag was soon 
 floating over the old fort with a new name. No 
 
 NicoIIs marches into the fort. 
 
 longer New Amsterdam, it was to be called Fort James. 
 The town was to be New York. 
 
 New Netherland soon submitted to English rule. 
 Nicolls was the first English governor, and he certainly 
 was the right man in the right place. His wise and 
 kindly measures and his wonderful courtesy made the 
 English rule acceptable. 
 
 After Stuyvesant had reported the circumstances to 
 
232 
 
 NEW NETHERLAND 
 
 Holland, he returned to New York. He owned a large 
 farm, or bowery. Here he spent the last years of his 
 life. It is a charming fact that the old ex-governor and 
 
 
 '^X^/J^^'> 
 
 Stuyvesant's bowery house. 
 
 NicoUs became warm friends and often spent hours 
 together strolling about the gardens of the bowery, 
 smoking and discussing the politics of the time. 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 
 
 During th.e last few chapters we have been consid- 
 ering the settlement of important colonies. If you 
 look back, you will find two causes for settlements. 
 They were trade and religious persecution. Virginia 
 and New York were settled for purposes of trade ; 
 Massachusetts was built up by persons seeking free- 
 dom of thought. In the latter case the people them- 
 selves sought and found a place of refuge. 
 
 The story of Pennsylvania is somewhat different. 
 William Penn, a man of wealth and influence, estab- 
 lished a colony in America. Penn belonged to the sect 
 known as Quakers. At this time they suffered much 
 persecution. Penn's colony was to serve as a refuge 
 to Quakers. But that was not all. Other persecuted 
 people were welcome there, no matter what their belief. 
 
 Let us learn a little more of Penn and of the sect to 
 which he belonged. 
 
 William Penn was born in 1644. His father was 
 Admiral Sir WiUiam Penn. Admiral Penn had gained 
 wealth, position, and influence by his own efforts. 
 He was very ambitious for his son. He hoped that 
 William Penn the younger might carry the family for- 
 tunes still higher. 
 
 233 
 
234 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 The father spared no pains in his son's education. 
 
 William was a beautiful and talented child and he grew 
 
 into a youth of great promise. At sixteen he entered 
 
 Christ Church College, Oxford. 
 
 All went well for two years. Then, to his father's 
 
 grief, William was sud- 
 denly dismissed from 
 the university. He had 
 been much impressed by 
 the preaching of the 
 Quaker, Thomas Loe. 
 As a result he, with 
 other students, had re- 
 fused to attend chapel. 
 Had the lad really be- 
 come a Quaker ? His 
 father talked with him 
 and found that he had. 
 To Admiral Penn and 
 to most of the people of 
 this time the Quakers 
 were "a peculiar people." 
 They were seventeenth century cranks. Few people had 
 time to inquire into their beliefs, which were truly noble. 
 The ordinary Englishman thought of the Quakers as 
 queer persons who said thee and thou, who never took 
 off their hats to any man, who would not fight nor take 
 an oath, even in court. 
 
 Quakers. 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 235 
 
 All these facts were true of the Quakers. They un- 
 covered to God alone. The Bible taught peace, they 
 declared; it also said, "Swear not at all." How, then, 
 could they use weapons, or swear, even in court ? 
 
 "Don't you dare to thee and thou the king, the Duke 
 of York, or me," cried the angry father. 
 
 But William did thee and thou the king, and he even 
 dared to wear his hat in the royal presence. Charles 
 was not angry, only amused. One day when William 
 met him, the king took off his hat. 
 
 "Why dost thou remove thy hat, friend Charles?" 
 inquired young Penn. 
 
 "Because," replied the king, "wherever I am, it is 
 customary for only one to remain covered." 
 
 Admiral Penn fretted and fumed, and at last turned 
 his son out of doors without a shilling. His mother, 
 however, soon persuaded him to call William home 
 again. 
 
 Then the Admiral decided on new tactics. WiUiam 
 should see something of the world. Surely "the king- 
 doms of the world and the glory of them" would drive 
 dull crotchets from the mind of a nineteen-year-old 
 boy. 
 
 Accordingly Penn was sent to gay and glittering 
 Paris. He also traveled in France and Italy, and 
 studied in a French college. 
 
 ■ After two years he returned to London. His father 
 was pleased with his polish ; he seemed almost a man of 
 
236 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 the world. He was "tall, lithe, and strongly built, a 
 picture of manly beauty, with great lustrous eyes under 
 arching brows, a profusion of dark hair falling in curls 
 upon his shoulders, a powerful chin, a refined and sen- 
 sitive mouth." 
 
 William could use his sword well also. In Paris, one 
 night, he was set upon in the streets. He defended 
 himself well and disarmed the footpad without wound- 
 ing him. This unquakerlike skill must have pleased 
 Sir William. 
 
 But in an unlucky hour for Sir William the plague 
 broke out in London. To be out of harm's way, young 
 William was sent by his father to look after his lands 
 in Ireland. Here was the Quaker Loe, and Penn came 
 again under the influence of his preaching. From this 
 moment he never wavered. He would live and die a 
 Quaker preacher and writer. 
 
 The next five years were hard ones for William Penn. 
 His angry father turned him out of doors. He was 
 frequently in prison because of his speeches and writ- 
 ings in support of the Quakers. The usual steps were 
 as follows. Penn would address a gathering in the 
 street. Such gatherings being unlawful, Penn would 
 be arrested and taken into court. There an oath of 
 allegiance would be demanded. Penn would refuse. 
 Thereupon'he would be sent to prison. This happened 
 over and over again. 
 
 In 1670 Sir William Penn died. One of his last acts 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 237 
 
 was to ask for his son the friendship and guidance of the 
 Duke of York. James, Duke of York, was an old 
 friend of the family, and William was still a young man 
 of twenty-six. 
 
 In 1674 Penn first became interested in America. 
 It happened that King Charles owed William Penn 
 the large sum of £16,000. William knew that the ex- 
 travagant Charles would never meet this debt. He 
 therefore offered to receive his pay in the wild lands of 
 America. Charles was pleased with this easy way of 
 paying his debts. So 40,000 square miles of land west 
 of the Delaware River were granted to Penn. 
 
 Penn was the proprietor of all this great region. 
 Here was to be a spot where the Quakers would be free 
 from persecution. Religious liberty was promised to 
 all faiths. 
 
 As you would expect, Penn planned a very free gov- 
 ernment. He and the freemen of the colony were to 
 make the laws. 
 
 William Penn thought of calling his grant of land 
 Sylvania, which means Woodland. King Charles 
 named it Pennsylvania. Penn objected. He "feared 
 lest it be looked on as vanity." 
 
 "Don't flatter yourself, my dear fellow," said Charles. 
 "We will keep the name to commemorate the Admiral, 
 your noble father." 
 
 William Penn offered his acres at low rates, and there 
 was an immediate response. People trusted him ; they 
 
238 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 knew him to be honest and generous. Thus it came 
 to pass that in the very first year twenty ships carrying 
 three thousand persons sailed for Pennsylvania. Not 
 only Englishmen came, but also Germans and Dutch. 
 
 In September, 1682, Penn came to America himself. 
 He sailed on the ship Welcome with one hundred pas- 
 sengers, mostly Quakers. It was a trying voyage. 
 The plague broke out and more than thirty died. It 
 must have been a great joy to see the green shores of 
 the Delaware River. 
 
 Penn was delighted with his new possessions. His 
 letters were full of joy in its fresh beauty and peace. He 
 wrote, "O how sweet is the quiet of these parts, freed 
 from the anxious hurries and perplexities of woeful 
 Europe !" 
 
 Soon after landing, Penn laid out his capital. He 
 named this future city Philadelphia, which means City 
 of Brotherly Love. 
 
 Penn chose the location wisely. It was at the meet- 
 ing of the Delaware and a smaller river that flows into 
 it. The city was laid out almost like a chessboard. 
 Streets ran in parallel lines north and south, east and 
 west. They were named for the trees and shrubs that 
 gave way for the coming town. 
 
 "Apple, pear, fruit and vine, 
 Chestnut, walnut, spruce and pine." 
 
 So ran the names. 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 
 
 ^39 
 
 Frame and brick houses sprang up like mushrooms. 
 Settlers came so fast that some were obliged to live in 
 caves dug in the steep banks of the Delaware River. 
 
 The first homes of some Pennsylvania settlers. 
 
 English, Welsh, Germans, Dutch, and Swedes, all 
 were content with the wise rule of Penn. In three 
 years Philadelphia had 2500 inhabitants and Pennsyl- 
 vania over 8000. New Netherland took fifty years to 
 equal this growth that Pennsylvania made in three. 
 
 The Quakers brought many of their curious customs 
 to the New World. They were unwilling to call the 
 days of the week and the months of the year by their 
 heathen names. Instead they used numbers. Sunday 
 was the First day, Monday, the Second day, and so on. 
 
 In the Quaker meetinghouse there was no paid 
 preacher. Any one, man or woman, might speak to the 
 company, if he felt that he had a message from God to 
 deliver. Otherwise they sat in silent meditation and 
 
240 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 prayer. Often there was no word spoken at the First 
 day service. 
 
 Troubles with the Indians hindered the progress of 
 other colonies. The Quakers had no such difificulties. 
 How did this come about ? 
 
 A week after he landed, Penn had a meeting with 
 
 "' William Penn sprang to his feet and outleaped them all." 
 
 the Indians. The gathering took place under an elm 
 tree. Penn wore his simple Quaker dress and broad 
 hat. Tradition says that a blue silk scarf crossed his 
 breast and that he carried a scroll of parchment in his 
 hand. 
 
 The red men were charmed with his dignity and his 
 kindliness. He walked with them, sat on the ground 
 and talked with them, ate of their roasted acorns and 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 241 
 
 hominy. Later, the savages began to show their skill 
 in running and jumping. Suddenly William Penn 
 sprang to his feet and outleaped them all. He was still 
 young and vigorous, as he was but thirty-eight at the 
 time. This act, of course, pleased them very much. 
 
 The Indians were good judges of men. They felt 
 that Penn was sincere. They believed him when he 
 said that he looked on them as brothers. 
 
 The treaty entered into at this time was kept for 
 sixty years. Voltaire, a great French writer, calls 
 this "the only treaty between savages and Christians 
 that was never sworn to and that was never broken." 
 
 In 1684 Penn sailed for England. He hoped soon to 
 return to America, but the Quakers needed him in Eng- 
 land. Their religious meetings were broken up by 
 soldiers and the worshipers were sent to jail. They 
 hoped that their leader, Penn, would plead their cause 
 with the king. 
 
 Penn was, for a time, a court favorite, and many 
 sought his influence with the king. Then came a new 
 king who thought Penn was his enemy. In 1692 the 
 governorship of his dear Pennsylvania was taken from 
 him. 
 
 These were dark days, but brighter times followed. 
 Penn's rights in his colony were restored to him and, 
 after fifteen years, he came to pay his second visit to 
 the New World. 
 
 Philadelphia was now a city of nearly four thousand 
 
 COE F. 16 
 
242 
 
 WILLIAM PENN 
 
 people. Penn lived in a modest brick house roofed 
 with slate. It was known as the Slate-roof House. 
 He had an elegant country home at Pennsbury. 
 
 Peim's Slate-roof House, Philadelphia. 
 
 Everything went smoothly in the colony during the 
 two years that the governor was on the spot. It was 
 only when he was absent that matters went awry. 
 
 What industries did the people of Pennsylvania de- 
 velop? The chief occupation was agriculture. Soil 
 was fertile, and abundant crops of wheat and corn were 
 raised. In time much wheat and corn, with timber 
 and furs, were exported. The imports were sugar, wine, 
 and manufactured articles. Thus a brisk commerce 
 sprang up. 
 
 Manufactures were of slower growth. The first 
 
A QUAKER IN THE NEW WORLD 243 
 
 paper mill was established near Germantown towards 
 the close of the seventeenth century. German glass 
 was manufactured in the same place. The brewed ale 
 of Philadelphia soon became famous. 
 
 The fields were not worked by the negroes as at the 
 south. What slaves were then in Pennsylvania were 
 mostly house servants. The Quakers were opposed to 
 slavery at a time when other Christians saw nothing 
 wrong in the practice. As early as 1688, William Penn 
 and others sent to the Friends' meeting a written 
 protest against the buying and selling of slaves. 
 
 Years passed and William Penn was an old man 
 of sixty-eight. Pennsylvania had been a burden and 
 an expense so great that he now desired to sell his rights 
 to the crown; £60,000 was the price agreed upon. 
 
 The paper was drawn, but before he could sign it he 
 was seized with paralysis. He never was fully himself 
 again. He lingered for six years, growing feebler in 
 mind and body. In 17 18 he died. 
 
 Penn's sons and grandsons kept their rights over 
 Pennsylvania till the Revolution. 
 
 William Penn was an unusual man. He was both a 
 saint and a statesman. Many narrower men have 
 been either one or the other, but Penn was a citizen of 
 this world and of the other world also. But always 
 rehgion came first; always the statesman served the 
 saint. 
 
BLACKBEARD, THE LAST OF THE PIRATES 
 
 Some sixty years after the settlement of Virginia, 
 strange, wild men swarmed along her coast. They 
 were pirates. They found refuge in the many inlets, 
 creeks, and harbors along the shore of Virginia and the 
 Carolinas. 
 
 A pirate captain had a very swift ship so that he 
 could overtake other vessels at sea. At his masthead 
 hung a black flag decorated with a white skull and cross- 
 bones. This meant death to all whom the pirate cap- 
 tured. Strangely enough the flag was called the "Jolly 
 Roger." 
 
 The crew of the pirate ship was made up of convicts, 
 cutthroats, and vagabonds from all nations. The 
 leader was a man fiercer and stronger than the rest. 
 It was only by his ferocity that he could hold his fol- 
 lowers in check. 
 
 The business of the pirate was to pursue and capture 
 merchant or treasure ships to secure their cargoes. 
 Often a sharp fight took place. But the pirate usually 
 boarded his foe, killed many of the fighting men, and 
 made those who were taken alive "walk the plank." 
 That meant that they were thrown into the sea. In 
 this way, week after week, the pirate gathered much 
 
 wealth together. 
 
 244 
 
THE LAST OF THE PIRATES 245 
 
 Often his men mutinied. Then a terrible fight took 
 place in the ship. The victors made their conquered 
 shipmates "walk the plank," or they marooned them. 
 To maroon a man was to leave him on some desert 
 island. Sometimes a loaf of bread and a bottle of 
 water were given to him, but they were soon gone. 
 Death followed by slow starvation. 
 
 Sometimes a pirate went ashore to bury his treasure. 
 He selected the spot carefully, and made written notes 
 as to the number of paces between it and prominent 
 landmarks. These notes were not made very plain, 
 for the pirate did not wish them to be understood by 
 any one into whose hands the paper might fall. They 
 were purposely made "blind," — so that the pirate 
 alone could understand them. 
 
 Next, he brought a few men on shore with the money. 
 Under their captain's eye they dug a deep hole and 
 buried the treasure. Afterwards, the captain often 
 killed them in return for their pains. This was be- 
 cause they knew the hiding place of his wealth. 
 
 Often tales would be told by the people of the country- 
 side of having seen ragged cutthroats digging pits for 
 treasure. Sometimes slips of paper were found with 
 mysterious figures and letters. Young men and old men 
 who had more imagination than sound sense, would 
 spend years of their lives hunting for buried treasures. 
 This folly has gone on throughout the length of the 
 Atlantic seacoast. 
 
246 BLACKBEARD 
 
 In 1 71 7 it was stated on good authority that there 
 were fifteen hundred pirates on our coast. Their 
 headquarters were at New Providence, a town on one 
 of the Bahama Islands, and at Cape Fear in North 
 Carohna. To pillage the passing vessels, they ranged 
 the coast from Newfoundland to Brazil. 
 
 How did they ever come to be so numerous ? When 
 England was fighting Spain, of course English ships 
 attacked Spanish ships wherever they found them. 
 The Spanish ships were usually carrying treasure to 
 Spain to pay the expenses of the war, and the English 
 were glad enough to cripple the enemy in this way. 
 Even before war was declared, Spain and England 
 fought each other in America. You remember how 
 Francis Drake captured Spanish ships in the South 
 Sea when he sailed around the world. 
 
 In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Spain 
 was the great bully of Europe. She was cordially 
 hated by Holland and France, as weU as by England. 
 She would aUow no other nation to trade with her 
 colonies in America. When she caught foreign ships 
 in her ports, she hanged the men, and sank or stole 
 the ships. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that the English, French, and 
 Dutch would combine against the Spaniard. They 
 called themselves the Brethren of the Coast. They 
 would together surprise a Spanish colony, sack the town, 
 and kill the people. So it happened that there was 
 
THE LAST OF THE PIRATES 247 
 
 constant fighting both on land and sea in the West 
 Indies. Fierce and lawless men would naturally be 
 drawn to this region, the Spanish Main, as it was called. 
 So there came to be, not only Brethren of the Coast and 
 buccaneers, but also pirates. 
 
 Some of the famous pirates were Henry Morgan, 
 Captain Kidd, Quelch, Bellamy, and Blackbeard.^ 
 
 Blackbeard was the last of the pirates. You may 
 be interested to know something of his career. He was 
 a native of Bristol, England, and his name was said to 
 be Drummond. He had changed his name to Robert 
 Thatch, but he was more often called Blackbeard, on 
 account of the thick, shaggy beard that hung far down 
 his chest. He had a low forehead, shrewd little eyes, 
 and a fierce temper. 
 
 He wore three braces of pistols slung over his shoul- 
 ders, and these he used freely. He put out his candle 
 at night by shooting a bullet through the flame. He 
 often startled his friends at table by sending a bullet 
 spinning through their hair or close by their ears. He 
 was not angry ; it was just a pleasant little way he had. 
 
 When George I became king in 17 14, he deter- 
 mined to expel the pirates from New Providence. A 
 few years later he sent a fleet to the Bahamas, and the 
 pirates were driven from the stronghold they had held 
 so long. Many of them took up their abode in the 
 mazes of the Carolina coast. Among these was Robert 
 Thatch. 
 
248 BLACKBEARD 
 
 In June, 1 718, he appeared off Charleston harbor \\dth 
 a forty-gun frigate and three smaller boats. He lay 
 in wait for ships entering or leaving the harbor, and it 
 was not long before he had captured eight or ten. One 
 ship was bound for London, and upon it w^re men of 
 importance in the colony. One passenger was a mem- 
 ber of Governor Johnson's council. 
 
 Blackbeard needed supplies and medicines. He made 
 a list of what he desired to have sent him, which was 
 carried to Governor Johnson by a party of Blackbeard's 
 sailors, headed by his mate, Richards. The message 
 was that, if the articles were not sent, Blackbeard 
 would send Governor Johnson the heads of all the good 
 citizens of Charleston that were his prisoners. 
 
 The .governor saw that the lives of the citizens must 
 be saved. He hastened to collect what Blackbeard had 
 demanded. The prisoners were landed in a pitiable con- 
 dition. They came ashore almost naked, for Blackbeard 
 had robbed them of their clothing as well as of their 
 money. From one man he stole six thousand dollars. 
 
 Blackbeard went to North Carolina, ^vhere the gov- 
 ernor actually permitted him to swagger around town 
 and to spend his money freely. It was said that Black- 
 beard had bribed the governor to protect him. 
 
 At last the pirate's ill-gotten wealth was spent. To 
 get more he had to take to the high seas again. He 
 secured a ship, collected a crew, and told every one 
 that he was a merchantman. 
 
THE LAST OF THE PIRATES 
 
 249 
 
 He set sail, but soon returned, bringing into port a 
 fine French ship with a rich cargo. He declared that 
 he had found her adrift, but no one believed him. The 
 people of North Carolina felt that a stop must be put 
 
 Blackbeard boarding a ship. 
 
 to piracy. At least they would have no more Black- 
 beards among them. 
 
 They sent word to the vigorous Governor Spotswood 
 of Virginia, and he came with two cruisers against this 
 rover of the sea. They tracked him to his lair, and 
 
250 BLACKBEARD 
 
 thereupon a running battle took place through the 
 coast channels. 
 
 Blackbeard was a terrible figure in a fight. Lighted 
 matches were thrust over his ears and stuck out from 
 beneath his hat brim. He stood by a cannon which 
 he was about to fire, when the Virginians boarded his 
 vessel. All around, his pirate crew lay dying, and he 
 himself fell dead beside the cannon he was aiming at 
 the enemy. So passed Blackbeard, the last of the 
 pirates. 
 
 All of the crew who were captured were promptly 
 hanged. The head of the pirate chief decorated the 
 bowsprit of one of the two cruisers, as she triumphantly 
 returned home to Virginia. 
 
 It seems strange to think that these grim fights were 
 happening only about two hundred years ago. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 
 
 SoAiE fifty years after the founding of Pennsylvania, 
 the thirteenth and last colony was settled in America. 
 This was Georgia. 
 
 What Perm was to Pennsylvania, all this and more 
 was General Oglethorpe to Georgia. His services to 
 England and to America show a fine generosity that is 
 unusual. 
 
 James Edward Oglethorpe came of a good old Eng- 
 lish family. His parents had a beautiful estate on 
 the Wey River. They had also plenty of money, so 
 that they could give their handsome son every ad- 
 vantage. 
 
 He chose to become a soldier and, while still in his 
 teens, he fought against the Turks. He was an aide to 
 Prince Eugene, a gallant Austrian general. 
 
 Returned from the wars, Oglethorpe was elected to 
 Parliament. There he showed energy and good sense 
 in all he did. 
 
 Oglethorpe had a friend, Castell by name. This 
 man had been unfortunate in business ; he had become 
 a debtor. English law said that he must go to prison. 
 At this time smallpox was raging in the ward to which 
 Castell would naturally be sent. Castell learned this 
 
252 
 
 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 fact and implored the jailor to lodge him anywhere 
 else in the prison. He said that if he were sent to this 
 ward and took the disease, the jailor would be his 
 murderer. 
 
 It all happened as Castell foretold. The ruthless 
 • jailor confined him 
 
 in this very ward. 
 He contracted the 
 smallpox and died 
 in a few days, in 
 great agony of 
 mind and body. 
 
 This sad story 
 reached the ears 
 of Oglethorpe. 
 He was greatly 
 shocked, and re- 
 solved to inquire 
 into the condition 
 of poor debtors. 
 Parliament made him chairman of a committee to visit 
 prisons and propose reforms. 
 
 Such reforms were sadly needed. English laws at 
 this time were amazingly harsh in regard to debtors. 
 A man whose only crime was good nature or lack of 
 caution might spend his whole life in prison. There the 
 sufferings of his helpless family might wring his heart ; 
 there he might starve; there he might die and no one care. 
 
 ^W£ 
 
 Oglethorpe visits a debtors' prison. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 253 
 
 But Oglethorpe and his committee discovered darker 
 facts as they worked on. The jailors had well-nigh 
 absolute power. If they wished, they could torture 
 the prisoners cruelly. Thumbscrews and iron collars 
 that were screwed tighter and tighter were sometimes 
 used. 
 
 AH these sad facts were more than Oglethorpe could 
 bear. Such unfortunate debtors should be given an- 
 other chance, he thought. They must be set free and, 
 in a new world, have the joy of beginning life afresh. 
 In this way the idea of planting a colony in America 
 first came to Oglethorpe. 
 
 But as the plan was discussed, new aims became clear. 
 In the end, the purposes of the colony were threefold : 
 First, it was to serve as an asylum to poor debtors 
 from England ; second, it was to serve as an asylum 
 for certain persecuted sects in Germany and elsewhere ; 
 third, it was to be placed between the Carolinas and 
 the Spaniards in Florida, thus protecting the older 
 English settlements. 
 
 The plan was approved by Parliament and by 
 King George II. In June, 1732, a royal charter 
 was granted for twenty-one years. The colony was 
 to be called Georgia, after the king. It comprised the 
 land between the rivers Savan'nah and Altamaha', from 
 their mouths to their sources. Thence the grant ran 
 westward to the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Twenty-one trustees were to manage the colony. 
 
254 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 These trustees were to be given no lands in America ; 
 they were to have no salary. They meant to give to 
 Georgia, not to get all they could. 
 
 This remarkable fact we must not forget. Georgia 
 was a charity. Everything was "in trust for the poor." 
 
 The poet Thompson says of Georgia : — 
 
 "O great design, if executed well." 
 
 The execution was in good hands. From the first, 
 Oglethorpe's was the master mind. He had been 
 made governor and military leader without pay. The 
 failure or success of the undertaking rested largely with 
 him. 
 
 Money had to be raised to free the debtors and then 
 to provide them with clothing, passage money, tools, 
 and firearms. The government gave a liberal sum; 
 Oglethorpe and others contributed. From far-away 
 Pennsylvania came £ioo and a warm letter from Wil- 
 liam Penn. 
 
 Thirty-five debtors' families were selected with great 
 care. By November, 1732, the first company was 
 ready to start. Oglethorpe was to guide them to their 
 new home. 
 
 After a voyage of fifty days they reached Charleston, 
 South Carolina. The people of that town were de- 
 lighted to meet these new neighbors. They gave them 
 cattle, goats, hogs, and rice. They also sent negroes 
 with them to help build the houses. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 255 
 
 Oglethorpe pressed on to choose a site for his first 
 town. He built it upon high bluffs on the Savannah 
 River, ten miles from its mouth. He named it Savan- 
 nah, after the river. 
 
 The spot was most attractive. The clear reaches 
 of river, the bordering woods of cypress, myrtle, and 
 live oak, the fragrance of the yellow jasmine, all 
 pleased the foreigners. Nature showed them her fairest 
 face. 
 
 About this time a South Carolina newspaper printed 
 this of Savannah: "Mr. Oglethorpe is indefatigable 
 and takes a vast deal of pains. His fare is but indif- 
 ferent, having little else at present but salt provisions. 
 He is extremely well-beloved by the people. The title 
 they give him is Father. If any difference arises, he is the 
 person who decides it. . . . It is surprising to see how 
 cheerfully the men go to work, considering they hav^ 
 not been bred to it. There are no idlers, even the boys 
 and girls do their part. . . . The Indians who are 
 thereabouts are very fond of Mr. Oglethorpe and assist 
 him what they can ; and he, on the other side, is very 
 civil to them." 
 
 Soon after reaching Savannah, Governor Oglethorpe 
 held a meeting with the Indians. Three tribes lived near 
 Savannah. Their chiefs met Oglethorpe in May, 1733, 
 and gave him, at this time, his title to part of Georgia. 
 
 As the Indians were departing, Oglethorpe presented 
 each chief with a laced coat and hat and shirt. Each 
 
256 
 
 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 war captain was given a gun with ammunition, while 
 
 cloth cloaks and smaller gifts fell to the lesser red men. 
 
 The Indians were much pleased. They promised 
 
 "to keep the talk in their heads so long as the sun should 
 
 
 &M^ 
 
 
 
 ^"^ S"*^^ 
 
 j^^Pl 
 
 
 mfm: 
 
 i<''J^^HR#'i wPSP^^I^Hk sHI^'fl^ 
 
 aiwi -^ 
 
 
 iiV'^ 
 
 bBHh '' ^jW 
 
 1. -^'4i« liJ 
 
 lipia^ ^ .^ 
 
 
 "The Indians were much pleased." 
 
 shine or the waters run into the sea." And they kept 
 their word. 
 
 Tempted as the Indians often were by rich bribes 
 offered by the Spaniards, they remained true to the 
 English leader. The following incident is a case in 
 point. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 257 
 
 The Spaniards offered large sums of money to an 
 Indian for every English prisoner he would bring in. 
 They showed him fine scarlet clothes and a sword. 
 "Oglethorpe is poor," said one, "he can give you 
 nothing. It is foolish for you to go back with him." 
 
 The Indian replied, "We love him. It is true he 
 does not give us silver, but he gives us everything we 
 want that he has. He has given me the coat off his 
 back and the blanket from under him." 
 
 At these words the Spaniard grew angry. He struck 
 the Indian a severe blow with his sword. This caused 
 a scar which the poor man showed after his escape. 
 
 Oglethorpe was a man of foresight. He knew that 
 war would soon come with Spain. Georgia was small 
 and weak, and could not withstand a strong enemy. 
 Soldiers must be brought from England. 
 
 In 1734 Governor Oglethorpe returned to England 
 for this purpose. Many colonists wept to see him go. 
 One settler voiced the thoughts of many when he said of 
 Oglethorpe, that he "had carefully watched over them 
 as a shepherd does over his sheep . . . both day and 
 night." 
 
 Two years later Oglethorpe returned with over two 
 hundred emigrants. About half of these were Scotch 
 Highlanders who were skilled soldiers. This was 
 called the "grand emigration." Several cannon were 
 brought also. 
 
 The governor now built several forts on islands and 
 
 COE F. — 17 
 
258 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 at the mouths of rivers. An armed colony estabhshed 
 the town Frederi'ca on St. Simon Island. If the Span- 
 iards invaded Georgia, it was hoped that the forts and 
 P>ederica would protect Savannah and the Carolinas. 
 
 Oglethorpe was much pleased with the way Savannah 
 had grown during his absence. Three years before a 
 thick forest had covered the spot ; now there were 
 two hundred houses, and some of them were two and 
 even three stories high. The public gardens were 
 the pride of the town. Here grew olives, figs, and 
 vines, as well as plums, apples, and pears. In a sunny 
 corner were coffee, cotton, and other plants from the 
 West Indies. Here also grew the white mulberry 
 trees, to be used in the silk culture. This was an in- 
 dustry of which great things were hoped. 
 
 Spain was a neighbor both hated and dreaded by 
 Georgia and the Carolinas. The Spaniards held Florida, 
 with St. Augustine as their chief town. They claimed, 
 however, all of Georgia. 
 
 It was a relief to have open war declared by England 
 in 1739. General Oglethorpe was made commander of 
 the South Carolina and Georgia troops. 
 
 As his force was small, the general knew that it would 
 be best to make the first move. He decided to enter 
 Florida and besiege St. Augustine. Plans were care- 
 fully made. Success depended upon the small fleet, 
 the Indians, and the troops of South Carolina and Geor- 
 gia working together. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 259 
 
 The expedition failed. No fault, however, could be 
 found with the Indians and the soldiers of Georgia. 
 The chief blame was due to the delay of the forces from 
 South Carolina. 
 
 This slothfulness became chronic. It would seem 
 as if the people of South Carolina left their whole de- 
 fense to Georgia. "Georgia must suffer first," they 
 seemed to think. "When Spain actually sets foot in 
 South Carolina then we shall need to bestir ourselves." 
 
 The English had failed in their attack on St. Augus- 
 tine. Nevertheless their daring had this result. The 
 Spaniards delayed their attack on Georgia for two years. 
 
 Then they came in full force. They had five thou- 
 sand men and fifty-one vessels. To oppose them Ogle- 
 thorpe had but eight hundred men and two vessels. 
 The struggle took place on St. Simon Island. The 
 Spaniards first took the fort on the southern end of the 
 island. From this fort a road ran to Frederica. The 
 road was a narrow one, so, in marching, the Spaniards 
 spread into the woods on each side. There, Ogle- 
 thorpe's Indian allies fell upon them. Thus they were 
 forced to keep to the main road. 
 
 Not far from Frederica they encamped. But the 
 place they selected was reaUy an ambuscade. Behind 
 a hedge were hidden a company of sturdy Highlanders. 
 They watched the camp fires kindled and the suppers 
 being prepared. The signal to attack w^as a Highland 
 bonnet raised on a sword. 
 
26o 
 
 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 When this sign was given, the Scotch fell upon the 
 Spanish with great fury. The surprise was perfect. 
 Hearing the uproar, Oglethorpe brought up other 
 troops, and the Spaniards were completely routed. 
 
 :,3r^. 
 
 " The Scotch fell upon the Spanish with great fury." 
 
 By a clever stratagem, Oglethorpe led the enemy to 
 think that a great English fleet was upon them. A sail 
 or two appeared in the ofhng, and that was enough 
 for the Spaniards. They fled back to Florida, and the 
 frontier was quiet until the Revolution. 
 
 The saving of Georgia reads like an Old Testament 
 story. It seems almost a miracle that eight hundred 
 men chased five thousand. 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 261 
 
 In the following year money matters compelled 
 Oglethorpe to return to England. He had spent large 
 sums of his own money for Georgia. But he never 
 was repaid. He never visited his colony again. 
 
 From the first the Georgia settlers were turbulent 
 and there was constant murmuring against the trustees. 
 One cause of complaint was that no slaves were al- 
 lowed in Georgia. The planters said that the climate 
 required slaves ; it was too hot for white men to do the 
 work. The trustees replied that Spain might cause 
 slaves to rise against their masters. The danger was 
 too great. "If negroes are introduced into Georgia," 
 said Oglethorpe, " I will have no further concern with 
 the colony." 
 
 Rum was not allowed in Georgia. The people 
 wished to use it in their trade with the West Indies. 
 The trustees stood firmly for its prohibition, but the 
 people often smuggled rum and slaves as well from 
 South Carolina. 
 
 Great hopes were built upon the silk, wine, and oil 
 industries. Italians were imported to teach the dif- 
 ferent steps in silk culture. Once Oglethorpe was able 
 to carry enough silk to England to be made into a 
 dress for the queen. But in spite of all the trustees 
 could do, the silk industry declined, as did the oil and 
 wine industries also. 
 
 The colonists wished to become rice and indigo 
 planters like the settlers of Carolina. They insisted 
 
262 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 that white men could not work in the fields from April 
 to October, and that slaves were necessary. After 
 fifteen years there were very few planters who could 
 raise enough to support their families. The result was 
 that many gave up their plantations and hung about 
 the towns, living from hand to mouth. A large num- 
 ber left the colony. Plainly Georgia was not a success. 
 
 All felt that matters must change. At length, in 
 1750, slavery was allowed in Georgia. Two years 
 later the unpopular trustees gladly gave up their 
 charter. Georgia then became a royal province, and 
 began to prosper. 
 
 The foreign industries of silk, oil, wine, olives, and 
 hemp which the trustees had forced upon her were 
 abandoned. The natural resources, pitch, tar, lumber, 
 rice, and deerskins, were utilized. Plantations were 
 again cultivated with care, and vessels came to trade. 
 
 There was hardly any town life in the colony. Most 
 of the estates were small, and the planters toiled hard 
 for their living. For amusement they fished and hunted 
 and occasionally attended a horserace. 
 
 On the coast there were a few large plantations where 
 lived men of wealth, like the rich planters of Virginia 
 and South Carolina. Their estates covered hundreds 
 or thousands of acres, and their manner of life was as 
 stately as if they had lived in England. 
 
 And what of General Oglethorpe's last days? For 
 many years he was the senior general in the British 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 263 
 
 army. In 1775 he was offered the command of the 
 British troops who were fighting the colonists in the 
 Revolutionary War. He refused, perhaps because of 
 S3^mpathy with Georgia and her fellows in their struggle 
 against unjust laws. 
 
 Ten years later Oglethorpe died at an advanced age. 
 He had lived to see the colony planted by him attain 
 its independence. This was a rare experience. 
 
 Devotion to duty and unselfishness marked the 
 character of the father of Georgia. In these virtues no 
 colonial leader surpassed James Edward Oglethorpe. 
 
 In the Southern colonies, the ruling class was the rich 
 planters, men whose wealth lay in the wide-stretching 
 fields of rice or tobacco, and in the hundreds of slaves 
 who cultivated them. What did the home of such a 
 planter look like ? 
 
 The house was a long, rambling structure of wood, 
 with fine brick chimneys at either end. It stood on 
 a knoll not far from the river, towards which the 
 grassy lawns sloped gently. Full in sight from the 
 veranda a weather-beaten pier ran out into the river, 
 and beside it rocked many boats. 
 
 Paths of powdered shell led to the gardens bright 
 with hollyhocks, sweet wiUiams, roses, and tall white 
 lilies, and to the rear of the house, past the offices, 
 barns, and shops, past the great orchard of cherry 
 and apple trees, to the double row of slave cabins 
 
264 JAMES EDWARD OGLETHORPE 
 
 near a small stream, an arm of the great rippling 
 tideway before the mansion. Near by were planted 
 fields of corn, a crop from which the negro cooks made 
 delicious bread and cakes, famed throughout the land. 
 Beyond the corn stretched acre after acre of tobacco 
 or rice, and great forests not yet cleared away. 
 
 Much of the furniture of the mansion had been 
 brought from England. Tables, chairs, sideboards, 
 and cabinets of rare old mahogany adorned the stately 
 rooms; and the silver and china were choice. The 
 beautiful clear light of candles set in tall silver standards, 
 the Russia leather chairs, the mahogany table spread 
 with abundance, alike charmed the many guests of the 
 hospitable planter. Here is what was served at a 
 planter's table one day when the governor had called: 
 ''Then was uncovered the mighty saddle of mutton, 
 reposing in the dish of honor, the roast pig, the 
 haunch of venison, the sirloin of beef, the breast of 
 veal, the powdered goose, the noble dish of sheeps- 
 head and bluefish, and the pasty in which was en- 
 tombed a whole flock of pigeons. These dishes were 
 flanked by bowls of oysters, by rows of wild fowl 
 skewered together, by mince pies and a grand salad, 
 while upon the outskirts of the damask plain were 
 stationed trenchers piled with wheat bread, platters 
 of peas and smoking potatoes, cauliflowers and aspar- 
 agus, and a concoction of rice and prunes, seasoned 
 with mace and cinnamon." 
 
THE FATHER OF GEORGIA 265 
 
 Once a year a vessel came from England to anchor 
 at the pier. Then the household was all excitement. 
 The vessel would take back the year's product of the 
 plantation, and for it she brought from the Old World 
 many articles eagerly longed for by the whole house- 
 hold. She brought the ladies silk petticoats, stock- 
 ings, and mantles, satin overdresses, plumed hats, 
 gloves, riding-masks, ribbons, strings of pearls, and all 
 the latest romances. She brought the men lace 
 ruffles and bands, French boots and wigs, and tools 
 and weapons of all sorts. No wonder the whole 
 family, attended by the house servants, flocked to the 
 pier when the sloop came in ! 
 
 The mistresses at the head of these plantations led 
 very busy lives. They taught their house serv-ants to 
 knit, to sew, to mend, to make preserves, and to care 
 for the sick. They them^selves embroidered cushions 
 and covers and practiced upon the spinet. The men 
 rode over the plantations to inspect the progress 
 of the work, and they held long consultations with 
 their overseers and clerks. For amusement there was 
 horseracing and following the hounds in true English 
 fashion. Balls were frequent and very popular, when 
 every one, whether young or old, trod the meas- 
 ures of the stately reels and quadrilles, keeping time 
 to the scraping of the negro fiddler's bow. Truly, 
 life in the South was far gayer and more joyous than in 
 New England, where the days went colorless and sad. 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 I hope you remember the sad wanderings of De 
 Soto. In 1 541 he discovered the Mississippi, and not 
 long after was buried beneath the waters of the great 
 river. 
 
 For over a century the Mississippi was forgotten. 
 It scarcely ever appeared on Spanish maps. Men 
 rarely spoke of it. When they did, they called it the 
 Unknown River. 
 
 In 1608 Quebec was settled by the French under 
 Champlain. As the French priests and traders pushed 
 westward, they discovered the Great Lakes. Then they 
 began to hear of a river to the west, as mighty as the 
 St. Lawrence, which they knew so well. It would be a 
 great service to France to discover and explore this 
 river. 
 
 In the spring of 1673, two Frenchmen set out to 
 find the "Unknown River." Their names were Joliet 
 (zho-lya') and Marquette (mar-ket')- Joliet was an ac- 
 tive young man of twenty-eight. He had once been a 
 priest, but at twenty-two he had chosen to become a fur 
 trader instead. Father Marquette was a devoted priest 
 who had come to Canada as a missionary to the Indians. 
 
 Joliet and Marquette set out from the head of Lake 
 
 266 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 267 
 
 Huron with five men and two canoes. They paddled 
 along Lake Michigan, up the Fox River, and down the 
 Wisconsin River. This was a tributary of the Mis- 
 sissippi. On the seventeenth of June, just a month 
 from the day they had started, their canoes shot out on 
 the broad waters of the Mississippi. 
 
 ^ 
 
 '^ JUkJttk^ 
 
 
 ^m ^^H 
 
 ■ \- :'0i^-d^^^^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 » 
 
 " They paddled down the Wisconsin River." 
 
 Farther on in their journey they reached the spot 
 where the yellow waters of the Missouri River enter 
 the Mississippi. Logs and trees were borne down by 
 the boiling torrent. The frail canoes whirled on the 
 miry flood "like dry leaves on an angry brook." "I 
 never saw anything more terrific," wrote Marquette. 
 
 At last they reached the mouth of the Arkansas 
 
268 LA SALLE 
 
 River. They thought they were much nearer the mouth 
 of the Mississippi than they really were. The Gulf of 
 Mexico was still some seven hundred miles away. But 
 they had gone far enough to be sure that the Mississippi 
 did not flow into the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of 
 California. Its goal was the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 Content with this discovery, the explorers turned 
 northward once more. 
 
 Not long after Joliet and Marquette's voyage, an- 
 other Frenchman planned the descent of the Mississippi. 
 This was La Salle (la-sal')- He would complete what 
 they had begun so well. 
 
 La Salle was born in northern France. He had been 
 trained as a Jesuit, but, like Joliet, he preferred a 
 more active life than that of priest. He had a brother 
 in Canada, and at twenty-three he sailed to seek his 
 fortune in the New World. 
 
 During the next eight years he was learning the life 
 of the wilderness. He visited towns and settlements ; 
 he studied Indian tongues ; he formed friendships with 
 men of importance ; he came to know rivers, rapids, and 
 forests. During this time, his most important service 
 to France was the discovery of the Ohio Ri\'er. 
 
 In the fall of 1674 La Salle sailed for France with a 
 letter recommending him to the king's chief minister. 
 This letter had been given him by his warm friend 
 Fron'tenac, the governor of Canada. 
 
 La Salle had rendered to France service as an explorer. 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 269 
 
 As a reward he made two requests of the king. He 
 asked that he might be made a noble, and that he 
 might become ruler and lord of a new post on Lake 
 Ontario. This post he called Fort Frontenac, in honor 
 of the governor. 
 
 Louis XIV was most gracious to La Salle. He en- 
 nobled him, made him governor of Fort Frontenac, 
 and gave him grants of land in its neighborhood. 
 
 In the next few years, La Salle's post on Lake On- 
 tario was the center of much activity. The fort it- 
 self was rebuilt and much strengthened. Indians 
 settled near Fort Frontenac to be under La Salle's 
 protection. Four vessels were built to ply over Lake 
 Ontario. Altogether, Fort Frontenac became an im- 
 portant center of the fur trade. 
 
 The year 1678 found La Salle again in France, lay- 
 ing yet more ambitious projects before the king. He 
 secured permission to explore and to build forts in the 
 regions beyond Canada, during the next five years. He 
 desired, first, to prove that the Mississippi entered the 
 Gulf of Mexico; and second, to fortify it against the 
 Spaniards and the English. In return for his ser\dces 
 the king gave him and his friends the trade in buffalo 
 skins for the next five years. 
 
 The next four years were strenuous ones. The mouth 
 of the Mississippi was La Salle's goal. But at times 
 it seemed as if earth and even heaven itself had con- 
 spired against him. 
 
270 LA SALLE 
 
 In the summer of 1678 La Salle sailed from France, 
 carrying a carefully selected cargo. Here were an- 
 chors, cables, and rigging for the ships he was going to 
 build. Here were knives, hatchets, mirrors, red cloth, 
 and trinkets of all sorts to delight the Indian heart. 
 
 With La Salle sailed an Italian named Ton'ty. 
 He was to be second in command. Tonty was that 
 rare product, an absolutely loyal soul. During the 
 next nine years, he served La Salle with a devotion so 
 wonderful as to bring tears to the eyes. 
 
 Early in the autumn the party reached Fort Fron- 
 tenac. La Salle sent Tonty with a band of workmen 
 to the Niagara River, near Lake Erie. There they were 
 to pass the winter in building a vessel. 
 
 It was not an easy winter. The cold was intense, 
 the provisions were scanty, and many of the Indians 
 were unfriendly. They even threatened to burn the 
 vessel on the stocks. 
 
 At last she was launched. How beautiful she ap- 
 peared to the weary workmen ! Five small cannon 
 looked from her portholes. The strange monster 
 carved on her prow was a griffin, the arms of Frontenac. 
 The vessel had been christened the Griffin. 
 
 It was August when La Salle appeared. Business 
 had kept him at Fort Frontenac. He owed much 
 money and his creditors feared he was about to slip 
 away from them forever. So they had seized lands he 
 owned in various parts of New France. 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 271 
 
 But all this La Salle would forget. The tempting 
 wilderness beckoned. He sailed with Tonty through 
 the Great Lakes to Green Bay in Lake Michigan. On 
 the way he collected furs from the Indians. He decided 
 
 The Griffin. 
 
 to send the Griffin back to the Niagara River with this 
 rich freight for his creditors. 
 
 The men who were to push ahead with him were not 
 pleased with this change of plan. They dreaded con- 
 tinuing the journey in frail canoes. La Salle encouraged 
 them. He pointed out that the Griffin would soon 
 return and bring with her much-needed stores. 
 
 The little party pushed on over unknown lakes and 
 
272 LA SALLE 
 
 rivers. In January we find them descending the Illi- 
 nois River, Near Peoria they came upon a large In- 
 dian settlement with eighty wigwams on both sides of 
 the river. 
 
 La SaUe wished to show a bold front. He ranged his 
 eight canoes side by side, and they moved on together 
 into the heart of the Indian town. Squaws and chil- 
 dren and braves hurried out to stare with M^onder at 
 these white men in their very midst. When the peace 
 pipe was shown, however, alarm was changed to joy. 
 
 The Frenchmen were entertained in the town. 
 Goods were exchanged. At last La SaUe confided to 
 them his destination. 
 
 The Indians discouraged him. They said the Missis- 
 sippi was full of ugly monsters, rocks, and whirlpools. 
 At its mouth its waters dashed themselves into a 
 fathomless gulf. Their search would be a fatal one. 
 
 At this bad news six men, including two of the best 
 carpenters, deserted. Others tried to poison La Salle, 
 but failed. 
 
 La Salle now began the work of building a ship in 
 which to descend the Mississippi. Where could there 
 be a better spot for the labor than here on the Illinois 
 River ? The Indians seemed friendly. By trade the 
 Frenchmen could get all the necessary food. 
 
 Tonty should command the new post and build 
 the new ship. Some of the men could explore the 
 Illinois River. La Salle himself must return to Fort 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 273 
 
 Frontenac, to get new stores for the ship. Long before 
 this the Griffin should have returned to Lake Michigan, 
 with the needed supplies; but now he felt sure that she 
 had been lost. He would buy new stores and return 
 at an early date. 
 
 With five men he set out on the long journey. Part 
 of the way was by canoes, part on foot. There was 
 danger from wind 'and wave and wild beasts. The 
 pathless wilderness itself was a terrible menace. Again 
 and again Indians followed them for days. 
 
 At the end of sixty-five days, the journey of about 
 one thousand miles was over. La Salle reached Fort 
 Frontenac after the most difficult journey ever taken 
 by Frenchmen in America. His men had given out on 
 the march ; he himself seemed as fresh as ever. 
 
 And now followed blow on blow. Not only had the 
 Griffin been lost, but a ship from France, richly freighted 
 with La Salle's goods, had been wrecked at the mouth 
 of the St. Lawrence River, and agents and creditors 
 had done their best to plunder him. 
 
 To cap the climax, bad news came by letter from 
 Tonty. Nearly all the men at the post on the Illinois 
 River had deserted him soon after La Salle's departure. 
 They had destroyed the fort and had thrown into the 
 river what arms and stores they could not carry away 
 with them. 
 
 La Salle bore all this with iron courage. Three 
 months later he set off to the aid of Tontv and the few 
 
274 LA SALLE 
 
 men with him who had remained true. His company- 
 was made up of carpenters, masons, soldiers, and 
 laborers, — twenty-five new recruits in all. 
 
 In time they drew near the spot where the large 
 town of the Illinois had stood. A tragic sight met 
 their eyes ! The meadows were black. Burned corn- 
 fields and charred lodges told the sad tale of war and 
 fire. The terrible Iroquois had been there, and now 
 wolves and crows were the only li\dng creatures to be 
 seen. The half-built vessel was still on the stocks, 
 although the Iroquois had stolen its iron nails and 
 spikes. 
 
 Eagerly La Salle searched for some sign of his faith- 
 ful Tonty. He even descended the Illinois River to its 
 mouth. Here, for the first time in his life, he beheld the 
 river of his dreams, the great Mississippi. Now, how- 
 ever, he could not follow the broad eddying current 
 southwards. He was not prepared for a long voyage. 
 With Tonty and the Illinois Indians away, he could 
 not finish building the ship. 
 
 A return to Fort Frontenac was necessary, where he 
 could prepare for a third attempt. On the way a bit 
 of good news broke the gloom. Tonty was alive ! To 
 their great joy the two men met at last. Each had a 
 tale of disaster to unfold. La Salle told all with tran- 
 quillity, even cheerfulness. Some one who heard him 
 said, "Any one else would have thrown up his hand, 
 and abandoned the enterprise ; but far from this, with 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 275 
 
 d firmness . . . that never had its equal, I saw him 
 more resolved than ever to continue his work and 
 push forward his discovery." 
 
 On December 21, 1681, the third start was made. 
 The party consisted of fifty-four French and Indians. 
 
 La Salle descending the Mississippi. 
 
 They were to descend the river in canoes and not in a 
 good-sized vessel, as had been first planned. 
 
 Over the wxU-known route they passed, and on Feb- 
 ruary 6 they came out on the bosom of the Missis- 
 sippi. The river was full of floating ice, which delayed 
 them for a week. Then they pushed on once more. 
 
 They passed the JMissouri River and came into 
 warmer climes. Here was kindly spring at last. 
 
276 LA SALLE 
 
 On April 6 they found that the main river divided 
 into three broad channels. La Salle knew the sea must 
 be at hand. Sending Tonty and another trusted leader 
 down two passages, La Salle himself followed the third. 
 This was the most western one. Parkman thus de- 
 scribes the end of the voyage: 
 
 "As La Salle drifted down the turbid current, be- 
 tween low and marshy shores, the brackish water 
 changed to brine and the breeze grew fresh with the 
 salt breath of the sea. Then the broad waters of the 
 great Gulf opened on his sight, tossing its restless bil- 
 lows, limitless, voiceless, lonely, . . , without a sail, 
 without a sign of life," 
 
 La Salle had won at last. He had proved that a 
 man's will can conquer nature and harsh circumstances. 
 He could truly say "Man is man and master of his 
 fate!" 
 
 On April 9, 1682, the whole party gathered at the 
 mouth of the river. The soldiers were drawn up with 
 their muskets ; the Indians formed a wondering group 
 a little to one side. A Tc Dcum was sung. Then 
 La Salle planted a column bearing the arms of France, 
 while guns were fired and shouts for the king filled the 
 air. Then, in a loud voice. La Salle claimed the basin 
 of the Mississippi from north to south and from east 
 to west for King Louis. 
 
 The little band of Frenchmen knew something 
 of the claim from north to south, but had little idea 
 
DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 277 
 
 what immense heart of a continent they were giving to 
 their sovereign. The Mississippi tributaries rise in both 
 the Rocky and the Appalachian mountains, and from 
 the great eastern divide to the great western, — all was 
 his. The name chosen for this vast region was Louisiana. 
 
 There is little more to be 
 
 '^ told of La Salle's story. 
 
 That httle is, however, most 
 
 tragic. He returned to 
 
 «,™..™ „ France to secure ships, men. 
 
 ^^.^ '^"' 
 
 " La Salle claimed the basin of the Mississippi." 
 
 and money for his next venture. His purpose now was 
 to establish a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi 
 that the great river might be held for France. 
 
 The small fleet entered the Gulf of Mexico and coasted 
 along its northern shore. These were unknown re- 
 gions ; the leaders knew nothing of winds and currents. 
 The result was that they passed the mouth of the Missis- 
 sippi and began to search for it as far west as the Texan 
 coast. 
 
278 LA SALLE 
 
 A vessel full of supplies was wrecked. Perplexed and 
 forlorn, the company landed, and built rude shelters. 
 
 La Salle bore himself, as always, with wonderful 
 courage. He was to head a party who were to search 
 for the Mississippi. He spoke most winningly and 
 cheerfully to the forlorn women and children who were 
 to be left behind. Then he turned his face resolutely 
 eastward. 
 
 Two months later the Mississippi still seemed as far 
 away as ever. A few of La Salle's men mutinied. 
 They first shot La Salle's nephew. Then they killed 
 the great leader himself, leaving his body unburied in 
 the bushes. Was not this a sad end for a life of such 
 energy and lofty ambition ? 
 
 La Salle's most serious fault was his haughtiness, 
 but his virtues were many. His truth, his cheerfulness, 
 his dauntless courage, his energy, all win our admiration. 
 
 "His iron will and splendid courage . . . made him 
 one of the grandest characters in history." 
 
THE JESUIT MISSIONARY IN AMERICA 
 
 The earlier chapters have shown you how differently 
 the European nations who came to America treated the 
 Indians. The Spaniards thought of them as people to 
 be robbed. The Dutch and English thought of them 
 as people with whom they could trade. The red men 
 brought furs from remote and dangerous forests to the 
 safe trading posts. They were a great convenience. 
 
 The thought of the French was very different. They 
 traded with the Indians as did the Dutch and English. 
 They, however, never lost sight of the fact that the 
 Indians had souls. The souls of these savages would 
 be welcomed into the fold of the Church as warmly as 
 any souls in Europe. 
 
 With this belief the French could not help treating 
 the Indian kindly. Thus friendship, almost brother- 
 hood, grew up between the two peoples. 
 
 This friendship was fostered by the good governor of 
 New France, Samuel de Champlain. The Indians 
 trusted him. They called him their "white father." 
 
 The first years in Quebec were crowded, arduous, 
 dangerous. After the colony was safely launched, 
 Champlain longed to teach the Indians Christian 
 truths. 
 
 279 
 
28o MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 With Champlain to wish was to do. On his next 
 trip to France, he invited four priests to return with 
 him to Quebec. Thus, in 1615, the gentle gray monks 
 began to preach and to teach in New France. A little 
 later five missions to the Indians were begun when 
 there were but six brothers to carry them on. In 1625 
 three Jes'uits came to assist. 
 
 When England forced Quebec to surrender, the mis- 
 sions came to an end. The harvest was not a plenteous 
 one. There were only a handful of converts to show as 
 the result of fourteen years of devotion. 
 
 In 1632 Canada was restored to the French. Cham- 
 plain returned as governor, and with him came four 
 Jesuits. France had given to the Jesuits the task of 
 converting the continent. It was a mighty trust that 
 was met by mighty hearts. 
 
 The order of Jesuits had been established by a sol- 
 dier. Their great virtue was the same as the soldier's, 
 — obedience. They must have no mind, no will of 
 their own. The word of their Superior sent them to a 
 fiery martyrdom, or to a lifetime of toil in a far-away 
 quarter of the world. 
 
 So, on the streets of Quebec, the tall, dark figure of 
 the Jesuit grew to be a familiar sight. He attracted 
 no more attention than the Indian, the fur trader, or 
 the soldier from the fort. 
 
 He wore a long black robe, with a rosar}^ hanging from 
 the waist, and a wide black hat. Beneath the priestly 
 
THE JESUIT MISSIONARY IN AMERICA 281 
 
 robe beat a heart with one single purpose, — to hve, to 
 dare, to suffer, to die "for the greater glory of God." 
 
 From the first the missions appealed to the Jesuit. 
 He welcomed the 
 hardships, the dan- 
 gers, the possible 
 death with open 
 arms. 
 
 The Jesuits fol- 
 lowed a skillful 
 plan of campaign. 
 They would spend 
 the summer at the 
 trading posts, where 
 the Indians gathered 
 in great numbers. 
 Here the fathers 
 made friends. As 
 winter drew on and 
 the red men de- 
 parted for their dis- 
 tant homes, a father 
 would accompany 
 them. He would 
 winter with the Hurons, the Micmacs, or the Ottawas. 
 He would study their language and set before them his 
 faith. Thus all through the St. Lawrence Valley, even 
 to distant Lake Superior, there grew up Jesuit missions, 
 
 Jesuits in the wilderness. 
 
282 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 I wish there were space to tell of the gallant lives and 
 devoted deaths of certain of these holy men, — of 
 Brebeuf (bra-bef), of Jogues (zhog), of Le Jeune (le- 
 zhen'), and others. I hope you will read of them some 
 day in a wonderful book by Francis Parkman called 
 The Jesuits in North America. 
 
 Now, however, let us look at three pictures. These 
 we will name the Jesuit in Camp, the Jesuit on the 
 March, and the Jesuit under Fire. 
 
 Father Le Jeune once wintered with an Algonquin 
 tribe, living in their camps as they moved about from 
 place to place in search of game. In their journeys 
 from camp to camp their property was dra\\Ti on 
 sledges or carried on the backs of the men and women. 
 The Jesuit became a pack horse with the rest. 
 
 After the new camping ground had been reached, it 
 took three hours to raise the wigwam. While the 
 squaws cut the poles of young birch trees, the braves 
 shoveled away the deep snow. They left a shallow 
 pit, banked with snow three or four feet deep. Into 
 the snow the poles were thrust. They met in an angle 
 overhead. Then the framev/ork was covered with great 
 rolls of birch bark. 
 
 A fire was built in the center. The hard ground and 
 snow were covered with spruce boughs, and the rude 
 lodge was complete. 
 
 But it was not a place in which a civilized man could 
 take comfort. The intense heat from the fire roasted 
 
THE JESUIT MISSIONARY IN AMERICA 283 
 
 the father on one side, while the other side was frozen 
 by the keen winds which whistled through the thin 
 birch bark. 
 
 The smoke, too, was often agonizing in its effects. 
 There was an opening for it overhead, but during snow- 
 storms it did not pass out well. Then the father lay 
 on his face, with his mouth close against the damp 
 earth. His throat was parched ; his eyeballs burned 
 with fire ; he could scarcely breathe. Only the freez- 
 ing temperature outside could force him to endure such 
 misery. 
 
 Often nineteen people would be packed into a space 
 but thirteen feet square. Then there were the dogs 
 to be reckoned with them. These creatures were some- 
 times welcome on cold nights. They crouched close 
 and helped to keep the human beings warm. But at 
 meal times they were far from agreeable. They 
 scratched and fought for food with the men and 
 women. The food was often scanty. Sometimes it 
 was merely bark from the trees, or scraps of leather. 
 
 At times the missionary fled from the smoke, the 
 rude talk, and the snarling dogs, into the pure cold air 
 of the silent forest. By the light of the moon he read 
 his prayer book . He saw the northern lights . He heard 
 the tree trunks crack with the frost. Here was peace, but 
 only for a while. The zero temperature soon forced him 
 back to the filthy wigwam and the insulting Indians. 
 
 How they loved to torment him ! "Look at him !" 
 
284 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 they cried. "His face is like a dog's! His head is 
 hke a pumpkin! He has a beard Hke a rabbit's!" 
 Under such an attack, the father wisely kept silent. 
 He patiently endured all his hardships for the sake of 
 studying the language and character of the Indians. 
 
 The Huron mission was established by Brebeuf in 
 1634. It was a long, hard journey to the Indian village. 
 Brebeuf would paddle for hours ; then the stream would 
 be broken by rapids. All would spring from their 
 canoes and guide them past the obstructions. The cold 
 water would chill the limbs of the missionary, and the 
 sharp stones would tear his bare feet. With soaked 
 garments and bleeding feet, he would take up his paddle 
 once more. 
 
 Frequently the party came upon waterfalls. Here the 
 canoes were lifted bodily from the river and carried for 
 long distances upon the backs of the braves. The 
 Jesuit had his share of the burden also. 
 
 Wet, weary, hungry, shaking with cold, the father 
 stumbled onward. Nothing awaited him at the end of 
 the day but a handful of Indian corn mixed with water, 
 and a bed upon the ground. 
 
 Three hundred leagues lay between Quebec and the 
 country of the Hurons. Thirty-five waterfalls and 
 rapids lengthened the actual distance. But the father 
 never murmured. Surely he repented his undertak- 
 ing ? Never ! He rejoiced that he could endure such 
 hardship as a soldier of Christ. 
 
THE JESUIT MISSIONARY IN AMERICA 285 
 
 Within a few years several mission stations were 
 established in the waUed towns of the Hurons. 
 
 The Iroquois were the undying enemies of the 
 Hurons. Whenever they could, they fell upon the 
 
 In a French mission station. 
 
 Huron towns, burned the houses, and slew the women 
 and children. 
 
 It was a warm July morning in the Huron village of 
 St. Joseph. The gates were open to the fields and 
 forests. Squaws were pounding corn, girls were chat- 
 ting together, little children were playing in the sun. 
 
286 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 Nearly all the warriors were away. Some were on 
 the warpath, others were carrying furs to the French 
 trading posts. Many villagers were gathered in the 
 church, where Father Daniel was just finishing mass. 
 Suddenly arose the cry, " The Iroquois ! The Iroquois ! " 
 
 A host of warriors were rushing from the forest to- 
 ward the undefended gates. Parkman thus describes 
 what followed: — 
 
 " Father Daniel ran out of the church and hurried to 
 the point of danger. Some snatched weapons ; some 
 rushed to and fro in a blind panic. The priest rallied 
 the defenders, promised Heaven to those who died for 
 their homes and their faith, then hastened from house 
 to house, calling on unbelievers to repent. 
 
 "They crowded around him, imploring to be saved. 
 Immersing his handkerchief in a bowl of water, he 
 shook it over them and baptized them. 
 
 "They pursued him as he ran again to the church, 
 where he found a throng of women, children, and old 
 men gathered, as in a sanctuary. Some cried for bap- 
 tism, some held out their children to receive it, some 
 wailed in terror and despair. 
 
 "'Brothers,' Father Daniel exclaimed again and 
 again, as he shook the baptismal drops from his hand- 
 kerchief, 'brothers, to-day we shall be in Heaven.' 
 
 "The fierce yell of the war whoop now rose close at 
 hand. The palisade was forced, and the enemy was 
 in the town. The air quivered with the infernal din. 
 
THE JESUIT MISSIONARY IN AMERICA 287 
 
 '" Fly,' screamed the priest, driving his flock before 
 him. 'I will stay here. We shall meet again in 
 Heaven.' 
 
 "Many escaped through an opening in the palisade 
 opposite to that by which the Iroquois had entered, 
 but Father Daniel would not follow, for there still 
 might be souls to rescue. 
 
 "The hour had come for which he had long prepared 
 himself. In a moment he saw the Iroquois, and came 
 forth from the church to meet them. 
 
 "When they saw him confronting them with a look 
 kindled with the inspiration of martyrdom, they stopped 
 and stared in amazement. Then, recovering themselves, 
 they bent their bows and showered him with a volley 
 of arrows. . . . 
 
 "A gunshot followed ; the ball pierced his heart; and 
 he fell dead, gasping the name of Jesus. 
 
 "They rushed upon him with yells of triumph, 
 gashed and hacked his lifeless body, and scooping his 
 blood in their hands, bathed their faces in it to make 
 them brave." 
 
 Always the Jesuit died at his post. Always his 
 courage overawed his enemies. Under Iroquois tor- 
 ture the fathers proved themselves of as firm a fiber as 
 ever Algonquin or Huron warrior. Their shining names 
 add luster to the seventeenth century. "The noble 
 army of martyrs praise Thee." 
 
THE TRAPPER AND THE SOLDIER OF NEW 
 
 FRANCE 
 
 The purpose of the French in coming to America 
 was trade. The most profitable article of trade was 
 
 fur, and especially the 
 beaverskin. On one 
 side of the ocean were 
 leagues and leagues of 
 unbroken forests in 
 northern America 
 teeming with big and 
 little animals, all pro- 
 tected by rich fur 
 against the cold. On 
 the other side were 
 cities and towns in 
 which were Europeans, 
 eager to trim their 
 cloaks and mantles 
 Fur traders 
 
 " Fur traders were needed, and they came.' 
 
 and to make their hats of these same skins, 
 were needed, and they came. 
 
 Champlain and the early pioneers thought it best 
 to have the Indians meet the whites once a year at 
 some post on the St. Lawrence River. Here they could 
 
 288 
 
THE TRAPPER AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 289 
 
 trade in a sort of annual fair. Montreal was the place 
 chosen by Champlain, and the first fair was held in 
 161 1. This was three years after the settlement of 
 Quebec. 
 
 In the late spring of 161 1 Champlain proceeded to 
 Montreal. A fleet of small boats followed, containing 
 keen traders. Champlain chose the spot and cleared 
 the ground where the 
 company was to meet. 
 Not long after, he saw 
 one day "a fleet of birch 
 canoes come dancing 
 down the surges of St. 
 Lawrence like dry leaves 
 in the froth of a riotous 
 brook. ' ' It was a party 
 of Hurons, the first of 
 the red men to arrive. 
 
 The traders fired their guns to greet them. The 
 Indians were alarmed by the uproar. The traders 
 crowded close around them and their furs, chatter- 
 ing and making gestures in true French fashion. The 
 Indians distrusted the traders ; they even thought that 
 the white men intended to kill them. 
 
 One night the savages sent for Champlain to take 
 council with them. They said to him, "Come to our 
 country, buy our beaver, build a fort, teach us the 
 true faith, do what you will, but do not bring this 
 
 COE F. — 19 
 
 " A fleet of small boats followed." 
 
290 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 crowd with you." Soon after they withdrew them- 
 selves and all their goods to the farther side of the 
 Lachine Rapids near Montreal. They felt safer there. 
 The Lachine Rapids are very beautiful, swift, and 
 dangerous. Champlain visited the Indians, and they 
 
 " Champlain was the third white man to shoot the rapids." 
 
 carried him back to Montreal in a canoe. He was the 
 third white man to shoot the rapids. 
 
 The Indians, in the early days of Montreal, shrank 
 from the fur dealers, but they were to know their white 
 brothers close at hand. For the dealers, eager for a 
 good bargain, began to meet the Indians on their way to 
 Montreal. They would hail the savages, treat them 
 
THE TRAPPER AND THE SOLDIER 
 
 291 
 
 to drink, and then secure good terms for the beaver- 
 skins when the Indians were off their guard. 
 
 The next step was easily taken. The traders tracked 
 the Indians to their distant homes and made bargains 
 there. Often they ceased to depend upon the Indian 
 
 Beavers. 
 
 and trapped the beavers and hunted the moose for 
 themselves. 
 
 As the demand for beaverskins increased in Europe, the 
 numbers of settlers who shouldered their guns and took 
 to the forest life likewise increased. They were called 
 coureurs de hois (koo-rer' de bwah'), which means ''forest 
 rangers." In America we have known tw^o great rushes 
 for gold, — the rush to California in 1849 and the rush to 
 the Klondike in 1898. There was a like stampede for 
 
292 
 
 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 beaverskins in the middle of the seventeenth century. 
 The government had fixed the price and had ordered 
 the dealers to buy all skins offered for sale. Thus each 
 trapper felt sure of a market. 
 
 Two motives called the trapper into the wild. One 
 was the desire to make money ; the other was the love of 
 
 adventure, the love of 
 danger, the love of the 
 unknown that lurked in 
 the shades of the forest. 
 But the rulers and the 
 priests did not approve 
 of this rush to the good 
 greenwood. At one time, 
 when the number in the 
 colony were 10,000, fully 
 800 men had become 
 coureurs de bois. The 
 evils were serious. The 
 colony lost its young 
 and strong men; families 
 lost the fathers or sons 
 and often fell into want ; 
 farms were uncultivated, and soon became part of the 
 wilderness. The coureurs de hois themselves changed in 
 character. They became like the Indians of whom they 
 saw so much. They grew vain and lazy. They decked 
 themselves in finery and strutted around the towns on 
 
 Coureur de bois. 
 
THE TRAPPER AND THE SOLDIER 293 
 
 their return home. They would do no work themselves 
 and they looked down on all who toiled with their 
 hands. 
 
 A citizen of Quebec at that time wrote in a letter 
 home: "From the moment a boy can carry a gun, off 
 to the woods he goes. The father cannot restrain him 
 and dares not offend him. Judge of the mischief that 
 follows." 
 
 The king tried to stop every one from turning trader 
 by passing laws. At one time there was a law saying 
 that no one could enter the forests as a trader without 
 a permit. Only twenty-five permits were to be given 
 out each year. But the voice of the king seemed far 
 away to the ears of the dwellers in New France. The 
 call of the moose, the call of the rushing trout brooks, 
 were near and insistent, and these they obeyed. 
 
 The coureur de bois often dressed like the Indian by 
 whose side he tramped through the wilderness. He 
 wore leggings and moccasins of deerskin, and an eagle's 
 feather in his cap. His skin was as sun-tanned as the 
 red man's. Sometimes the coureur de hois preferred 
 French fashions to Indian. Then he would wear 
 a faded velvet coat and lace rufffes, somewhat the 
 worse for wear. At all times he loved to cut a gallant 
 figure. 
 
 Two evils grew out of the fur trade. One was a 
 matter of money. The beaver market became over- 
 stocked. The trading company in France that handled 
 
294 MEN OF NEW FRANCE 
 
 the skins could not sell them, and it fell into difficul- 
 ties. The colony also was heavily in debt. Beaver- 
 skins answered as money, and there were far too many 
 of them at hand. What should be done ? 
 
 Strange to say, three quarters of all the skins stored 
 up in the warehouses were taken out and burned. This 
 helped money matters somewhat. But think of the 
 useless sacrifice of all those harmless little creatures of 
 the forest ! It was pitiful. 
 
 The other evil of the fur trade was the sale of brandy 
 that was bound up with it. Brandy was the pay the 
 Indians demanded. If the French refused them liquor, 
 they would carry their skins to the Dutch or English 
 and get the beloved drink from them. This the French 
 knew, and so the exchange of brandy for beaver went 
 on. 
 
 A drunken Indian was a very dangerous creature. He 
 often rushed around, kiUing whoever happened to get in 
 his way. Thus it came to pass that the trading posts 
 often became the centers of much crime. 
 
 The soldiers in Canada entered into the fur trade. 
 Their salaries were so small that they needed to add 
 to them in every way they could. So brandy was sold 
 to the Indians at military posts very freely. These 
 garrison posts should have been noted for law and order. 
 Yet several of them, on account of the revels of the 
 Indians, came to be known as places of wild disorder. 
 
 In the early days of the colony a man who sold liquor 
 
THE TRAPPER AND THE SOLDIER 295 
 
 to an Indian was whipped. But later the evil trade 
 seemed unchecked. 
 
 In the seventeenth century most of the Canadian 
 men served for a time as soldiers. When disbanded, 
 they either turned coureurs de hois or they married 
 and settled down to be patient tillers of the soil. 
 "Habitant" is the French name for the peasant farmer. 
 The habitant was the backbone of Canada. 
 
 Trapper, soldier, and Jesuit priest went into the 
 Canadian wilds with very different aims. But they 
 all aided one great work, — • the charting of the mighty 
 wilderness that stretched from their own dooryards 
 along the safe St. Lawrence into the vast unknown 
 lands to the north and the west. 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Early in the eighteenth century Virginia was still 
 a wilderness west of the Blue Ridge. The wilderness 
 was not, however, an unbroken one. Traders had 
 their posts in the forests, and a few settlers had made 
 clearings. 
 
 East of the Blue Ridge were broad rivers flowing to 
 the sea. Sailing down those rivers the traveler caught 
 interesting glimpses of frequent tobacco fields ; an occa- 
 sional lordly mansion, with its smoke house, tobacco 
 house, and slaves' quarters ; or perhaps a church with 
 courthouse and tavern at hand. There were still but 
 two towns in the colony, — Williamsburg and Norfolk. 
 
 The family of Washington had been for three genera- 
 tions in the New World. They came of an old and titled 
 English stock, and were always known for their energy 
 and loyalty. They were prudent men also. They 
 had money which they invested -wisely in wide Virginia 
 acres. 
 
 George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, 
 at Pope's Creek, Virginia. His father was Augustine 
 Washington. His mother, Mary Ball, was his father's 
 second wife. George had two half brothers, the chil- 
 dren of Augustine Washington's first wife. Their 
 
 296 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 297 
 
 names were Lawrence and Augustine. At the time of 
 George's birth Lawrence was fourteen years old. 
 
 In course of time George had younger brothers and 
 sisters. Three more httle boys and two Httle girls 
 came to make glad the farmhouse on the Rappahan- 
 nock River. 
 
 We know very little of George's early years. Be- 
 cause of this fact, tales like the hatchet story have been 
 invented. But there is little truth in them. 
 
 What we do know is that George went to what was 
 known as Hobby's school. Hobby was the old sexton 
 of the village church. Here the boy learned to read, 
 write, and cipher. He was always painstaking and ac- 
 curate. These qualities are shown in his copy books, 
 which still may be seen. The penmanship is bold and 
 handsome, while the pages are models of neatness. 
 
 George Washington was a tall, strong lad with a 
 serious face and clear gray eyes. It is said that he could 
 throw a stone across the wide Rappahannock River, 
 
 The days on the plantation were full of healthful 
 outdoor exercise. George's father began his training 
 as a horseman, giving him his first lessons in leaping 
 and jumping. The lessons were continued by an old 
 negro servant named Sampson, who had a wonderful 
 knack at managing horses, dogs, bees, and in fact all 
 creatures. Shooting and fishing, with an occasional 
 coon hunt in the evening, strengthened the powers of 
 the growing boy. 
 
298 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Before George was twelve years old his father died. 
 Mary Washington had now to bring up five little chil- 
 dren. It was a serious task. 
 
 She had, however, kind advisers in her stepsons. 
 Lawrence Washington was now the head of the family. 
 The largest part of his father's property had passed to 
 
 " He always liked to watch the ships." 
 
 him. He owned the beautiful plantation on the Poto- 
 mac River, to which he gave the name Mount Vernon. 
 
 Augustine Washington inherited rich lands in West- 
 moreland County. There was good schooling near this 
 brother's home, so for a while George lived with Au- 
 gustine, making occasional visits to his mother on her 
 farm. 
 
 When George was fourteen, there was talk of his going 
 to sea. The plan was attractive to him, as he had 
 always liked to watch the ships that sailed up the 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 299 
 
 river near his home. His hope would be to find a place 
 in the king's navy. 
 
 Just as George was making ready for this venture 
 into the wide world, there came a letter from an uncle 
 in England. He said that a sailor's life was full of hard- 
 ships, and that there would be no opening for George in 
 the navy. This settled the matter. Mary Washington 
 was a woman of force and decision. George was to keep 
 on with his schooling ; a sea life was not for him. 
 
 Soon after this, George met Lord Fairfax, who had 
 come from England to look after his great property in 
 Virginia. Lord Fairfax was a man of wide experience 
 and rich culture. He had been a soldier, but he was 
 at home not only on the field of battle, but also in the 
 court of the king. 
 
 Lord Fairfax grew fond of George Washington. 
 There was a quiet strength and dignity of bearing 
 about the youth that caused men of the world to expect 
 much of him. And their expectations were not dis- 
 appointed. Boyhood had been left far behind ; at 
 sixteen George Washington moved a man among men. 
 
 For the last year or two George had been studying 
 surveying. His first employment was given him by his 
 friend, Lord Fairfax. His lordship had vast acres west 
 of the Blue Ridge whose boundaries had never been 
 clearly marked. In 1748 he offered George the work 
 of making the survey. 
 
 George Washington rejoiced at this business opening. 
 
ui,oie,t W d 11 lo ton as a surveyor. 
 
 300 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 301 
 
 He was to go with George Fairfax, a young man of 
 twenty-one. Fairfax was the leader of the Httle party, 
 but the responsibihty for the survey was entirely in 
 George's hands. 
 
 They started in a wild season of the year. It was 
 March, and the rivers were swollen with melting snows 
 and spring rains. The crossings were often dangerous, 
 as they swam their horses from shore to shore. 
 
 Settlers' cabins were few and far between, and at 
 best their comforts were meager. Often the party 
 built their fires under the open sky. Then, rolling 
 themselves in blankets, with their feet to the blaze, 
 they watched the stars till sleep overtook them. 
 
 Washington loved this outdoor life. He seemed to 
 thrive under all the hardships. He came to know the 
 Indians and the traders in this wild region, and that 
 knowledge was of great value to him in after years. 
 
 In about a month he returned to Lord Fairfax. 
 The work was done and well done, and from this time 
 on George had plenty of work as a surveyor. Soon 
 after, Lord Fairfax made his home on the estates so 
 carefully laid out by Washington. 
 
 The poet Kipling writes : — 
 
 " Creation's cry goes up on high 
 From age to living age ; 
 Give us the men who do the work 
 For which they draw the wage." 
 
 Such a man was the father of his country. 
 
302 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Responsibilities come early to those who are fitted 
 to bear them. Lawrence Washington died in 1752, 
 leaving the care of his estate to George, who was then 
 only twenty years old. Lawrence had one child, a little 
 daughter, who would be mistress of Mount Vernon if she 
 grew up. If she died, the estate was to pass to George. 
 
 Washington had always been interested in arms. 
 He was a major, and the charge of the militia of several 
 counties had just been intrusted to him. Think of 
 these responsibilities for one who had just turned 
 twenty ! 
 
 The year 1752 found the French and English thinking 
 and talking much about the Ohio River. The French 
 claimed it as a tributary of the Mississippi. The Eng- 
 lish said it was a part of Virginia. Each side knew 
 that if they wished to hold the Ohio they must act 
 promptly. 
 
 The French were first on the spot. They built a 
 fort on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Then they 
 raised two other forts at the headwaters of the Ohio. 
 
 Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia was statesman 
 enough to be very uneasy at this move. He was con- 
 cerned for England, for Virginia, for himself. He owned 
 rich lands in the Ohio Valley. 
 
 He promptly sent the news to England. The mother 
 country replied that Dinwiddle might drive the French 
 out. But before resorting to bullets, he was to send 
 them a message. This message was to point out cour- 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 303 
 
 teously, but forcefully, that the French were trespassers. 
 It also was to request them to withdraw. 
 
 Who should take the message ? The errand called 
 for a man of tact and sagacity. He must collect all 
 the information he 
 could in regard to 
 the strength of the 
 enemy. He must 
 hold the friendship 
 of their uncertain 
 aUies, the Indians, 
 and win other tribes 
 to the English cause, 
 if possible. Above 
 all, he must not be 
 hoodwinked by the 
 wily French. 
 
 Dinwiddle passed 
 over older men and 
 chose the youth, 
 George Washington. 
 
 Washington set 
 out the very day the 
 orders came. This 
 was the thirtieth of October, 1753. With him went an 
 interpreter and an experienced woodsman. 
 
 It was a mlderness journey in the dead of winter. 
 Trackless forests, icebound rivers, fierce snowstorms, 
 
 " It was a wilderness journey 
 
304 GEORGE WASfflNGTON 
 
 treacherous savages, — these were among the dangers 
 he faced. But he passed unharmed. 
 
 He deUvered the letter to the French commander, 
 and received but small satisfaction. The chief officers 
 said little, but the younger men were less prudent. 
 From their words and preparations Washington saw 
 plainly that the French did not mean to give way; 
 they had come to stay. 
 
 Washington's report gave entire satisfaction to 
 Dinwiddle. The young man had acquitted himself 
 with tact and shrewdness. 
 
 The course of Virginia was clear, and Dinwiddle has- 
 tened his preparations for war. There was one 
 strong position that the French had not yet taken. 
 This was at the junction of the Allegheny (al'e-ga-ny) 
 and Monongahe'la rivers, the two streams that unite 
 to form the Ohio. 
 
 Dinwiddle hurried a company of soldiers to this 
 place. Here they were to build a fort. Washington, 
 now a lieutenant colonel, was to follow with more 
 troops as soon as they had been gathered and drilled. 
 
 The English were still working on their fort when 
 the French came down the Allegheny in great numbers. 
 Forty to five hundred were too great odds. The Eng- 
 lish retreated, and the French finished their works. 
 Fort Duquesne (du-kan') was the name they gave their 
 new post on the contested ground. This was in April, 
 1754- 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 305 
 
 Meanwhile Washington was leading his raw troops 
 into the wilderness. Mountain roads had to be built. 
 This was painful work and took many weeks. 
 
 The last of May a small skirmish occurred. It is 
 of interest only because here was shed the first blood of 
 the French and Indian War. Washington with some 
 forty men surprised thirty French and Indians. Both 
 parties fired promptly, but Washington's order came 
 a trifle the first. The French leader was killed and 
 twenty-two men were taken prisoners. 
 
 The French at Fort Duquesne had been reenforced 
 in large numbers. They promptly marched against 
 the English. Washington had thrown up some breast- 
 works at Great Meadows. They were slight affairs of 
 earth, but they gave his men some protection. 
 
 When the French and Indians appeared, Washington 
 drew up his men on the meadow. He thought the 
 French would fight a pitched battle. But instead they 
 lingered on the edge of the forest, shooting down the 
 English with deadly aim. 
 
 Seeing that his men offered an easy mark for the 
 enemy, Washington ordered them behind the breast- 
 works. It began to rain ; the earthen walls became 
 mud, while the poor men found themselves kneeling in 
 pools of water. The uneven contest continued for some 
 hours. But there could be but one outcome. Wash- 
 ington had to retreat. 
 
 Terms were made with the enemy, and Washington 
 
 COE F — 20 
 
3o6 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 brought off his men in excellent order from the field 
 where, for the first time, he had met defeat. 
 
 But failures often teach as much as successes. It 
 was so with Washington. Perhaps the most useful 
 lesson he learned at this time was to bear himself with 
 cheer and unshaken courage when events were against 
 him. This hard test he met often, and always well. 
 
 The war had grown important. The mother country 
 was now to take a hand. In 1755 two regiments from 
 England arrived in Virginia. Their leader was General 
 Edward Braddock. 
 
 Braddock had fought in many battles. He knew 
 exactly how soldiers should be drilled. He knew 
 exactly the maneuvers of war as it was carried on in 
 Europe. But of frontier fighting he knew nothing. 
 
 Washington could have told Braddock much about 
 forest warfare, but Braddock was perverse and hot- 
 tempered. Why should he consult a raw Virginian, 
 scarcely of age ? 
 
 Fort Duquesne was first to be taken. Then they 
 would move against the other French forts to the north- 
 ward. The militia were gathered and drilled. But at 
 all times Braddock showed that he depended for success 
 on the troops he had brought with him from England. 
 
 At length the start was made. Washington went 
 with Braddock as his aide. He looked forward with 
 joy to seeing English troops in action. 
 
 The army carried an immense amount of baggage ; 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 307 
 
 they made roads and bridges as they went along. The 
 march to the fort seemed to Washington very slow. He 
 would have had the men carry but little and march 
 at full speed. Why not ford the streams instead of 
 stopping to bridge them? Their tardy progress was 
 known to the enemy. It was important to reach Fort 
 Duquesne before it was reenforced from Canada. 
 
 Washington spoke to Braddock respectfully but 
 decidedly. The old general divided his forces, and 
 went on with part of them in light marching trim. 
 But even then their progress was far too slow. 
 
 At last they drew near the fort. They were but eight 
 miles away, when they waded the shallow Monongahela 
 River. Washington watched the sun striking upon 
 the rich scarlet and gold uniforms and the glittering 
 arms as they marched on in well-ordered lines. 
 
 But that was the last of order they were to know, for 
 they were suddenly attacked by a small but determined 
 force of French and Indians. 
 
 The English were brave. They drew themselves up 
 in lines of battle and fired. But they were bewildered 
 and perplexed and terrified. Where were the enemy ? 
 All around stood ranks of forest trees, whence burst a 
 steady haU of bullets. 
 
 Again and again the English poured out their shot 
 to no purpose. Little harm was done to their invisible 
 foe, while they themselves were being mowed down 
 moment by moment. 
 
3o8 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 
 Braddock was everywhere, encouraging the men and 
 urging them to stand firm. Washington also was in 
 all parts of the field. He was indifferent to danger, 
 although he was a marked man to both French and 
 
 " A steady hail of bullets." 
 
 Indians. They remembered the leader at Great Mead- 
 ows and directed many of their bullets towards his 
 towering form. Two horses were shot under Wash- 
 ington and four bullets passed through his clothes. 
 
 Meanwhile the despised Virginians had taken to 
 cover. Behind the trees they alone maintained the 
 
THE YOUTH OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 309 
 
 fight. The redcoats had broken ranks and had fled. 
 Braddock struck them with his sword to force them to 
 keep their places, but it was of no avail. 
 
 They fled in terror from their unseen foe. They 
 ran till they came to the troops in the rear. They 
 passed them and continued on towards the nearest 
 settlements. 
 
 Braddock then ordered a retreat. A few minutes 
 later he was mortaUy wounded. The command thus 
 fell to Washington. 
 
 With the aid of the Virginians who had remained on 
 the field, he succeeded in carrying away the helpless 
 general. Braddock died four days later. In his last 
 hours he is said to have loathed the red British uniform 
 and to have cared only for the blue coats of the de- 
 spised Virginians. 
 
 Washington read the funeral service over the body 
 of Braddock. Then the dead general was buried 
 in a grave dug in the road. Over the spot the heavy 
 camp wagons were driven. This was to hide the loca- 
 tion of the grave from the Indians. 
 
 B ack to Philadelphia went the B ritish regulars . There 
 was little glory in the campaign just over. Washington 
 alone had reaped laurels. He had again shown himself 
 £autious, wise in advance, brave on the field of battle, 
 firm in the dark hour of retreat. 
 
 One fact drawn from this experience he never forgot. 
 British soldiers could be overcome in battle ! 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, GUIDE, PHILOSO- 
 PHER, AND FRIEND TO THE AMERICAN 
 PEOPLE 
 
 Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 
 17, 1706. He was the fifteenth child in a family of 
 seventeen children. Some of the elder brothers and 
 sisters did not live at home, but even as it was, the little 
 house on Milk Street swarmed with children. Ben- 
 jamin says he remembers thirteen often sitting dow^n at 
 table. 
 
 At the age of eight, Benjamin went to the Latin 
 school. But he was there scarcely a year. His father 
 decided that he could not afford the expense of a 
 college education. So Benjamin left the Latin school 
 and attended a school where arithmetic and penman- 
 ship were the chief studies. Benjamin did well in 
 penmanship, but he did not succeed in arithmetic. 
 
 When he was ten years old, his schooling ended. Now 
 he must begin to work for his living. His father, who 
 was a taUow chandler, took him into his shop. A 
 chandler is a man who makes candles. Here Benjamin 
 spent his time in cutting wicks, running molds, and 
 going on errands. 
 
 The boy disliked that sort of work, and Mr. Franklin 
 
 310 
 
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND 311 
 
 tried to discover what his preferences were. He took 
 walks with his son about town, where they visited shops 
 and industries of all sorts. But Benjamin seemed 
 to care for nothing but books. So at last his father 
 decided to make a printer of him. 
 
 This was easily done in the Franklin family. James, 
 Benjamin's elder 
 brother, was al- 
 ready a printer, 
 and papers were 
 drawn up under 
 which Benjamin 
 was to be James's 
 apprentice till he 
 should be twenty- 
 one years of age. 
 
 Benjamin was 
 now in his element. 
 Type, presses, ink, 
 proofs, all delighted 
 
 his soul. His work " Benjamin was now in Ws dement." 
 
 was thoroughly and carefully done. Furthermore, after 
 a few years, he began to write. His papers he thrust 
 under the door of the shop secretly. James and his 
 friends read and approved, and Benjamin had the joy 
 of seeing his articles printed in the newspaper that 
 James was publishing at the time. 
 
 As Benjamin grew older, the brothers quarreled 
 
312 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 often, James was gruff, and Benjamin was inclined to 
 be saucy and conceited. 
 
 When he was seventeen, Ben decided to bear with 
 his brother no longer. He took passage on a ship 
 bound for New York, where he hoped to find work as 
 a printer. William Bradford, to whom he applied, 
 had no work to offer him. Bradford, however, advised 
 Benjamin to go to Philadelphia, where his son, Andrew 
 Bradford, had a printing office and might make a place 
 for him. 
 
 Benjamin had very little money now. He walked 
 some fifty mUes across New Jersey towards Philadel- 
 phia. Arrived at Burlington, he made the rest of the 
 way by boat and reached Philadelphia Sunday morning. 
 
 This city was to be henceforth his home. Franklin 
 became such a notable citizen that his entrance into 
 Philadelphia is most interesting. Let us have the 
 story in his own words. "I was in my working dress, 
 my best clothes being to come round by sea. I was 
 dirty from my journey; my pockets were stuff 'd out 
 with shirts and stockings, and I knew no soul nor where 
 to look for lodgings. I was fatigued with traveling, 
 rowing and want of rest. I was very hungry and my 
 whole stock of cash consisted of a Dutch dollar and 
 about a shilling in copper. The latter I gave the people 
 of the boat for my passage, who at first refus'd it, on 
 account of my rowing ; but I insisted on their taking it. 
 A man sometimes is more generous when he has but 
 
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND 
 
 313 
 
 a little money than when he has plenty, perhaps 
 thro' fear of being thought to have but little. 
 
 "Then I walked up the street, gazing about, till near 
 the market house I met a boy with bread. I had made 
 many a meal on bread, and, inquiring where he got it, I 
 went immediately 
 to the baker's he 
 directed me to, in 
 Second street, and 
 ask'd for biscuit, in- 
 tending such as we 
 had in Boston ; but 
 they, it seems, were 
 not made up in Phil- 
 adelphia. Then I 
 ask'd for a three- 
 penny loaf, and was 
 told they had none 
 such. So not considering or knowing the difference of 
 money, and the great cheapness nor the names of his 
 bread, I bade him give me three-penny worth of any 
 sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. 
 I was surprised at the quantity, but took it, and, hav- 
 ing no room in my pockets, walk'd off with a roll under 
 each arm, and eating the other. Thus I w^ent up Mar- 
 ket street as far as Fourth street, passing by the door 
 of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; when she, stand- 
 ing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as cer- 
 
 " She, standing at the door, saw me." 
 
314 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 tainly I did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. 
 Then I turn'd and went down Chestnut street and part 
 of Walnut street, eating my roll all the way, and, com- 
 ing round, found myself again at Market street wharf, 
 near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draught 
 of the river water; and, being filled with one of my 
 rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that 
 came down the river in the boat with us, and were wait- 
 ing to go farther. 
 
 "Thus refreshed, I walked again up the street, which 
 by this time had many clean-dressed people in it, who 
 were all walking the same way. I joined them, and 
 thereby was led into the great meetinghouse of the 
 Quakers near the market. I sat down among them, 
 and, after looking round awhile and hearing nothing 
 said, being very drowsy thro' labor and want of rest 
 the preceding night, I fell fast asleep, and continu'd so 
 tUl the meeting broke up, when one was kind enough 
 to rouse me. This was, therefore, the first house I was 
 in, or slept in, in Philadelphia." 
 
 There is not space for us to follow Franklin's career 
 step by step. Let us pass over twenty odd years and 
 see what Franklin was in 1748. This is an important 
 year with this middle-aged printer. He has made a 
 comfortable fortune and has sold out his excellent busi- 
 ness to his late partner. He has done this that he may 
 have the leisure in which to devote himself to studies in 
 science. Electricity is of especial interest to him. 
 
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND 
 
 315 
 
 Pf)or Rkhard, 5 7 ^ ^ . 
 
 A N 
 
 Almanack 
 
 Foi the Year ofChrift 
 
 1 
 
 733 
 
 It was a notable success for one who had started in 
 life as a poor boy to be able to retire from active busi- 
 ness at the early age of forty-two. It was due to the 
 fact that Franklin was not only an industrious man but 
 also a shrewd business 
 man as well. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin 
 published a newspaper 
 and, at one time, a maga- 
 zine. The most success- 
 ful output from his press, 
 however, was Poor Rich- 
 ard^ s Almanack. In these 
 days every family had to 
 have an almanac. The 
 old-fashioned almanacs 
 were packed full of valu- 
 able information as to 
 tides, seasons, moons, 
 sunrises and settings, 
 postal rates, etc. They 
 hung beside the living 
 room or kitchen fireplace, * '"^ imprdr.oa 
 
 and were thumbed through by every member of the 
 family. 
 
 In 1732 Franklin issued an almanac under the name 
 of Richard Saunders. Its success was immediate, 
 and for twenty-five years an average of ten thousand 
 
 Being the FIrfl after 1 EAP YEAR: 
 
 Atii mahi fft iht €rtatim YezrS 
 
 By the Accounr of ihcE fti"'n Grnit jj^i 
 
 By (he Latin Chutch. whtn O em Y fiojj 
 
 By the Computation of /^ /^ j^Jj 
 
 By the Ronton Chronology ' t($82 
 
 By the Jcv/ifi Habhiei , ^^j^ 
 
 Wherein u comatred 
 The donations, Eclipfcs, Judgment of 
 the Weather, Spring Ti.ie«, Planet* Motions & 
 motual AfpeSs Sun and Moon'i Rifing and Set- 
 ring, Length of Days. Time of High Water 
 Falrt, Gmrtt, and obrervable Day* ' 
 
 Fitted tothe Latitude ol Fortv Degrees 
 and a Meridian ofFiveHosr. Weft fromVwrfwi! 
 biit may without fenfihle Error ferve all the ad- 
 jacent Places, even from h!e<wfoundlaiul to Seiab- 
 
 CuTolma. 
 
 By RICHJRD iiy4UNDERS,Fhii^, 
 
 PHILADRLPHIA: 
 
 Punted and fold by B FRJNJiL/fJ, at tie Ni - 
 Printing Office iKar jhe Market 
 
3i6 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 copies were sold annually. It was found in the homes 
 of almost every farmer, planter, and shopkeeper in the 
 colonies. 
 
 The Book of Proverbs, it is said, shows how to 
 lay up treasure in heaven. Poor Richard's Almanack 
 shows how to lay up treasure on earth. It preaches 
 industry and thrift as the way in which to find comfort 
 and success in life. Poor Richard's sayings are a part 
 of our everyday thinking. Here are some of them. 
 
 God helps those that help themselves. 
 Never leave that till to-morrow which you can do to-day. 
 Three removes are as bad as a fire. 
 Little strokes fell great oaks. 
 One to-day is worth two to-morrows. 
 
 Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy 
 and wise. 
 
 Through the almanac Franklin's influence reached 
 far and wide. He was an admirable teacher for the 
 American people. 
 
 Franklin believed that any business done in the right 
 way, and with vigor, would pay. The post office had 
 never paid in America. Franklin was made postmaster- 
 general of the colonies. He improved the postal ser- 
 vice at once. He reduced the postage; he advertised 
 unclaimed letters in the newspapers; he had the post 
 riders quicken their speed; and he undertook to carry 
 all newspapers, not merely a favored few. Mails that 
 formerly went out but once a week, went now three 
 
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND 
 
 317 
 
 times a week. In cold weather it had been the custom 
 for the post riders to go from Philadelphia to New 
 York but twice a month. Franklin saw that they went 
 over the route once a week, no matter what the weather. 
 The result of all this energy was that the post office 
 sent to England money enough to pay the salaries of 
 
 Post rider. 
 
 all the postmasters in America and three times as much 
 money as the Irish postal system had ever paid to 
 England. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin had hoped for leisure in which 
 to study science. He hoped to make some discoveries 
 that would be of use to his fellow-men. But his fellow- 
 men left him little time for himself. They said he 
 
3i8 
 
 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 /'V^ \ 
 
 must serve them in another way. They 
 put him into public office and kept him 
 there for fifty years. Little time was left 
 for studies, but wonders were accomplished 
 even then. He studied ventilation, fur- 
 naces, and stoves. The result of thought 
 in that direction was his invention of the Franklin stove. 
 This is a stove having all the charms of an open fire- 
 place, but giving a larger amount of heat. 
 
 Franklin improved the fire department, the city 
 watch, and the cleaning and paving of the streets of 
 Philadelphia. He started the first circulating library in 
 America, and founded the University of Pennsylvania. 
 The most celebrated outcome of Franklin's studies 
 was his paper on electricity. This describes the experi- 
 ments by which he had come 
 to the conclusion that light- 
 ning is a form of electricity. 
 One evening he and his son 
 went out into the fields while 
 a thunderstorm was raging. 
 They carried a silk kite, a key, 
 and other articles. Drawing 
 the lightning from the sky, 
 they found it to be the strange 
 force known as electricity. 
 Franklin's paper was trans- 
 " They carried a silk kite." latcd into Several foreign Ian- 
 
GUIDE, PHILOSOPHER, AND FRIEND 
 
 319 
 
 guages and read throughout Europe. He was made a 
 member of the Royal Society of England. He was also 
 given a degree, so that now we must speak of him as 
 Dr. Franklin. 
 
 And now what were the political services of Franklin 
 to the colonies, besides his service as postmaster- 
 general ? One of the most famous was the Plan of 
 Union that he offered to the Convention that met in 
 Albany in 1 754. The French had begun to build forts in 
 land that the English claimed as 
 their own. As war was threat- 
 ened, England ordered the col- 
 onies to send delegates to 
 Albany to make a treaty with 
 the Iroquois. 
 
 Before the Albany meeting, Franklin thought it 
 wise to incline the minds of the people towards union. 
 He printed at the head of his paper a picture of a rat- 
 tlesnake in pieces labeled for the different colonies. 
 Below was written "Join, or Die." This meant that 
 the colonies must unite or they would be conquered by 
 the French. 
 
 On the way to Albany, Franklin drew up a plan of 
 union. With his usual foresight, he wished to have 
 something to offer to the convention. The plan was 
 not original with him, but many of the details were his 
 own. 
 
 Franklin's plan was laid before the convention and 
 
320 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 
 
 fully discussed. There were to be a president-general 
 of the colonies appointed by the English crown, and a 
 grand council made up of delegates chosen by the 
 house of representatives of each colony. The central 
 government was to have power to make treaties with 
 the Indians, to levy taxes, and to provide for the 
 defense of the colonies. 
 
 Franklin's plan of union was accepted by the con- 
 vention. Next, it was submitted to the colonies and 
 to England. It suited neither side. England thought 
 the colonies would have too much power ; the colonies 
 thought the same for England. This made Franklin 
 sure that his plan was exactly right. Had it been 
 adopted, the French and Indian War would probably 
 not have dragged on for nine long years. 
 
 During and after the Revolutionary^ War, our 
 debt to Franklin was great indeed. Of his political 
 services in those times, however, you will read in an- 
 other book. 
 
DEC 31 1912 
 

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