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THE
FIRST sº. TTLER s
O F N E W-E N G L A N D :
C O N Q. U E S T OF TH E P E QU O DS,
NARRAGANSETS AND POKANOKETS.
AS RELATED BY
A M C T H E R T O H E R C H I L I) R. E. N.
By A LADY OF MASSACHUSETTS,
BOSTON :
PRINT ED FOR THE AUTHOR,
BY
MUNROE AND FRANCIS.
1 s 29.




º º
* * *
º 2 + 2
* 70
INTR, ODU CTION.
I HAVE been induced to compile this brief
narrative of the first settlement of New-England,
with a view to exhibit the character of the native
inhabitants in their courteous reception and
treatment of our pilgrim fathers, unmixed with
-
prevailed. It appeared to me that but little
the civil and religious dissensions which then
attention had been given to this portion of his-
tory, and that there had been a general misap-
prehension in reference to the conduct of the
Indians, (from the vague and partial manner in
which it is written,) in their intercourse and in
the wars which ended in their entire discom-
fiture and subversion of their empire. It has
also been my design to exhibit some of the most
striking traits of Indian manners, and to prove,
from the most authentic records, that the treat-
ment they have met with from the usurpers of
their soil has been, and continues to be, in direct


iv. INTRODUCTION.
violation of the religious and civil institutions
which we have heretofore so nobly defended,
and by which we profess to be governed; thus
subjecting ourselves to have the finger of scorn
pointed at us, for having so grossly violated the
principles which form the basis of our govern-
ment. This crooked and narrow-minded policy,
which we have adopted in reference to the In-
dians, will assuredly subject us to the calamitous
reverses which have fallen on other nations,
whose path to empire has been marked by the
blood and ruin of their fellow-men.
I have also endeavoured to show, by familiar
instances, that, by the indulgence of a disposition
to tyrannize over the weak, we deprive ourselves
of all those social and best affections, which were
bestowed on us by the gracious Fountain of all
good to promote the present and everlasting
felicity of his creatures, I ardently hope that
this unvarnished tale, which I have offered to
view, will impress our youth with the conviction
of their obligation to alleviate, as much as is in
their power, the sufferings of the generous and
interesting race of men whom we have so un-
justly supplanted. I am moreover cheered by
the hope, that men of talents and integrity,
when they find that no hostile design was pro-
jected against the white men, until every pacific

INTRODUCTION. y
overture had failed of success, will be aroused
from the torpid indifference with which they
have hitherto witnessed the unexampled fate of
the Indians, and nobly and fearlessly stand for-
ward in their defence.
The other subjects here discussed have all a
reference to the main object I had in view; as it
appeared to me highly important to demonstrate,
(from their entire opposite tendency,) that the
conduct and sanguinary institutions of the Jews,
from which we have derived our crude and un-
worthy notions respecting the Deity, can have
no connection with the pure and heavenly relig-
ion of Jesus.
The Cherokees have been publishing the
speeches of Washington, ‘their venerated fath-
er, to his beloved children of that nation, wherein
he urges them to quit the chase, and practise
the arts of agriculture, and become herdsmen
and artisans; with the assurance that, should
they accede to the proposal, the United States
would take them under their protection, and
guarantee to them their land within specific
limits. With a view to encourage them to be-
come herdsmen and cultivators of the soil, the
United States agreed to furnish them gratuitously
with domestic animals and implements of hus-
bandry.’ The Cherokees have in pursuance
1*

vi INTRODUCTION.
of this advice become a civilized community,
and have moreover parted with much land for
the accommodation of the United States. Never-
theless, they are now urged to quit their territory,
with all their improvements, and retire to the
western wilds, where they must erelong misera-
bly perish, to gratify the insatiable cupidity of
the Georgians. If the craving rapacity of this
state cannot otherwise be satisfied, it would
assuredly be preferable to pay them an equivalent
for their claims, which, setting aside all higher
considerations, would require a sum less exor-
bitant than would be expended in their removal.
These remarks are peculiarly applicable to all
the Indians who border on the southern states.
‘What are state rights, exclaims an indignant
Cherokee chief, ‘in comparison to original pos-
session, and inheritance from the King of kings”

C O N Q. U E S T
T H E P E QUOD S.
Mother. HAyr.Ng concluded what I had to
relate of our Southern Indians, I will now give
you some account of those who inhabited this
part of the country when it was first visited by
our ancestors. -
The Pequods, a powerful and intelligent peo-
ple, who dwelt on the river Thames in Connec-
ticut, had declined all intercourse with the Eng-
lish, as they were engaged in commerce with
the Dutch, by whose instigation it was supposed
the Pequods were forbidden to bring any of the
English into their territory. These people were
all destroyed in revenge of the death of captains
Stone and Norton. Stone, the principal, had
been guilty of the most atrocious offences, he
had been imprisoned and ordered to leave the

8 CONQUEST OF
colony; nor is it probable that Norton was supe-
rior to Stone, or he would not have been his
associate. It cannot be doubted that these men
were the aggressors, from their subsequent con-
duct: we must therefore admit the testimony of
the Pequods, in reference to the cause and man-
ner of their disaster and death. The Pequods
sent messengers of peace, with gifts, to the Mas-
sachusetts, explaining the cause of Stone's death,
and alleged that he had been justly slain for
having seized some of their men, and compelled
them to show him the way up their river ; and
that the Pequods slew Stone and two others,
who had come on shore, to rescue their own men.
They also stated, that afterward the bark had
been suddenly blown up by the explosion of
gunpowder, which had been set in an open ves-
sel to be more ready for use. This account
does not appear to have been credited readily by
the English, though it could not be denied, as
none of the company belonging to the bark
escaped the conflagration.” After a conference,
which lasted many days, the governor and coun-
cil concluded a peace with the Pequods, and
agreed to trade with them as friends, which we
* This was related with such confidence and gravity, as,
having no means to contradict it, we inclined to believe it.--
Winthrop's Journal, Vol. i. Page 220.

THE PEQUODS. 9
are told they greatly desired. ‘The English of
Massachusetts, after their peace with the Pe-
quods, sent a bark thither for trade ; but we are
told they found them treacherous and false, and
that no advantage was to be had by any com-
merce with them, insomuch as they took up a
resolution never more to have to do with them.”
The next year John Oldham, a contentious, tur-
bulent man, who had for some time traded with
the Indians, and had been treated not only with
kindness but with great liberality, was found
dead in his vessel, with many Indians on board,
who were all destroyed, except two who escaped.
No cause has been assigned for the death of
Oldham ; but, from the temper of the man, it
must be supposed he had done some great injury
to those who had heretofore been his friends and
benefactors. The Indians who committed this
murder were supposed to be inhabitants of Block
Island, which was subject to the Narragansets.
Shortly after, messengers came from Canonicus,
chief sachem of Narraganset, with a letter from
Mr. Roger Williams to the governor, to certify
what had befallen Mr. Oldham, and how griev-
ously they were afflicted, and that Miantonimo
was gone, with seventeen canoes and two hun-
dred men, to take revenge, &c. A few days
after, two boys belonging to Oldham were sent

10 CONQUEST OF
home by Miantonimo, with the goods found in
the vessel; he likewise sent one of the Indians
who escaped, the other being dead. The Eng-
lish, not being satisfied with all which had been
done by the Narragansets, sent three of their
principal men, with Cutshamekin, the Sachem
of Massachusetts, to Canonicus, to treat with
him about the murder of Oldham. They return-
ed, being very well accepted, and with good
success. They observed in the sachem much
state, great command over his men, and marvel-
lous wisdom in his answers, and the carriage of
the whole treaty ; clearing himself and neigh-
bours of the murder, and offering assistance for
revenge of it, yet upon very safe and wary con-
ditions.
Caroline. Had the Narragansets more than
one king or sachem, mother?
Mother. We learn from Rev. Roger Wil-
liams that Canonicus was uncle and guardian to
the young king Miantonimo, and that he resign-
ed the government to his nephew, on his coming
of age. Miantonimo nevertheless consulted Ca-
nonicus on all occasions, and shared with him
the honours of royalty. “They were,' says Mr.
Williams, ‘the best friends and kindest bene-
factors the colony ever had ; they kindly receiv-
ed, fed, and protected the first settlers, when

THE PEQUODS. | 1
they were in distress and were strangers and
exiles, and all mankind else were their ene-
mies.’ There were also many inferior chiefs
who presided over separate districts, somewhat
similar perhaps to our state governors. We
find the names of six sachems subscribed to
articles of peace between the Narragansets
and the colonies, among whom is mentioned
the old queen Quaiapen.
Eliza. You say, mother, that the English
were not satisfied with having the property of
Oldham returned, and the only Indian who
had escaped death put into their hands to be
punished as they thought right; what more.
did they require
Mother. It appears that toward the end of
the month after the embassy to the Narragan-
sets, and two years after the death of Oldham,
‘the governor and council assembled the
rest of the magistrates to advise with them
about doing justice for the death of J. Old-
ham, and all agreeing that it should be at-
tempted with expedition, sent forth ninety
men, under four commanders, and over all, as
general, one of the assistants was sent. They
were embarked in three pinnaces, and carried
two shallops and two Indians with them.
They had commission to put to death the men

12 CONQUEST OF
of Block Island, but to spare the women and
children, and bring them away, and take pos-
session of the island.”
Caroline. But, mother, was not this order
extremely cruel and unjust, and was it in
reality put in execution 7
Mother. It was so, as far as possible. ‘This
armament set sail August 24, 1636, and arriv-
ed at Block Island, the last of the same month.
The wind blowing hard, they had much diffi-
culty in landing ; about forty Indians were
ready with their arrows, which they shot often
at the men, who, being armed with corslets,
were not much hurt. As soon as one man
leaped on shore, they all fled. The island is
about ten miles long, and four broad; there
were two plantations three miles asunder, and
about sixty wigwams, some very large and
fair, and above two hundred acres of corn,
some gathered and laid on heaps, and the rest
standing. When they had spent two days in
searching the island, and could not find the
Indians, they burnt their wigwams and all
their mats, and some corn, and staved seven
canoes, and departed. They could not tell
what men they killed, but some were wounded
and carried away by their fellows.’

THE PEQUODS. 13
Eliza. Of what use were the mats, which
appear to be so abundant."
Mother. They were used to hang on the
inside walls of their habitations, and they were
also used as doors and windows ; in summer,
the natives slept on them in the room of skins,
some of these were curiously wrought, and
made of very flexible materials, they served
for a great variety of purposes, and much
skill and ingenuity were displayed in their
Structure.
Caroline. Is it not generally believed,
mother, that the Indians are a vagrant, idle
race, who have no settled place of abode,
“here to-day, and there to-morrow, wherever
they can find subsistence 1 whenever I speak
of the Indians, and compassionate their con-
dition, I am asked how I can feel so much for
these miserable hordes 7
Mother. The Indians have been strangely
misrepresented, either through ignorance or
design, or both ; and men have given them-
selves little trouble to investigate the subject.
People seldom forgive those whom they have
wronged, and the first settlers appear to have
fostered a mortal aversion to the Indians,
whom they had barbarously destroyed. How-
ever strong were their convictions of the jus-
2

14 CONQUEST OF
tice of their cause, however plausible were
their arguments in defence of their usurpa-
tions, they were unable to silence the voice of
conscience ; and they vainly attempted to
escape from the remorse, which, with all its
terrors, seizes on the hearts of the guilty, by
redoubling their superstitious observances.
They fasted and prayed, and the austerities,
they imposed on themselves and others, de-
stroyed in a great degree all social enjoyment;
and, whilst they were systematically planning
the destruction of the Indians, they were
sharply engaged in discussing with each other
points of faith altogether unimportant or in-
comprehensible.
Caroline. Did you not say, mother, that
the Pequods were found to be false and treach-
erous, and that no advantage was to be gained
by a commerce with them."
Mother. I simply repeated to you the
words of the historians; in what manner they
discovered the treachery is not related, but it
is stated the Pequods were very desirous of
having the English for their friends, as they
were at war with the Dutch, and, a great
rivalship subsisting between them and the Nar-
ragansets, they wished to strengthen them-
selves by a treaty with the English. By this

- THE PEQUODS. 15
treaty it was agreed that the Pequods should
allow the English to settle in Connecticut, if
they desired to plant there, to give them four
hundred fathom of Wampumpeag, Indian
money, and forty beaver, and thirty otter
skins, and deliver up the men who were guilty
of Stone's death, when they should send for
them, though the Indians insisted that he was
slain in a just cause. By this it is apparent
that they were willing to do much to secure
the friendship of the English, who on their
part agreed to trade with them as friends, and
mediate a peace between them and the Nar-
ragansets. After the English of Massachu-
setts had sent a bark to trade with the Pe-
quods, and found them, according to their
own accounts, treacherous, &c. we hear of no
other offence committed by them; neverthe-
less the forces sent to destroy Block Island,
were ordered to go from thence to the Pe-
quods, and demand the murderers of Stone
and others, and one thousand fathom of wam-
pum for damages, &c. and some of their chil-
dren as hostages, which, if they refused,
should be obtained by force.
Eliza. What damage had the Pequods
done to the people of Massachusetts' had

16 CONQUEST OF
they refused to give up the murderers, previous
to this demand
Mother. There is no record, to my knowl-
edge, of any damage done by the Pequods, or
of any demand previously made of the mur-
derers; but as they were to be surrendered on
condition of having the trade and friendship
of the Massachusetts, which they had not ob-
tained, they doubtless felt released on their
part from a condition which they unwillingly
subscribed to; nevertheless their presents had
doubtless been received, and no opposition
was made to the settlement of Connecticut
by the Pequods, which rapidly advanced, pre-
vious to the assault here related, which I will
read to you as recorded in Winthrop's Jour-
mal;-After having received a reinforcement
‘of twenty men and two shallops, they sailed
to Pequod harbour, where an Indian came to
them in a canoe, and demanded who they
were, and what they would have. The gen-
eral told him he came from the governor of
Massachusetts, to speak with their sachems.
He told him, Sassacus was gone to Long
Island. Then he bade him go and tell the
other sachems, &c.; so he departed, and in
the mean time our men landed, but with much
danger, if the Indians had made use of their

THE PEQUODS. 17
advantage, for all the shore was high, rugged
rocks, &c. Then the messenger returned,
and the Indians began to gather about our
men, till there were about three hundred of
them ; and some four hours passed while the
messenger went to and fro, bringing still ex-
cuses for the sachem’s not coming. At last
the general told the messenger, and the rest
of the Indians near, the particulars of his
commission, and sent him to tell the sachem,
that if he would not come to him, nor yield
to these demands, he would fight with them.
The messenger told him that the sachem
would meet him, if our men would lay down
their arms, as his men should do their bows,
&c. When the general saw they did but
dally to gain time, he bade them begone and
shift for themselves; for they had dared the
English to come fight with them, and now
they were come for that purpose. Thereupon
they all withdrew. Some of our men would
have made a shot at them, but the general
would not suffer them; but when they were
gone out of musket shot, he marched after
them, supposing they would have stood to it
awhile, as they did to the Dutch ; but they
all fled, and shot at our men from the thickets
and rocks, but did us no harm. Two of them
2*

18 CONQUEST OF
our men killed, and hurt others; so they
marched up to the town, and burnt all their
wigwams and mats, but their corn, being stand-
ing, they could not spoil it. At night they
returned to their vessels, and the next day
they went ashore on the west side of the river,
and burnt all their wigwams and spoiled their
canoes, and set sail and came to Narraganset,
where they landed their men, and on the 14th
of October, 1636, they came all safe to Bos-
ton, which was esteemed a marvellous provi-
dence of God.”
Eliza. Is it possible, mother, that the
people of Massachusetts should have acted
thus? I can scarcely believe that the Pequods
had not given them greater provocation.
Mother. It is certainly very pleasing to find
no crime specified, or hostile disposition man-
ifested by the Pequods, which would provoke
this outrage, though it would have afforded
some relief to our feelings had any excuse
been alleged by the perpetrators of these bar-
barities; but on the contrary various acts are
recorded of kindness shown to white people
by the Indians, who rescued them from per-
ishing with cold and hunger, and conveyed
them in safety to their friends. Moreover, as
a free intercourse was kept up between Con-

THE PEQUODS. 19
necticut and Massachusetts, the Pequods
would have found many opportunities of injur-
ing the whites, had they been so inclined ;
even after this hostile incursion, no reprisal
was made, except in self defence, and they
are bitterly reproached by Hubbard for forci-
bly endeavouring to prevent the whites from
stealing their corn, burning their meadows,
&c. He also states, as a great grievance,
that some people who had been sent from
England to build a fort at the mouth of Con-
necticut river, and placed a convenient num-
ber of soldiers to secure the place, intending
to plant in the spring, were, all the winter
following, during the end of the year 1636,
but little better than besieged by the said sav-
ages, not daring to stir out of the fort, but
they were ready to be seized by these barba-
rous enemies.
Caroline. Why did not the Pequods en-
deavour by force, to prevent the people from
Massachusetts from destroying their towns,
when they found they would not lay aside their
arms, and confer with their chief in peace
Mother. The Indians soon perceived they
had no chance for victory in the open field,
against the arms and discipline of their ex-
perienced invaders; they could not approach

20 CONQUEST OF
near enough to do execution with their simple
instruments of war, without the most imminent
hazard. When the settlers had come to the
determination to extirpate the Pequods, they
deemed it essential to the success of the en-
terprise to enter into a treaty of alliance with
the Narragansets, and thus secure their aid
to subdue their ancient foe. While this was
in contemplation, the Pequods, who were sen-
sible of their danger, endeavoured to avert
their impending fate, by representing to the
Narragansets, the necessity of laying aside
their mutual animosities, and joining in de-
fence of their common country. “They rep-
resented the English as strangers, who began
to overspread the country, which would soon
be possessed by them, to the depriving the
ancient inhabitants of their right, if they were
not timely prevented ; and that the Narra-
gansets would but make way for their own
ruin, by helping to destroy the Pequods; for
after themselves were subdued, it would not
belongere the Narragansets themselves would
be rooted out; whereas if they would but join
together against the English, they could de-
monstrate how they might easily be destroyed,
or forced to leave the country, and that with-
out any danger to themselves; telling them

THE PEQUODS. 21.
also that they never need come to any open
battles, they might destroy them by firing their
houses, and killing their cattle, and lying in
wait for them as they were about their ordi-
nary occupations.’ Hubbard, from whom I
have taken this, exclaims, Machiavel him-
self, if he had sat in council, could not have
insinuated stronger reasons to have persuaded
them to a peace.’ It thus appears that the
Indians early perceived the designs of the
English, and that they themselves were wholly
unequal to contend with them in open combat.
Eliza. What reply did the Narragansets
make the Pequods, mother I should like to
know. -
Mother. We hear of no direct reply ; but
are told that so much reason was apprehended
in these motives, that the Narragansets were
once wavering, and were almost persuaded to
have granted an ear to their advice, and joined
against the English, but that the desire of
avenging themselves on their ancient enemies
overcame all other considerations. Never-
theless we are assured by R. Williams, whose
testimony cannot be doubted, that the Narra-
gansets joined the English in consequence of
his persuasions, as he greatly feared, had they
joined the Pequods, the settlers would have

22 CONQUEST OF
been obliged to quit the country; be this as
it may, it appears the only weakness of which
Miantonimo can be accused. -
* Soon after Miantonimo came to Boston,
being sent for by the governor, with two sons
of Canonicus, and another sachem, and near
twenty of their men, whom they call sannaps.
The governor sent twenty musketeers to meet
him at Roxbury. They came to Boston
about noon, where the governor had called to-
gether all the magistrates and ministers to
give countenance to their proceedings. After
dinner, the sachem of Narraganset declared
what he had to say to them, and a firm peace
was concluded between them and their friends
on either part, which was to continue to the
posterity of both, and they agreed mutually to
assist each other in the war against the Pe-
quods. Cutshamakin also, the sachem of
Massachusetts, subscribed those articles with
the English.’
Eliza. I should suppose that having done
so much to injure the Pequods, the English
would have desisted, and allowed them to re-
main unmolested; why did they wish to ex-
terminate them 7
Mother. A strong desire to possess the
land, and drive out the heathen inhabitants,

THE PEQUODS. 23
as they styled the Indians, is manifested from
the earliest records; no sooner had they gain-
ed strength for the enterprise, than they de-
termined to accomplish their object. This
disposition has been transmitted to their de-
scendants, who appear to think themselves
justified in following the example of men who
have been so much extolled and venerated.
The Georgians possessed large tracts of un-
settled land, before they seized on the territory
of the Creeks. This pernicious example can-
not be too strongly reprobated, nor can we as
christians defend our unjust and cruel usurp-
ations. That the colonists were influenced
by the motives I have mentioned, cannot, I
think, be doubted, as the demand of a thou-
sand fathoms of wampum, which it was
scarcely possible the Pequods could procure,
as the process of making it must of course be
slow, and requires much ingenuity, and the
proposal of sending their children as hostages,
which would have entirely subjected them to
the will of their adversaries, they must have
been sensible would not be granted whilst
the Pequods had power to resist oppression.
It must also be remembered that these extrav-
agant demands were made after the colonists
had refused to comply with the engagements

24 CONQUEST OF
made on their part, and that no act of hostil-
ity had been committed by the Pequods after
the treaty, till the violent assault was made
on them by the colonists, and even then only
in self defence. Had the Pequods quietly
submitted to have their country ravaged, and
fortresses built in their immediate vicinity to
awe them into subjection, they must have
been less than men. But it is alleged that
some of the captives taken by the Pequods
were cruelly tortured ; the name of one only
is mentioned who suffered this treatment,
which may have been done to terrify the
whites from committing depredations on their
territory. Reprisals were however made by
the English, for we learn that the Indians in
alliance with them captured seven Pequods,
five they killed, one they took alive, whom
the English put to torture; and set all their
heads upon the fort.” As the English thought
it proper and right to follow this horrible ex-
ample, it should have silenced their invectives
against barbarians.
I shall not enter into all the dreadful details
of the war against the Pequods, suffice it to
say that they were suddenly attacked by sur-
prise at break of day, in a fortress erected on
the top of a hill, whilst many of their men

THE PEQUODS. 25
were engaged in fishing. ‘I will briefly relate
the” assaulting and surprising of this Indian
fort, as was delivered in writing by that valiant
and prudent commander, Capt. Mason.”—“We
told the Indians their best course would be to
flank the fort on both sides, and having no time
longer to confer, we proceeded, Capt. Under-
hill to the western entrance with one division,
myself with the other to the eastern as silently
as possible; so it pleased God we came up
within two rods of the palisado before we were
discovered, at which time a dog began to
bark, and an Indian cried out ; so I suddenly
hasted to the palisado, and putting in the
muzzle of my piece, discharged upon them,
and so did the rest with all celerity. The In-
dians cried out in a most hideous manner,
issuing out of the wigwams, and shooting at
us desperately, so divers of them were slain,
and some of our men were wounded; so enter-
ing one of their wigwams, I took a fire brand
and suddenly kindled a fire on the mats where-
with they were covered, and fell to a retreat,
and surrounded the fort; the fire increasing
violently inasmuch as they were constrained
to climb to the palisado, from whence they
* Hubbard’s Narrative of the Indian Wars, p. 39.
3

26 CONQUEST OF
were soon fetched down, I suppose, to the
number of an hundred and forty ; many of
them issuing forth were suddenly slain by the
English or Indians, who were in a ring with-
out us; all being despatched and ended in
the space of an hour, having two of our men
slain, and sixteen wounded.”
‘Not long after, Capt. Stoughton, with the
forces sent from Massachusetts, arrived there,
who found a great part of the work done to
their hands, in the surprisal of the Pequods’
fort, which was as yet but the breaking of the
nest, and unkennelling these savage wolves;
for the body of them, with Sassacus, the chief
sachem, were dispersed abroad and scattered
over the country, yet so far were the rest dis-
mayed, that they never durst make any assault
upon the English, who in several parties were
scattered about in pursuit of them.”—“It was
not long after Capt. Stoughton’s soldiers came
up, before news was brought of a great num-
ber of the enemy that were discovered by the
side of a river up the country, being hemmed
in by the Narragansets, though at a distance,
yet so as they could not, or durst not, stir from
the place, by which means our forces of the
Massachusetts had an easy conquest of some
hundreds of them, who were cooped up as in

THE PEQUODS. 27
a pound, not daring to fight, nor able to fly
away, and so were all taken without opposi-
tion. The men among them, to the number
of thirty, were turned presently into Charon's
ferry-boat, under the command of skipper
Gallop, who despatched them a little without
the harbour; the females and children were
disposed of according to the will of the con-
querors. The rest of the enemy being first
fired out of their strong hold, were taken and
destroyed, a great number of them being seiz-
ed in the place where they intended to have
hid themselves the rest fled out of their own
country, over Connecticut river, toward the
Dutch plantations.”—“Our soldiers being re-
solved, by God’s assistance, to make a final
destruction of them, were mindful to pursue
them, which way soever they should think
to make their escape; to which end our sol-
diers went by water towards New Haven,
whither they heard they bent their course. In
their march they met with sundry of them, all
of whom they slew or took prisoners, amongst
whom were two sachems, whom they presently
beheaded.”—“The rest of the Pequods, from
whom Sassacus had escaped, shifted every
one for himself; but our soldiers, ranging up
and down as providence guided them, at last
28 CONQUEST OF
lighted upon a great number of them near a
hideous swamp, into which they all slipt be-
fore our men could make a shot at them. An
interpreter was sent in to offer them their
lives on condition of their yielding themselves
up to the English, but they were possessed
with such a spirit of stupidity and sullenness
that they resolved rather to sell their lives for
what they could get there; and for that end
began to let fly their arrows thick against
him. Orders were now given to cut through
the swamp, that they might hem them round,
which was presently done, and so they were
begirt in all night, the English in the circum-
ference plying them with shot all the time, by
which means many of them were killed and
buried in the mire; but a little before the
break of day, twenty or thirty of the enemy
broke through the beseigers and escaped into
the woods, the rest were left to the mercy of
the conquerors, of which many were killed in
the swamp like sullen dogs, that would rather
in their self-willedness and madness sit still
and be shot or cut in pieces, than receive
their lives for asking at the hand of those
into whose power they were now fallen. The
soldiers in the morning entering the swamp,
saw several heaps of them sitting close togeth-











THE PEQUODS. 29
er, upon whom they discharged their pieces
laden with ten or twelve pistol bullets at a
time, putting the muzzles of their pieces un-
der the boughs within a few yards of them;
so as besides these that were found dead, (near
twenty it was judged,) many more were killed
and sunk in the mire, and never were minded
more. Of those who were not so desperate
and sullen as to sell their lives for nothing,
but yielded in time, the male children were
sent to Bermudas; of the females, some were
distributed to the English, and some were dis-
posed of among the other Indians, to whom
they were deadly enemies, as well as to our-
selves.”
Caroline. Oh, mother I have scarcely
been able to preserve silence whilst you were
giving this account of the destruction of the
Pequods. How could they be accused of sul-
lenness and obstimacy, in not yielding to the
settlers, when they, who did yield, met with a
fate greatly more to to be dreaded than death
What can exceed the distress of those mothers,
who, after witnessing the destruction of their
fathers and husbands and brothers, saw their
young sons forced from them, and sent to a
foreign land, there to be sold for slaves. I
picture to myself my little brother among these
3* -
30 CONQUEST OF
captives, in vain calling for help, and stretch-
iug his eager arms towards his unhappy moth-
er, who is herself a slave, and unable to give
him any relief.
Mother. Your feelings, Caroline, are very
natural ; we cannot be too deeply impressed
with the sufferings of those who are doomed to
wear out their lives in a severe and hopeless
bondage. The miseries, which were endured
by these female captives, was apparent in their
frequent attempts to escape, though they were
not ignorant of the small chance they had to
elude the vigilance of their oppressors. All
the Indians were forbidden to receive the fu-
gitives, and strictly required to seize and bring
them back whithersoever they had fled ; and,
to prevent any excuse, they were branded on
the shoulder, as a mark by which they could
be distinguished, and a badge of perpetual
slavery which could not be effaced.
Eliza. I cannot think it possible that the
settlers believed they were acting in conformi-
ty with the will of God in destroying the In-
dians, and inflicting such cruelties on them ;
and it appears to me very wicked and profane
to say, that they did so by God’s assistance,
and His grace, &c.
Mother. Yet we may in truth imagine, that










THE PEQUODS. 31
a sect, who ascribe to God passions highly
vindictive and unjust,--who represent this uni-
versal Parent as having formed rational crea-
tures for the express purpose of inflicting on
them torments the most excruciating and end-
less, without allowing them any chance or
power to escape, and who also believe, that
the small number, whom he has ordained to be
happy, have been redeemed by the sufferings
and blood of a benevolent and perfect being,
who has given himself a willing victim to satisfy
divine vengeance;—may have believed them-
selves authorized to inflict all the evil in their
power on wretches who are born to suffer.
Caroline. Is it possible that a belief so
monstrous can be embraced by rational beings?
These, assuredly, are not Christian doctrines.
Mother. I wonder not at your incredulity
or surprise ; but I can assure you, that, not-
withstanding many metaphysical subtleties are
resorted to by this sect to explain or modify
their dogmas, they can only be resolved into
these fundamental principles: The first set-
tlers of this country had been bred up in the
school of controversy, and their feelings were
of course adverse to the doctrines of peace and
mercy which form the basis of Christianity,
from having been accustomed to defend the
32 CONQUEST OF
crude notions with which they were infected
by a constant reference to some detached pas-
sages or expressions of scripture, (without any
regard to their connection,) which favoured
their opinions, and frequently by obscure and
spurious texts ; but an evil of still greater
magnitude was the vain belief of their being a
chosen people, and, like the Israelites, autho-
rized by God to destroy or drive out the hea-
then, as they styled the Indians, which I have
previously noticed. The vindictive and hos-
tile feelings, with which the colonists regarded
the natives, is fully manifested in the tone of
exultation in which the Reverend historian,
from whose narrative I have copied this ac-
count of the destruction of the Pequods, relates
the cruel sufferings inflicted on them, in the
progress of this desolating war. No sympa-
thy is expressed, and they are deprived of life,
and all its blessings, with as little compassion
or compunction, as are the wild beasts of the
forests. There is, however, one exception,
which I with pleasure relate :- The wife of
a noted Indian chief, Mononotto, who with
her children submitted herself to the English,
by whose mediation two English maids were
saved from death, had in requital the life of
herself and her children granted to her, and













THE PEQUODS. 33.
was recommended to the care of Governor
Winthrop, who, taking notice of her modest
countenance and behaviour, as well as of her
only request not to suffer any dishonourable
treatment, gave special charge concerning
her, according to his noble and christian dis-
position. “ The two maids, spoken of, had
been well used by the Pequods, and no vio-
lence offered them.” -
Eliza. I rejoice to find that kindness was
shown to this noble Indian woman, and that
the precepts of Christianity were not entirely
forgotten.
Mother. Every instance of this kind is high-
ly gratifying, and we have the pleasure of
knowing that there were some highly estimable
men, who, though they were infected with
the puerile conceits and inexplicable dogmas,
which prevailed at this period, yet were not
insensible to the ties of humanity and justice,
and strove to protect the natives, and to molli-
fy the feelings of their countrymen toward
these unfortunate people. Roger Williams,
who should ever claim the respect of the good
and enlightened, was banished for maintaining
heretical opinions, and asserting that liberty of
conscience ought to be allowed without restric-
tion to all, in matters of religion, and he drew
34 CONQUEST OF
upon himself she dislike and reprobation of
the colonists, for insisting that the king of En-
gland had no right to take the lands in Amer-
ica from the Indians, and bestow them on his
own subjects. The prejudice against the In-
dians was doubtless augmented by perceiving
that they had lost their conſidence in the prom-
ises and professions of the whites, and that
they held a religion in contempt which had no
power to restrain the evil passions. Canoni-
cus, one of the Narraganset chieftains, spoke
to Roger Williams in manly and indignant
terms of the injuries received by his people
from the whites, in opposition to their plighted
faith. When Mr. Williams endeavoured to ex-
cuse his people, Canonicus, looking at him
with mingled pity and disdain, exclaimed, You
Englishmen, you believe in God, and you lie
The feelings of this chief must have been
unusually excited to have induced him to utter
such invectives, as the native urbanity of the
Indians forbade them to indulge in harsh lan-
guage. This is, however, accounted for by a
reference to the entire neglect of good faith in
the colonists, and to the artifices they had em-
ployed to subjugate and subvert a brave and
generous people, who had cherished and assist-
ed them in an unwonted degree.


THE PEQUODS. 35
But, to return to the Pequods ; their final
overthrow was an event which caused much
exultation to the colonies ; and we are gravely
told it happened the day after a general fast.
Truly, the reproof of the Prophet had been
well applied : " Behold, ye fast for strife and
debate, and to smite with the fist of wicked-
ness : ye shall not fast, as ye do this day, to
make your voice be heard on high. Is it such
a fast that I have chosen a day for a man to
afflict his soul P is it to bow down his head as
a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes
under him wilt thou call this a fast, and an
acceptable day to the Lord Is not this the
fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of
wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to
let the oppressed go free, and that ye break
every yoke º' The Prophet proceeds in lofty
and sublime strains to describe what blessings
shall attend the performance of good works,
and it appears truly wonderful that so little at-
tention has been given to sentiments like these
of the Prophet, which are in perfect accord
with the whole current of revelation.
Caroline. Was there no sympathy or kind-
ness shown for the Pequods? It would, I think,
have been highly becoming in our sex to have
succoured this unfortunate race; in an espe-

36 CONQUEST OF
cial manner, they should have treated with
kindness the women and children.
Mother. It would indeed have been highly
honourable, and congenial with those impres-
sions which are supposed in a peculiar manner
to influence the actions of women, and will, I
trust, ever distinguish them ; had they at this
time acted in conformity with the spirit of
peace, and christian charity and forgiveness,
which they should have maintained, and thus
have softened and subdued the asperity of the
men, our early history would have assumed a
different character from what it now exhibits.
It appears, however, that at this period the
women were, like the other sex, much addicted
to questions engendering strife and division,
and were, without doubt, also engaged with
those weighty matters, so often discussed by
persons in authority, respecting the manner in
which women should be allowed to adorn
themselves—whether they should appear at
church unveiled, or have any part of their per-
sons exposed to view which might have a ten-
dency to withdraw the attention of the men
from their devotions. Thus employed, the
weightier matters of the law were forgotten.
To regard agreeable objects with complacency
appeared to many sinful, and all innocent

THE PEQUODS. 37
amusements were forbidden. The Indians
were not alone objects of hatred and ven-
geance ; the severity, with which those of
their people were punished who varied from
the established faith in points the most trivial
and perplexing, indicated a hard and merciless
disposition, truly unnatural and deplorable.
Contrasted with this debasing and gloomy
superstition, how sublime and beautiful ap-
pears pure and undefiled christianity, as taught
and exemplified by our divine Master which
is so truly congenial with all our best and
holiest affections, that no doubt can exist of
its truth. Christianity does not require us to
be insensible to those giſts, so good and per-
ſect, which have been graciously bestowed by
the Father of lights ; it does not bid us close
our eyes on the beauties of creation, or sup-
press the sympathies of the heart; neither
does it enjoin to sacrifice our innocent enjoy-
ments at the shrine of superstition. On the
contrary, this religion invites us to repose on
the goodness of God; to take shelter under
the paternal wings of that gracious parent, who
hath spread out the heavens to our view in all
their magnificence and beauty, to win us from
the frail and perishing things here below, and
from every unworthy pursuit, and to exalt
4.

38 CONQUEST OF
our conceptions of Him who hath formed us
for immortal life and happiness.- By this
shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if
ye love one another.”
Elizabeth. But, mother, I cannot love bad
people, especially such as are always disposed
to injure others.
Mother. We are not required to feel those
vivid emotions of love (for the sordid and vic-
ious) which constitute our highest enjoyment
in this life, and by being improved and puri-
fied, are doubtless intended to afford that ex-
alted happiness, unmingled with pain or sor-
row, which we are promised in a better world.
Nevertheless you should feel for every one
sympathy and compassion, and desire to re-
lieve them from guilt and misery. By the habit
of contemplating the divine display of pow-
er, wisdom, and goodness, exhibited through-
out the creation, we shall be preserved from
those corroding passions of hatred and envy,
and pride and self-conceit, which poison the
springs of enjoyment, and estrange us from our
fellow-sojourners here, and cause us vainly to
imagine they have no part or inheritance
with us.
Elizabeth. I cannot perceive that the set-
tlers of this country were at all influenced by

THE PEQUOD5. 39
the principles of the religion they professed,
in their treatment of the Pequods, in whom
we find much justice and generosity. When
Stone was slain, the latter did not attempt to
exculpate themselves by any mean evasion, but
sent messengers of peace, with gifts, to allay
resentment, and atone for a deed which they
alleged had been committed to rescue their
own men whom Stone had forcibly seized and
detained ; nor do I think that any doubt can
arise of the truth of their statement, the char-
acter of this man authorizes us to conclude
that he was guilty.
Mother. I am pleased to find that you
have a just conception of the beginning of this
disastrous contest, and I confess that I have
been unable to detect any hostility on the
part of the Pequods, but what was justifiable
in self-defence. Though they were accused of
being false and treacherous, nothing is speci-
fied, except that no advantage was to be had
by trading with them. The Pequods were
perhaps better acquainted with the value of
the articles they wished to purchase, as they
had for some time had commerce with the
Dutch, and therefore were less liberal in their
payments, than the English had found other
natives to have been ; but as it is acknowl-

40 CONQUEST OF
edged that the Pequods greatly desired to
trade as friends with the English, being then
at war with the Dutch, who had killed many
of their people, there is little probability that
any offence was in reality given by them to
interrupt an intercourse they had earnestly
sought to obtain. The Pequods had complied
with the terms of the treaty in allowing the
English to have a settlement in Connecticut,
and people were constantly passing to and
from thence to Massachusetts by land, with-
out any molestation ; many who suffered
greatly by the severity of the season would
have perished, had they not been relieved by
the Indians, and kindly returned to their
friends. This is a strong proof that the Pe-
quods were disposed to conciliation, even after
the assault made on them by the forces from
Massachusetts, though they could not comply
with their humiliating demands which would
have completely subjected them to the power
of the colonists.
Caroline. I think, mother, it is somewhat
extraordinary, that the colonists should com-
plain with so much bitterness of the Pequods
having punished with severity those who stole
their corn, and burnt their hay or grass, and
shot their game; after they themselves had so

*HE PEQUOD5. 41
inhumanly destroyed the dwellings, killed the
people, and refused to comply with the request
of the Pequods to lay aside arms, and hear
what their chief had to propose.
Mother. You are certainly right, Caroline,
neither should the Pequods alone be stigma-
tized for having subjected their prisoners to
torture; since it was practised by the colonists,
who frequently used this horrid invention to
compel their Indian captives to give them
such information as they desired.
Eliza. I have heard that the Indian chiefs,
when they had the misfortune to be made pris-
oners, willingly submitted to the most cruel
torments to prove their undaunted heroism ;
and that, amidst excruciating sufferings, they
would preserve the most unshaken fortitude,
and to the last defy their persecutors, and meet
death with exultation, in the firm hope of being
admitted to a brighter and better world, and
of being received by his renowned fathers with
acclamations of joy.
Mother. We can have no doubt that what
you have heard is true; and this deed, however
odious, is far less deserving of reprobation in
the Indians, as they in this instance departed
not from the golden rule; and the firmness dis-
played by them exhibits a spectacle in a high
4 *

42 CONQUEST OF
degree sublime and interesting; it is the tri-
umph of the soul over bodily pain and weak-
ness, and we are thus assured that the vital
spark of heavenly flame depends not on its
frail and perishing tenement.
Caroline. I shall ever think of the Pequods
with compassion and regret, nor can I ever
allow that their oppressors were deserving the
appellation of Christians.
Mother. It is highly derogatory to the
character of our divine master, to call by his
name those who have acted in direct opposition
to his precepts and example ; it is this which
has rendered odious and disgraceful a religion
calculated to exalt and perfect the human
mind, and, by calling into action every virtuous
impression, prepare us for an heavenly inher-
itance. The indulgence shown to such as have
called on the name of Christ, while indulging
the most sinful propensities, has encouraged
others to continue like destructive measures so
early begun, by the perpetration of the most
frightful enormities, and the natives of this
country are fast disappearing before the scourge
of oppression, goaded on by avarice, and will
in all probability be soon blotted from the face
of the earth. Whatever allowance is made for
the darkness and superstition which prevailed
THE PEQUODS. 43
at the period when this country was first set-
tied, I can find no excuse for the indifference
which at this time prevails in regard to our un-
fortunate red brethren, whose fate appears
rapidly approaching should no generous and
decided effort be made to preserve the sad
remnant of this once powerful and noble race
of men. Nevertheless, as there are some
highly distinguished men who have powerfully
pleaded the cause of the oppressed with truly
disinterested benevolence, and fearlessly detect-
ed their persecutors, we may yet hope that the
wretched remains of a people who were once
the sole possessors of this goodly land, which
we have forcibly wrested from them, will be
protected, and suffered to enjoy in peace the
small portion they now occupy, and thus the
foul stain on our nation and character will in
some measure be effaced or blotted out.
From the sketches I have given you of the
sufferings of the Pequods, (which all the other
tribes in this country were successively made
to endure, till by continual persecution they
were utterly destroyed;) you will, I trust, my
dear children, be impressed with strong com-
passion, and take a lively interest in the fate of
those unhappy ones who have survived the
ruin of their race; nor must you imagine that

44 THE PEQUOD5.
your exertions will be unavailing. Should you
be able to incite a general interest in their fa-
vour in the breasts of your young friends, we
may confidently expect that the rising gene-
ration will strive to meliorate their condition,
as it is an axiom which admits not of dispute,
that, in governments essentially popular, the
voice of the people must prevail.
Eliza. As Caroline and myself have so
deeply felt for the suffering aborigines of our
country, we shall feel it to be our duty to en-
gage the sympathy of others, by relating the
wrongs they have sustained; but you promised
to give us some account of the other neigh-
bouring tribes, who so soon shared the fate of
the Pequods.
Mother. The next opportunity, I will per-
form that promise, but at present it must be
deferred.


C O N QUEST
olº
T H E N ARRA GAN SETS.
Mother. I will, now, my dear girls, if all
your tasks are completed, give you some ac-
count of the other Indian nations who dwelt on
the shores of the Atlantic, from Connecticut
to the bay of Massachusetts, and who so early
fell victims to those they had so courteously
received and entertained; it may remind you
of the fabled serpent, that stung to death the
generous friend who restored its vital heat by
fostering it in his bosom. I have spoken to
you of the treaty made by the settlers with
the Narragansets, by whose assistance they
subdued the Pequods. It was not long after
this event that Miantonimo was made sensible
of the fault he had committed in joining the
invaders of his country. Previous to this he


46 CONQUEST OF
had been treated with much attention, and
when at the request of the governor he came
to Boston, attended by many great chieftains,
to settle the terms of the treaty, he was receiv-
ed by a body of musketeers at Roxbury, and
conducted in state to the governor, who had
called together all the magistrates and minis-
ters to give countenance to their proceedings.
The English were now sensible of their own
power, and they wanted not the aid of Mian-
tonimo ; and he who had been treated with the
respect and attention due to a sovereign and
powerful prince, whose alliance was of the ut-
most importance, was now made to feel that
he was considered as a dependent on the En-
glish, and subject to their control. The troops
sent against the Pequods had witnessed the
fertility of the land, and a rupture with the
Narragansets appears early to have been con-
templated. Capt. Stoughton, who commanded
some of the forces sent from Massachusetts,
writes thus to the governor and council:—“Af.
ter returning from Block Island, we shall fall
upon destroying corn. The Narragansets do
gather beans in abundance, and we found divers
people in Pequod corn, and we are silent at
it, yet if they should turn enemy, it would be
to our great damage. But my opinion is, that
THE NABRAGANSETS. 47
they will be twice advised before they will fall
out with us.” In conclusion, he speaks in
quaint terms, ‘of providing for the poor ser-
wants of Christ, by the enlargement of his
kingdom, as it seems that God hath much peo-
ple to bring hither, and the place is too strait.'
The most unworthy artifices were used to
humble and exasperate the Narragansets. In
the division of the spoil after the overthrow of
the Pequods, Uncas, (or Onkus, as he is more
frequently styled) who was much inferior in
point of rank and importance to Miantonimo,
was allowed the preference, and it appears that
any expression of dissatisfaction was construed
as indicative of a hostile intention. Through
the instrumentality of Onkus, Miantonimo was
cited to appear in Boston, on suspicion of have
ing endeavoured to draw all the Indians into a
general conspiracy against the English, who,
by his readiness to appear, satisfied them that
he was innocent. Miantonimo, when he came
before the court, peremptorily demanded that
his accusers should be brought before him face
to face, and if they failed to prove it, then to be
made to suffer what himself, if he had been
found guilty, had deserved, i.e. death; his
reasons for which were very plausible. He
urged very much the prosecuting such a law















48 CONQUEST OF
against his accusers; alleging that if the Eng-
lish did not believe it, why did they disarm the
Indians round about ; and if they did believe
it, equity required that they who accused him
should be punished according to the offence.
He offered also to make it good against Onkus,
sachem of the Mohegins, that the report was
raised either by him or some of his people.
Elizabeth. How could the English avoid
sending for those who had raised the report
against Miantonimo, without acknowledging
themselves to be the abettors.
Mother. It appears that the English were
not disposed to grant the equitable demand of
Miantonimo, and allow him to prove his inno-
cence, by criminating his accusers; they how-
ever endeavoured to appease him for the pres-
ent, by some specious pretences, as they had
altogether failed in substantiating the charges
brought against him, ‘though the Connecticut
men were hardly prevailed with to forbear war
against them.” The brief sketch given of the
manly and dignified defence of Miantonimo is
highly interesting, and was doubtless expressed
in the powerful and energetic language, and
manner, for which the natives of this land have
been so justly celebrated, and unquestionably
produced in the minds of his adversaries a

THE NARRA GANSETs. 49
conviction of their own unworthiness, and a
painful sense of inferiority, which increased
their desire of freeing themselves from one
who so fearlessly defended the cause of truth
and justice.
Miantonimo, when pleading his cause before
the General Court, observed to his judges
that ‘ though some had dissuaded him from
coming, assuring him that the English would
put him to death, or keep him in prison, yet
being innocent of any ill intention against the
English, he knew them to be so just that they
would do him no wrong.” Miantonimo was
very deliberate in his answers, showing a good
understanding in the principles of justice and
equity, as well as a seeming ingenuity withal;
but though his words were smoother than oil,
yet, as many conceived, in his heart were
drawn swords. It was observed, also, that he
would never speak but when some of his coun-
sellors were present, that they might, as he
said, bear witness of all his speeches at their
return home.- They spent two days in the
treaty, wherein at last he gave them satisfac-
tion in all things, though he held off long about
the Nianticks, of whom he said they were his
own flesh, engaging on their behalf, that if they
should do any wrong, so as neither he nor
5.

50 CONQUEST OF
they could satisfy without blood, he would leave
them to the mercy of the English. At his
departure he gave his hand to the governor,
telling him that was for the Magistrates who
were absent, and with great discontent, as he
was going home, said he would come no more
to Boston.”
Caroline. In what way had the Nianticks
injured the English :
Mother. I know of no injury, except the
suspicion which they had entertained of the
Nianticks having been accessary to the death
of J. Oldham. -
Eliza. I should have imagined that having
taken such signal vengeance on the Indians of
Block Island, and after the Narragansets had
so generously restored the goods found in the
vessel, and sent them the only Indian who had
escaped with life, the English would have been
satisfied.
Mother. It appears not to have been pos-
sible for the Indians to have satisfied the Eng-
lish, whilst any thing remained in their pos-
session. Thus we find that Miantonimo, a
sovereign prince, the friend and ally of the
English, was summoned to appear at their tri-
bunal as a traitor who had conspired against
them; that having obeyed the mandate, and

THE NARRAGANSETs. 51
proved beyond all doubt his integrity ; he was
not only denied the common justice of being
confronted with his accusers, and refused any
satisfaction for what he had suffered, but when
confiding in their justice he had put himself in
their power, they embraced, without scruple,
the opportunity of imposing on him conditions
highly unjust and dishonourable. It should
also be remembered that the English forces
were sent again to Block Island with instruc-
tions to do them all the injury in their power,
and were only restrained by the inhabitants
submitting to become tributary to the English,
though they were subject to the Narragansets.
What I have now related to you is taken from
Hubbard’s Narrative of the Indian Wars,
which I have literally followed in reference to
historical facts; I will close the account of
the noble, but unfortunate Miantonimo, by an
extract from a note in Winthrop's Journal, by
the late editor ; which reflects great honour
on that gentleman,—“In the May preceding,
the Chief of the Narragansets had been sum-
moned to Boston, whither he came with con-
fidence, to answer our demand, if he could
prove any interest in Purnham and Saconon-
oco, who early in the same year, 1643, had
sold parcels of their lands to eleven men of

52 CONQUEST OF
somewhat different faith from that of the ma–
jority of Massachusetts. Our colony having
prevailed on those sachems immediately after
to submit themselves to us, thereupon denied
most injuriously the right of Gorton, Holden,
and others, to the lands thus purchased, be-
cause the Indians had been induced to make
the sale by Miantonimo, who asserted a supe-
riority over them, and took part of the price.”
Though it appears that there existed no doubt
of the right claimed by Miantonimo to dispose
of the land in question, yet we are told that, as
he failed to prove it to the satisfaction of the
court, he was dismissed, and his claim disre-
garded.” “We next hear of this chieftain in
July, that a feud breaking out between Onkus
and Sequasson, a relative of Miantonimo, he
complained against Onkus to the government
of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and desired
them not to take offence, if he made war upon
him. Hostile feelings and injuries had long
subsisted between these chieftains, but to
which of their confederates the first wrong
might be imputed by the English, they cer-
tainly did not assume the part of avengers.
The answer of Gov. Winthrop to the com-
plaint, is a full declaration of neutrality. “If
* Hutchinson's History.

THE NARRAGANSETS. 53
Onkus had done him or his friends wrong,
and would not give satisfaction, we should
leave him to take his course.” Now the severest
casuistry of christian belligerents is not yet so
refined as to deny that Onkus had wronged
Sequasson, for he had defeated him, killed and
wounded several of his men, burnt his wig-
wams, and carried away plunder. Miantonimo,
in the earliest prosecution of the war, was
seized by the treachery of two of his captains,
and delivered to his enemy, by whom, on his
solicitation, he was carried to Hartford. It
cannot be doubted, I presume, that the cap-
tive, having in vain pressed the conqueror to
put him to death, expected friendship from the
English, to which his former services, and re-
cent deference had given him no slight claim.
The Narragansets made presents to Onkus :
by one party these gifts are represented as a
reward for delivering his prisoner to the Eng-
lish, by the other as a ransom for the life of
their sovereign. Whatever influence moved
Onkus, it seems hardly possible that he could
have anticipated the joyful result of the policy
of his teachers in civilization, the deliberation
of pious statesmen, by which his captive was
restored to his hands, with an injunction to
put him to death.”
5 *

54 CONQUEST OF
‘A judicial investigation of the case of this
sachem should not have been undertaken ;
but, as it was, we may look at the grounds of
judgment. Trumbull makes part of his of:
fence the making of war, without consulting
the English according to agreement. Our
author's narrative ought to have silenced such
a pretence. Little importance need be attach-
ed to another allegation, that he had promised,
in the open court, to send to Onkus the
Pequod who had shot him in the arm, yet in his
way homeward he killed him ; nor indeed to
any other part of the doubtful story about the
traitorous slave of the Mohigan. By the acts
of the commissioners we learn, that it was fully
proved, from the Pequod's own mouth, that
he was guilty ; and therefore Miantonimo, if
innocent, as our people before his misfortunes
thought him, might believe his royal promise
satisfactorily performed by putting the assas-
sin to death, instead of returning him to his
master. Perhaps his promise to the English
was less distinctly understood, than it might
have been between contracting parties of the
same language. If Onkus were, however,
free from all blame, and the Narraganset
chargeable with treachery and every other vice
of kings, our rulers had no cognizance of the
THE NARRAGAN SETs, 55
cause, and their advice to the successful war-
rior was cruel; but their conduct to Mianto-
nimo, who had so few years before been their
ally against the Pequods, can hardly be re-
garded as less than a betraying of innocent
blood. In the congress of the united colo-
nies, whose doings in this behalf are briefly,
but fairly told, by our author, its president, it
was too hastily, I think, resolved, ‘ that it
would not be safe to set him at liberty,’ and as
death was the alternative, in their want of
counsel and conſidence to come to such a
shocking result, against an unarmed prisoner,
who was in amity with them, advice was asked,
yet of only five among fifty assembled, of the
ministers of religion.—The fate of Agag fol-
lowed of course.”
* In case Onkus refused to execute justice
upon Miantonimo,” say our records, “he was
to be sent by water to Massachusetts.” Such an
unwelcome visit from one who had often been
here in his prosperity and pride of indepen-
dence, was to be avoided. How much those of
Connecticut desired his destruction may easily
be judged by their undertaking to send twelve
or fourteen musketeers home with Onkus, to
abide a time with him for his defence. If
so low was their estimate of the peril, from the


56 CONQUEST OF
subjects of the chieftain in revenge of his death,
how slight must have been their danger in res-
toring him to liberty and power With pro-
found regret I am compelled to express a sus-
picion, that means of sufficient influence would
easily have been found for the security of
themselves, and the pacifying of Onkus, and
the preservation of Miantonimo, had he not
encouraged the sale of Shawmut and Patuxet
to Gorton and his hetorodox associates.—“The
savage soul of Onkus doubted whether he
ought to take away the life of a great king,
who had fallen into his hands by misfortune ;
and to resolve this doubt, he applied to the
christian commissioners of the four united col-
onies, who met at Hartford in September
1644; they were less scrupulous, and ordered
Onkus to carry Miantonimo out of their juris-
diction and slay him, but kindly added that he
should not be tortured; they sent some per-
sons to see execution done, who had the satis-
faction to see the captive king murdered in
cold blood.”—Winthrop says, that ‘ Onkus
taking Miantonimo along with him, in the way
between Hartford and Windsor, Onkus' broth-
er following after Miantonimo, stave his head
with a hatchet, some English being present,
that the Indians might know that the English

THE NARRAGAN SETS, 57
did approve it.’ This was the end of Mianto-
nimo, the most potent Indian prince the peo-
ple of New England had ever any concern
with : and this was the reward he received
for assisting them seven years before in their
war with the Pequods. Surely a Rhode Island
man may be permitted to mourn his unhappy
fate, and drop a tear on the ashes of Mianto-
nimo, who with his uncle Canonicus were
the best friends and kindest benefactors the
colony ever had : they kindly received, fed,
and protected the first settlers of it, when they
were in distress, and were strangers and exiles,
and all mankind else were their enemies, and
by this kindness to them, drew upon them-
selves the resentment of the neighbouring
colonies, and hastened the untimely end of
the young king.”.”
Caroline. Oh, mother, this is worse than
any thing you have before told us; but is
there not some circumstance which may in any
degree excuse this barbarous transaction º
Mother. It is a maxim, which ought always
to be attended to, not to decide till we have
heard the evidence of both parties, as both
are desirous of giving the most favourable rep-
resentation in regard to themselves. In this
* Comment of Gov. S. Hopkins, Hist, Coll.

58 CONQUEST OF
instance, however, we receive all our informa-
tion from those who committed the guilty
deed, and therefore must conclude that noth-
ing is left untold that would in any measure
lessen the odium of these dark transactions,
or lessen the offences of our ancestors.
Elizabeth. But if, as you tell us, we are
by nature disposed to do right, how happens it
that they should have acted so wickedly P
Mother. I must again repeat, that the feel-
ings of nature and conscience were paralyzed,
by the gloomy superstition which bewildered
the mind, and destroyed all those endearing
charities which bind us to the whole creation,
and which reason and revelation combine to
enforce. Nevertheless we are assured, from
the accusations brought against Miantonimo,
which he so nobly refuted, beside the petty and
contradictory charges which could not be sus-
tained, that our historians would gladly have
exhibited any offence which would have tend-
ed to their vindication.
Caroline. I should have supposed that Mi-
antonimo would have been too much offended
by the treatment he received to have come
again to Boston, after he had said he would
come there no more.
Mother. The ardent temperament of the

THE NARRAGANSETS. 59
youthful prince had doubtless rendered him
very susceptible of the superiority of the Eng-
lish in arts and in arms, and in the infancy of
the settlement they found it essential to con-
ciliate the natives by a courteous demeanour
and friendly confidence, well suited to impress
the Indians with a belief that they were actu-
ated by the pure and benign precepts of chris-
tianity. This unquestionably disposed Mian-
tonimo to use his influence in promoting the
interests of his new friends, and the high esti-
mation and great attention given to the rights
of hospitality, strengthened the resolution to
become the friend and ally of the English.
Canonicus, a chief of great wisdom and dis-
cernment, was aware doubtless of the danger
incurred by allowing strangers to encroach on
the rights of the natives ; the manner in which
he received the messengers sent to determine
what aid could be given them to prosecute the
war, was indicative of his disapprobation. Af-
ter Canonicus had given audience to the am-
bassadors, he reclined on the stately couch on
which he was seated, and left the whole to the
determination of the young sovereign, Mian-
tonimo ; who, having thus become responsi-
ble, and willing to hazard so much to serve the
English, we may well imagine was desirous of

30 CONQUEST OF
concealing if possible from his people the little
consideration or friendship he experienced from
those to whom he had sacrificed so much.
This feeling is manifested in many instan-
ces. When this prince was so injuriously sum-
moned to Boston as a criminal, he told the
court, ‘ that he would come to them if they
sent to him any Indian in whom he could con-
ſide, and we should not need to send any of
our own men ;’ and on the first appearance of
the messengers, he had taken them apart into
the woods, accompanied only by one of his
chiefs; without doubt to conceal, if possible,
the indignity to which he was subjected. Hub-
bard says, that Miantonimo was dissatisfied
that more was not given the Narragansets after
the overthrow of the Pequods, and was con-
tinually plotting against the English and the
Mohegan sachem, and excuses their taking the
life of Miantonimo, as ‘it was feared there
would never be any firm peace between the
parties whilst Miantonimo was left alive,”—yet
as the chief had completely refuted the accusa-
tions of his adversaries, and with the hope of
conciliating the English, generously yielded to
them all his right to the country of the Pe-
quods, and the sovereignty of Block Island, we
must conclude that his firmness in maintaining

THE NARRAGANSETS. 61.
his right to the land which he had sold to Gor-
ton and his heterodox associates; with the
kindly treatment he gave to R. Williams, and
the other schismatics, was the capital offence
for which he was condemned to die. “ The Nar-
ragansets,’ says Hubbard, ‘were animated by
the haughty spirit and aspiring mind of Mian-
tonimo, the heir apparent of all the Narragan-
sets. This Miantonimo was a very goodly
personage, of tall stature, subtle in his con-
trivenents, as well as haughty in his designs.”
The account given of this chief by Roger Wil-
liams, is highly interesting —When Williams
and his adherents were banished for maintain-
ing heretical opinions, after wandering some
time quite forlorn, they found themselves in the
country of the Narraganset Indians. Mr.
Williams applied to the sachem or king of that
people, truly stating his unhappy case, and
begging his protection, which this noble prince
kindly granted to him and his associates, and
also generously made them a present of all
that neck of land lying between the mouths of
Pawtucket and Moshasuck rivers, that they
might sit down in peace and enjoy it forever.
At Mr. Williams's request, the king or sa-
chem of the Narraganset Indians, made a grant
of the whole of Rhode Island to Mr. Clark
º

62 CONQUEST OF
and Mr. Coddington, and their associates.
The Indians seem not to have been induced
to part with this island so much in considera-
tion of any price that was paid them, as out of
the great love and regard they bore Mr. Wil-
liams, as appears from the account he has left
of this transaction, in his own hand writing.—
‘It was not price or money,” says Mr. Wil-
liams, ‘that could have purchased Rhode
Island, but 'twas obtained by love and favour :
For the Indians were very shy and jealous of
selling their lands to any, and chose rather to
make a grant, or gift of them to such as they
affected.' *
In summing up the character of this great
prince, who was so barbarously sacrificed, few
can compare with him in liberality and true
greatness of mind. Not only was the land
above described given and granted to these
unfortunate people, but in every instance when
an opportunity presented, the same generous
feelings were manifested. No sooner were the
Narraganset chiefs informed of the death of
Oldham, than Miantonimo went to Block
Island, seized the murderers, and restored the
property to the English. After the overthrow
of the Pequods, though at first he was dissatis-
* Historical Collections, Vol. 9th, 2d series.

THE NARRAGANSETs. 63
fied with the partial distribution of the land,
he nevertheless testified his strong desire for
peace, by yielding to the English the whole of
the conquered country, with the sovereignty
of Block Island. The Narragansets had at an
early period shown a great kindness to John
Oldham. This man is first mentioned as have
ing with three others gone over land to Con-
necticut to trade. ** The sachem used them
very kindly, and gave them some beaver.
They brought of the hemp which grows there
in great abundance, and is much better than
the English. He lodged at Indian towns all
the way.”—The next year the Rebecca came
from Narraganset with five hundred bushels
of corn given to Mr. John Oldham—They
had promised him one thousand bushels, but
their store fell out less than they expected.
They gave him also an Island in the Narra-
ganset Bay, called Chippacursett, containing
about one thousand acres, six miles long, and
two broad.”—“The country on the west of
Narraganset is all champaign for many miles,
but very stony and full of Indians. He saw there
above one thousand men, women, and children,
yet the men were many abroad on hunting.’
The liberal donations made to Oldham by
* Winthrop's Journal.

64 CONQUEST OF
the Narragansets, and their courteous treat-
ment of him, affords the fullest conviction
that the death he suffered was inflicted in re-
turn for some outrage committed by him
against his benefactors. We are fully justified
in this opinion, from the character of Oldham,
who had, previously to what is here related,
‘undergone ludicrous and severe punishment
for his injurious treatment of Plimouth colony.”
He was afterwards sent to England ‘where he
caused much distraction by the variety of his
conceits of extraordinary gain, and was found
altogether unfit to deal with.”
I have thus, my dear children, endeavoured
to present, at one view, the munificence, kind-
ness, and forbearance, which marked the char-
acter of this great prince in all his transactions
with the English; that you may thus be ena-
bled to perceive how small reliance can be had
in the assertion, of those who maintain that the
English could have formed no permanent set-
tlement in this country, without destroying the
natives.
Elizabeth. It certainly appears that the na-
tives would gladly have allowed the English to
dwell with them, from their willingness to yield
them their land, and from their readiness to
assist them.

THE NARIAAGANSETS. 65
Mother. We must assuredly adopt this
opinion, as we find that, though the natives
were most injuriously treated by the English,
they made no resistance till they found the
arts of conciliation vain ; but there are many
who affirm that by intermixing with the na-
tives, the whites would have lost much of their
peculiar character, and the result must have
(of course) been highly detrimental ; never-
theless, I am free to confess that in my opinion
we should have gained more than would have
been lost. The primitive simplicity, hospital-
ity, and generosity of the Indians would grad-
ually have improved and softened the stern
and morose feelings resulting from the false
views of religion, and the superstitious rever-
ence in which the settlers viewed the characters
of the Israelites, whose example they believed
themselves authorized to follow. Our arts
and sciences would have imparted to the
Indians new light and vigour. The pure relig-
ion of Jesus would have strengthened and con-
firmed their innate convictions of the character
and attributes of the Almighty, and the exam-
ple of our divine master and instructer would
have taught them to subdue their wayward
passions, and evil propensities. We should
thus have been saved from the hordes of va-
6 *

66 conquest of
grants, who have been allured to our shores,
like vultures by the scent of prey, that they
might seize on the spoils of the natives whom
we have destroyed; and though we might not
be able to boast, ‘the glorious result of ten
millions of white inhabitants, the red men
who would have formed a part of our pop-
ulation, would have been to us a wall of
defence ; neither would the innocent blood
we have so profusely shed, which cries aloud
for vengeance, subject us to the fearful retri-
bution which has fallen on the guilty nations
who have established themselves on the ruins
of their fellow men.
Caroline. But, mother, it would not have
been very agreeable, I think, for white people
to marry Indians.
Mother. Whatever objections there may
be for people of different colours to unite, it
would doubtless abundantly diminish the
amount of crime, and we might thus testify
our obedience to the will of our heavenly
Father, who has made of one blood all the
nations of men, that they may dwell to-
gether. -
Eliza. Is it not generally supposed that
coloured people are inferior in point of capac-
ity, to those who have fair complexions

ºf HE NARRAGANSETs, 67
Mother. These notions, it appears to me,
are adopted by such only as have not impar-
tially investigated the subject. The Euro-
peans have received from the Asiatics, who
have all dark complexions, most of their arts
and sciences and notwithstanding many efforts
have been made to prove, that astronomy was
cultivated with success, and the greatest discov-
eries made by the Greeks in that science;
it has, I think, been satisfactorily shown, that
the Greeks were inferior to the Hindoos in the
accuracy of their calculations, by the tables of
Astronomy found in India, of a very ancient
date. From these tables we may conclude
many of the greatest discoveries have been
made, as some of our most eminent men, who
have applied themselves to investigate them,
from the conviction they would be found to
contain great errors, have from this investiga-
tion been led to new discoveries, which have
demonstrated the accuracy of their theory and
the authenticity of the tables. It was not till
after Egypt had been conquered by the Greeks,
that astronomic calculations were made with
much precision, and we also find from the
earliest records of Greece that her great men
were accustomed to travel into Asia and Egypt
in search of knowledge, which affords abun-

58 CONQUEST OF
dant evidence of the inferiority of the Greeks
at that period.
Caroline. Were the Egyptians and Hin-
doos the same people *
Mother. Of this there is no evidence
which can be relied on, though in manythings
there is much resemblance; nevertheless, the
treasures of art found in Egypt surpass all
that have been discovered in other countries.
The pyramids, which remain to this day the
wonder of the world, present to the moderns
a model which baſiles all their skill, and they
are compelled to confess their inability to com-
prehend how blocks of stone of such enormous
dimensions could be raised to so great a
height, and are perplexed when they attempt
to estimate the labour and ingenuity required
in the construction of edifices of so much
solidity and beauty. The description given
by Homer of the greatness and unrivalled
magnificence of Thebes, which he styles
“The world’s great empress on the Egyptian
plain,’ was formerly supposed to be an imag-
inary representation, yet the wonderful ruins
of this city, which have been discovered, more
than realize the description of the poet, and
are calculated to impress the mind with aston-
ishment at the munificence and power of its

THE NARRAGAN SET3. 69
projectors and ancient masters, whom many
believe to have been real negroes, from its
being a city of Africa. If it be so, then
it must be conceded that this race of men
are not inferior to any portion of the hu-
man race, and therefore the shallow pre-
text of their being formed to bear the galling
yoke of slavery is proved to be as untrue, as
it is wicked and base to deprive them of all
the rights of men, and subject them to a cruel
and ignominious bondage. Many conjectures
have arisen in reference to the great amount
of labour required to erect these stupendous
edifices, whose ruins are still visible, and some
entire, but the opinion which appears to me
the most correct, is, that as no vagrant or idle
people were suffered to prey on society, they
were doubtless employed in the erection of
these noble monuments, which to this day
attest the power and wisdom of the Egyp-
tians. We may also adopt the conclusion,
that in time of peace the soldiers were not dis-
banded and left to poverty and wretchedness;
but were continued in the service of their
country, which they, by their labour, helped
to immortalize, and we are thus freed from the
necessity of admitting that a great portion of
the workmen were slaves,

70 CONQUEST OF
Eliza. I have read, mother, that the Egyp-
tians were great idolaters, worshipping not
only some animals, but inanimate substances
also.
Mother. The people of Egypt, like all
other nations, worshipped one supreme Deity,
whose most adorable attributes, power, wis-
dom, and goodness, were frequently personi-
fied, and under various forms received distinct
homage. Gratitude also for the gifts esteemed
most beneficial, led them to pay veneration to
the ox, and some other animals, who most con-
tributed to supply their wants, or to preserve
them from danger or loss; and probably, like
the Hindoos, as they perceived in all nature
traces of divine goodness, they were led to
recognise the Almighty in all His works. It
appears wrong to me to call such a people idol-
aters, though in many instances they may have
transgressed the bounds of moderation. No
person who has given any attention to this
subject can but acknowledge it to be highly
important at the present day, that we should
manifest the sincerity of the faith we profess,
and our grateful sense of divine favour, by our
kindness and attention to the brute creation,
more especially to such as contribute by their
labour so greatly to promote our ease and

THE NARRAGANSETs. - 71.
comfort, and the cruel and unfeeling treat-
ment of the creatures, who were given us with
the injunction, to use, but not abuse, merits
the severest reprehension.
Caroline. I never supposed that those whom
we call idolaters were influenced by gratitude
in their worship, it assuredly indicates a feeling
of reverence for the gifts of providence in
which we are greatly deficient. But I am
anxious to learn how the Narragansets received
the cruel tidings of the death of their beloved
young king.
Mother. The Narragansets, stung with grief
and resentment for the death of their invalu-
able monarch, “declared to the messengers
sent by the English, that they had resolved to
have no peace without the head of Uncas;
finding however that the English were raising
forces to defend and support Uncas, the Nar-
ragansets were compelled to submit, and Pes-
sacus, with two other chiefs, came to Boston
with a large number of Indians in their train,
having received assurance, that, however the
treaty should end, they should receive no injury.
The Narragansets could obtain no redress for
what they had suffered, neither were they
permitted to take revenge on Uncas. They
were told that their breach of covenant was

72 &ONQUEST OF
the cause of all the expense which the English
had been at in preparing for war, and it was
reasonable that they should be reimbursed; but
the commissioners, to show their moderation,
demanded only two thousaud fathoms of wam-
pum, which was a sum far short of their charges,
to be paid at different periods, and that they
should restore to Uncas his captives and ca-
noes, and make satisfaction for destroying his
corn, &c keep perpetual peace with the Eng-
lish, and all their allies and subjects, and give
hostages for the performance of their engage-
ments.”
Elizabeth. How extremely unjust and un-
generous it was (after the reply of Gov.
Winthrop to the complaint of Miantonimo,
* that if Onkus had done him or his friends
wrong, and would not give satisfaction, they
should leave him to take his course;’) thus
to charge them with a breach of covenant,
and insist on their paying the expense of the
forces perfidiously sent to destroy them.
Mother. The Narragansets were, it ap-
pears, fully sensible of the iniquitous conduct
of the English, but they were unable to resist.
Hutchinson, from whom I have taken
the account of this transaction, confesses,
* These were hard terms, and it was with

THE NARRAGANSETs. 73
great reluctance that they finally submitted to
them, but they knew that part of the English
forces were gone into their country, and they
were afraid that, even whilst the treaty was
depending, hostilities would be begun; and
finally, in August 1643, they signed the agree-
ment as the commissioners had prepared it,
and left some of their number hostages, as a
security for the performance of it. The small
English army, which was ready to march,
was disbanded, and the fourth of September,
which had been appointed for a fast, was now
ordered to be observed as a day of thanks-
giving.
Caroline. I should think it would have
been very difficult to raise two thousand fath-
oms of wampum, when the process of making
it was so very tedious.
Mother. The intention of the colonists was
undoubtedly to exhaust, as much as possible,
the wealth and resources of the Narragansets;
and they knew that the humiliating engage-
ments which the chiefs had been compelled to
make, would lessen their authority, and cause
discontents among their people, which would
hasten their final overthrow. The colonists
were not ignorant of the difficulty of raising a
sum so extravagant, but this would afford an
º

74 CONQUEST OF
opportunity of coercing them by insisting on
their fulfilling existing engagements. The
Narragansets at first refused the payment, and
Pessacus, their chief Sachem, alleged that the
promise was extorted through fear that the
English forces would fall upon his people dur-
ing the absence of their chiefs, and he pleaded
their inability to pay so large a sum. ‘The
commissioners insisted, however, on the de-
mand, and some of the people were sent to
procure what they could, but brought two
hundred fathom only. The whole was not
paid until 1650, when Capt. Atherton, with
twenty men, was sent to demand the arrears,
which was about three hundred fathoms.
Pessacus put him off some time with dilatory
answers, not suffering him to come into his
presence. In the mean while his people were
gathering together. But the captain, carrying
his soldiers to the door of the wigwam, entered
himself with his pistol in his hand, leaving his
men without, and seizing Pessacus by the hair
of his head, drew him from the midst of a great
number of his attendants, threatening them
that, if one of them offered to stir, he would
despatch him. Pessacus presently paid what
was demanded, and the English returned in
safety.” Ninigrate, a sachem of the Nianticks,

THE NARRAGANSETs. 75
a branch of the Narragansets, after this began
to stir up new troubles, but upon sending Capt.
Davis with a troop of horse into the Indian
country, he was struck with a panic, and would
not be seen by the English until he had assur-
ance of his life, and then readily complied
with their demands. The most galling condi-
tion imposed on the Narragansets was their
being bound to remunerate the murderer of
their king, for the losses be had sustained,
during the prosecution of his treacherous war ;
and previous to the outrage I have noticed
above, they had endeavoured by messages and
presents to conciliate the favour of the English,
and gain their permission to take vengeance
on Uncas for his perfidy and cruelty. Their
efforts however proved unavailing, and they
were obliged to submit.
Eliza. I think, mother, I never heard any
thing so unjust and insulting as this treatment
of the Narragansets; but were they not able to
defend themselves P
Mother. I believe, I have before stated
to you that the Indians were wholly unac-
quainted with our modes of warfare, and were
terrified by the destructive operation of fire-
arms, which prevented them from approaching
near enough to their enemy to use with any
76 CONQUEST OF
success the weapons to which they were
accustomed. The Narragansets had early
entered into engagements, artfully contrived,
which it is probable they did not fully compre-
hend, and they had also been induced to join
the English in their exterminating war against
the Pequods, nor did they perceive their error
till too late. Had they listened to the warning
voice of Sassacus, the Pequod chief, the Nar-
ragansets “would not have been accessary to
their own ruin by helping to destroy the Pe-
quods.’
The forbearance of the Narragansets had
no other effect than to invite new aggressions;
they were perpetually harassed by impositions
which, having no means to avert, they, by the
advice of those friends to whom they had
granted shelter and protection when oppressed
and banished by the Massachusetts colony,
formally submitted their country to the King
of England, and entreated his protection as
subjects. In reply to some demands of the
Massachusetts government, they declared that
the Narragansets were now, like themselves,
subjects of the English king, and of course
freed from their jurisdiction. They were new-
ertheless sharply reprimanded and obliged to
acquiesce. What greatly contributed to the













"THE NARRAGANSETs, 77
success of the colonists was the treachery of
ill-minded or vagrant Indians, who were in-
duced by artifice or rewards to betray their
country. Waquash, a converted Indian, se-
cretly guided the English to the fortress of the
Pequods, his countrymen. Peter, a prisoner,
led them to the Narraganset fortress, and
Sausaman, (who had been the counsellor, and
pretended friend of Philip, but after, by the
frequent solicitations of Mr. Eliot, whose con-
vert he had previously been, joined the ene-
mies of his country,) betrayed his master, and
was made the principal instrument in his
destruction. We have reason to suppose that
the Indian converts were induced to believe
it to be a part of their duty to betray their un-
believing countrymen, who were already
doomed to never-ending wo for their unbe-
lieſ. Many Indian prisoners were compelled
to give information of the places where their
countrymen had secreted themselves, and re-
veal all they knew of their designs, on pain of
death, inflicted in its most terrific form; and
many others were induced, from fear and
despair of success, to join the enemies of their
people.
The Narragansets still struggled to main-
tain, in some degree, their independence.
7 º
75 CONQUEST OF
When the war with Philip first began, the
Narragansets had received the women and
children of the Pokanokets, who had been sent
to them for protection, as was the Indian cus-
tom in time of war. The English remonstrat-
ed against this proceeding, and alleged it to
be a breach of the treaty they had entered
into with them. However painful and humil-
iating it may have been to the Narragansets
to violate the laws of hospitality, which they
had ever held sacred, they complied with
the demands of the English, and refused to
afford an asylum any longer to the helpless
beings committed to their care. Though
this act of sending the women and children
for protection to the Narragansets, proves
beyond all doubt that this people had deter-
mined to preserve a neutrality, yet it ap-
pears that the English had determined to
involve them in the war. They asserted
that the Narragansets had broken the league,
‘especially in not delivering up the ene-
mies, which had sheltered themselves with
them ; which, though they did not positively
deny, yet did nothing but find excuses to
defer it one week after another, upon pre-
tence that they could not get them together.
-º-

THE NARRAGANSETs, 79
And beside the favouring of those that fled
to them, and supplying the whole body of
them with provisions upon all occasions, it
was strongly suspected that many of their
young men were actually in arms against
the English.’ It was however confessed,
‘that had the Narragansets joined Philip at
first, it would have been very difficult, if pos-
sible, to have saved any of the inland planta-
tions; and the messengers who had been sent
to the Narragansets always reported that the
elder people were not only inclinable to peace,
but seemed very desirous thereof, insomuch
as their two eldest sachems expressed much
joy when it was concluded.' Nevertheless,
the English insisted that this was done but to
gain time, and ‘therefore that all scruples as
to the justness and necessity of the war was
removed, for if they were let alone till the
next spring, they might all rise together. It
was therefore finally agreed upon, by the gen-
eral consent of all, to fall upon the Narragan-
sets first, by a considerable army gathered out
of the three colonies, and that with all expe-
dition, at furthest not to exceed the tenth of
December, before they should have a thou-
sand men in arms, ready for the design.”


80 - CONQUEST OF
Caroline. If the Narragansets were truly
desirous of peace with the English, why did
they allow their young men to join Philip, or
why did they supply his people with provisions?
Mother. It is, I believe, not deemed an
act of hostility for neutral nations to supply
belligerents with provisions; yet it appears
very improbable that the Narragansets had it
in their power to furnish supplies to the extent
here described, after they had been so haras-
sed by the English, and they had doubtless
parted with all that could be spared to pro-
cure the wanipum so unjustly demanded by
their oppressors. It is however natural to
believe that the young Narragansets were
filled with indignation at the conduct of the
English, and it would unquestionably have
been extremely difficult to have restrained
them from giving assistance to their oppressed
countrymen, in whose fate their own would
be involved. And it is, I am told, not
uncommon for youthful warriors, ambitious
of achieving military fame, to enlist under the
banners of one of the contending parties in
time of war, without its being supposed to
indicate any decided hostility on their part,
or on that of their nation.

THE NARRA GANspºts. 31
Eliza. You have lately spoken of Pessa-
cus as chief of the Narragansets; what has
become of Canonicus 7
Mother, Pessacus was brother to Mianto-
nimo, and appears to have been invested with
the chief authority during the minority of
Canonchet, the noble and heroic son of Mian-
tonimo, who like his father fell a victim to his
windictive oppressors, Canonicus, though he
appears not to have taken a very active part
in the closing scenes which put an end to the
empire, and involved in undistinguished ruin
the Narraganset name and power; yet ever
maintained his undeviating integrity, and dig-
nified deportment.
Mr. R. Williams relates that Canonicus,
when speaking to him of the want of faith
in the English, mentioned several instances
in which they had forfeited their engage-
ments; in every instance he laid down a
pledge to prove the fact. After the cruel
tragedy had been acted which put an end
to the life of Miantonimo, messengers were
sent to insist that the Narragansets should
not prosecute the war against Uncas, or
attempt to revenge the perfidious death of
their illustrious prince ; Canonicus, deeply

82 CONQUEST OF
impressed with feelings of sorrow and resent-
ment, refused to permit the messengers to
come into his presence, and they were com-
pelled to wait at the door of his princely
habitation for some time, when they were
taken to an ordinary wigwam, and constrain-
ed to deliver their instructions to an inferior
chieftain.
Caroline. How truly interesting are the
characters of the Narraganset chiefs Is it
not uncommon to find so many great men in
one family, mother "
Mother. It rarely happens among us, but
from what is related of the royal families of
the Narragansets and Pokanokets, it appears
that their great qualities were, like their royal
state, hereditary, and I have often remarked
with pleasure on the primitive virtues exhibit-
ited by our Aborigines; your own observations
will now, I trust, lead you to set a just value
on those high endowments which the gra-
cious author of nature has implanted in the
heart, and that you will be incited to improve
and perfect those gifts which have been so
bounteously bestowed. Thus may a grateful
sense of divine goodness give fervor and ele-
vation to your devotions.

THE NARRAGAN SETS. 83
I will now proceed with the painful task of
relating the merciless destruction of the Narra-
ganset fortress, whither this persecuted people
had retired, with their infirm and aged people,
together with the women and children, and fur-
nished it with stores which they hastily collect-
ed in the hope of finding shelter from the storm
which threatened to overwhelm them. “ The
army being assembled, began their march.
Two days after, December 14th, five files of
men sent out under sergeant Bennet, and an-
other upon the scout killed one man and one
woman, and brought in four more by one of
the clock. The whole company marched
after into some of the sachems’ country, where
they burned 150 wigwams, killed seven of the
enemy, and brought in eight prisoners when
they returned at night. In their march
through the country they killed and took cap-
tive all whom they found unable to resist
them, and the Indians, roused by these as-
saults, endeavoured in their turn to destroy
the scouting parties sent against them. The
army continued its march through snow and
cold in a stormy evening, and having waded
fourteen or fifteen miles through the country
of the old queen of Narraganset, they came at
one o'clock upon the edge of the swamp where

84 CONQUEST OF
their guide assured them they should find In-
dians enough.”
‘The fort was raised upon a kind of island
of five or six acres of rising land in the midst
of a swamp; the sides of it were made of pal-
lisadoes, set upright, which was compassed
about with a hedge of almost a rod thick-
ness, through which there was no passing,
unless they could fire the way through, which
they had no time to do. It seems that there
was but one entrance into this fort, but nei-
ther the English or their guide well knew on
which side the entrance lay, nor was it easy to
have made another ; wherefore the good prov-
idence of Almighty God is the more to be
acknowledged, who, as he led Israel some-
times by the pillar of fire, and the cloud of
his presence, a right way through the wilder-
ness, so did he now direct our forces upon the
side of the fort, where they might only enter,
though not without the utmost danger.”—
* They that first entered were forced presently
to retire, having lost sundry of their men, but
at last two companies being brought up, be-
sides the four that first marched up, they ani-
mated one another to make another assault.
After a considerable number were well enter-
ed, they beat the enemy out of a flanker on

THE NARRAGAN SETS. 35
the left, which did a little shelter our men
from the enemy's shot, till more came up, and
so by degrees made up higher, and then into
the upper end of the fort, till at last they made
the enemy all retire from their sconces and
fortified places, leaving multitudes of their
dead bodies upon the place.”
‘The brunt of the battle that day lay most
on the commanders, whose part it was to lead
on their several companies in the very face of
death, or else all had been lost; so that all of
them with great valour and resolution of mind,
as not afraid to die in so good a cause, bravely
led on their men in that desperate assault,
leaving their lives in the place, as the best
testimony of their valour, and love to the cause
of God and their country. No less than six
brave captains fell that day.'
“After the warriors had been forced to re-
tire, the soldiers set fire to the wigwams, sup-
posed to be about five or six hundred. The
enemy's corn, stores and utensils, with many
of their old men, women and children, perish-
ed in the conflagration. It was supposed that
three hundred warriors were slain, besides
many who died of their wounds, and with the
cold. From the number of wigwams in the
fort, it is probable that the whole number of
3.

86 CONQUEST OF
Indians were nearly four thousand. Those
who were not killed in battle, or did not per-
ish in the flames, fled to a cedar swamp, where
they spent the night without food, fire, or
covering. The burning of the wigwams, the
shrieks and cries of the women and children,
and the yelling of the warriors, exhibited a
most horrible and affecting scene, so that it
greatly moved some of the soldiers. They
were much in doubt then, and afterwards
seriously enquired whether burning their ene-
mies alive could be consistent with humanity,
and the benevolent principles of the gospel.
The English, after they became masters of
the fort, finding it not tenable, after they had
burned all they could set fire upon, were ne-
cessitated to return to their quarters, full fif-
teen or sixteen miles off, whither with their
dead and wounded men they were forced to
march.” “But our victory was found to be
much more considerable than was at first ap-
prehended ; for although our loss was very
great, yet the enemy lost so many of their
principal fighting men, and their provision
was, by the burning of the wigwams, so much
of it spoiled at the taking of their fort, and
by surprizing so much of their corn about
that time also, that it was the occasion of their

THE NARRAGANSETS. 67
total ruin afterwards: they being at that time
driven away from their habitations, and put
by from planting the next year, as well as de-
prived of what they had in store for the present
winter. What numbers of the enemy were
slain is uncertain, it was confessed by one
Potock, a great counsellor amongst them,
afterwards taken at Rhode Island, and put to
death at Boston, that the Indians lost seven
hundred fighting men that day, besides three
hundred that died of their wounds. The
number of old men, women and children, that
perished either by fire, or that were starved
with hunger and cold, none of them could tell.”
Eliza. This account of the war with the
Narragansets is more shocking than what you
before related of the destruction of the Pe-
quods, to whom the colonists were not bound
by the ties of gratitude and honour. But,
mother, I am at a loss to conjecture what mo-
tives influenced the Narragansets, and pre-
vented them from joining Philip when the
war first began, since they could assuredly
have no confidence in either the justice or
friendly disposition of the colonists 7
Mother. Your remark, Elizabeth, is just
and natural; but it appears that the Narra-
gansets had a strong desire to be at peace with
S3 CONQUEST OF
the colonists. They had been forced to give
up as hostages some of their young princes
and valued relatives who might be either con-
demned to die, or transported and sold into
slavery. In a letter from the General Assem-
bly at Rhode Island, to the General Assembly
of Connecticut, remonstrating against the pro-
ceedings of the colonists in their war upon the
Indians, they write, ‘We are apt to believe
that if matters come to a just enquiry con-
cerning the cause of the war, that our Narra-
ganset sachems, which were subjects to his
majesty, and by his foresaid commissioners
taken into protection and put under our gov-
ernment, unto us at all times manifested their
submission by appearing when sent for. Nei-
ther was there any manifestation of war
against us from them, but always the contrary,
till by the united colonies they were forced to
war, or such submission as they could not
subject to. *
The Narragansets doubtless expected pro-
tection from the English government, to whom
they had solemnly yielded their country and
promised obedience as loyal subjects. It ap-
pears that those who had settled at Rhode
island had refused to join the other colonists
* Historical Collections, Vol. 8.


THE NARRAGANSETS, 39
in their war upon the Indians, and had used
their influence to defend their friends the
Narragansets. Complaints were carried to
Cromwell from Rhode Island against Massa-
chusets, by Clark, Holmes, and others; yet the
agent sent by the government of Massachu-
setts, who was much in the favour of the
usurper, prevented so much as an enquiry
into the conduct of that people. The pacific
disposition of the Narragansets was manifest-
ed beyond all doubt we shall find, by attending
to the details of the war. When the English
army marched into their country, the Narra-
gansets made no opposition till after the Eng-
lish had killed and taken captive all whom
they could find, and had burned many of their
habitations. A large portion of the natives
had taken refuge in a place evidently selected
for security, not for offence, as we are told it
was situated in a swamp, fifteen or sixteen
miles from any habitable place.
Caroline. How very wicked and odious it
seems to speak of God as guiding and assist-
ing to destroy a people so worthy of respect
and esteem, and to whom they were so much
indebted
Mother. Hubbard, whom I have princi-
pally followed, on account of his brevity,
S*

90 CONQUEST OF
though he differs not in any material circum-
stance from Hutchinson or Winthrop, perpet-
ually interlards his narrative with praises of
the wonderful goodness of God in directing
and aiding his people, or, as he frequently
styles them, his Israel, to drive out the hea-
then, and possess their goodly heritage. I
have, however, purposely omitted to repeat
many expressions of this sort; those I have
mentioned were to give you an idea of the self
delusion and unworthy notions entertained,
at that period, of the great Father of all, how-
ever wonderful it may appear that rational be-
ings could so far deceive themselves. Hutch-
inson says, “they were sincere, but mistaken
in their principles;’ and, absurd as it is, it is
too evident they believed it to be for the glory
of God to take away the lives of his creatures,
for maintaining tenets contrary to what they
professed themselves. It must be confessed
that bigotry and cruel zeal prevailed to that
degree in New England that no opinions but
their own could be tolerated.
Our ancestors had fled from persecution in
their native land, and taken shelter in this
almost unknown portion of the globe in the
hope that they might here enjoy the high
privilege of worshipping God, in conformity

"THE NARRA GANSETs. 91.
with the dictates of their own conscience; yet
no sooner did they feel themselves secure in
their new abode, than, unmindful of the lessons
of wisdom and moderation which their own suf-
ferings should have taught them, they in turn
persecuted all who in the slightest degree diſ-
fered from them, and exacted the most rigorous
conformity to their own creeds and formula-
ries. They discussed and decided, with dog-
matical authority, points wholly unimportant;
and it would be difficult to determine which
of the parties were most bewildered in the
mazy subtleties deemed so essential at that
period, as they are all equally incapable of
solution ; but the cruel punishments, many
were condemned to suffer, admits not of
excuse. One exception amidst this general
delusion is worthy of attention, as the sufferer
could not be charged with entertaining any of
those absurd opinions, then so prevalent; and
appears to be the only person who, in that sea-
son of gloom and superstition, ventured to
profess a rational belief, and is therefore enti-
tled to the respect and esteem of enlightened
christians of the present day.
* The devil would never cease” to disturb
our peace, and to raise up insurgents one aſ-
* Winthrop's Journal,

92 CoNQUEST OF
ter another. Amongst the rest there was a
woman in Salem, one Oliver his wife, who had
suffered somewhat in England for refusing to
bow at the name of Jesus, though otherwise she
was conformable to all their orders. She was,
for ability of speech and appearance of zeal
and devotion, far before Mrs. Hutchinson, and
so the fitter instrument to have done hurt, but
that she was poor and had little acquaintance.
She took offence at this, that she might not
be admitted to the Lord's supper, without
giving public satisfaction to the church of her
faith, &c. and covenanting or professing to
walk with them according to the rule of the
gospel; and so as upon the sacrament day she
openly called for it, and stood to plead her
right, though she were denied, and would not
forbear, before the magistrate, Mr. Endicott,
did threaten to send the constable to put her
forth. This woman was brought to the court
for disturbing the peace in the church, and
there she gave such peremptory answers as
she was committed, till she should find sure-
ties for her good behaviour. After she had
been in prison three or four days, she made
to the governor and submitted herself, and
acknowledged her fault in disturbing the
church:-whereupon he took her husband's

THE NARRAGAN SETS. 93
bond for her good behaviour, and discharged
her out of prison; but he found after that she
still held her former opinions, which were
very dangerous. As first, that the church is
the head of the people, both magistrates and
ministers met together, and that these have
power to ordain ministers, &c. Secondly,
that all that dwell in the same town, and will
profess their faith in Christ Jesus, ought to be
received to the sacraments there, and that
she was persuaded that if Paul were at Salem,
he would call all the inhabitants there saints.
Thirdly, that excommunication is no other
but where christians withdraw private com-
munion from one that hath offended.”
‘About five years after, this woman was ad-
judged to be whipped for reproaching the
magistrates. She stood without tying, and
bore her punishment with a masculine spirit,
glorying in her suffering. But after, when she
came to consider the reproach which would
stick by her, &c. she was much dejected about
it. She had a cleft stick put on her tongue
half an hour, for reproaching the elders.”
Eliza. What a horrid and ignominious
punishment for a woman like Mrs. Oliver
publicly to suffer what must have been the
feelings of her husband and children?

94 CONQUEST OF
Mother. We cannot too much deprecate
and expose the errors and perversity which
led the first settlers of this country to rend
asunder the bands of humanity and brother-
hood, thus destroying social happiness and
confidential intercourse, and giving force and
scope to the most hateful passions. Never-
theless, however violent were the conflicts
among themselves for supremacy, these did
not prevent them from uniting for the purpose
of exterminating their Indian neighbours;
though at the close of every campaign their
contests were renewed with increased animos-
ity, and all attempts to restrain them by the
mother country was deemed to be an unlawful
usurpation of authority, to lord it over God's
heritage.
I deem it to be of vital importance that
young people should learn to reject all spu-
rious doctrines, and firmly fix their faith on
the truth as it is in Jesus, undefiled by aught
that is adverse to the spirit of his gospel. I
have before stated to you the pernicious ef-
fects resulting from the supposition that the
figurative style of writing, common in the East-
ern world, should be construed as containing
the literal import of what was related, and the
evil consequences produced by associating

THE NARRAGANSETS. 95
with our benign religion the history and san-
guinary transactions of the Israelites. Er-
rors like these cannot be too much exposed,
and we may venture to predict that christian-
ity will never fully exert its purifying influences
till this unhallowed connexion be dissolved.
The effort to combine principles and actions,
where no affinities exist, has proved altogether
adverse to the spirit manifested in the gospel.
The conviction of the Jews having been set
apart from all other nations by God to pre-
serve a knowledge of his true character and
attributes, and authorized to destroy the Ca-
naanites, whom he had purposely left to follow
their own wicked devices, is assuredly the
strong hold of Calvinism; for, if it be admitted
that God had chosen a people who were com-
manded to punish and exterminate a portion
of His creatures who had been blinded and
kept in ignorance of the truth, then is the
doctrine of election firmly established, and
the elect may sin with impunity, for, of course,
men are not responsible for what they are
unable to resist. It becomes us, however,
who acknowledge and feel our accountability
as followers of Jesus, earnestly to insist, that
a being who authorizes injustice, revenge, and
cruelty, cannot be the God and Father of our

96. CONQUEST OF
lord Jesus Christ, who was sent to proclaim
peace and good will to the whole human race;
cannot be the Almighty and All-powerful
Being, whose essential attributes admit not of
change, whose mercy endureth for ever; and
cannot be the God who demands our reason-
able service, and must forever claim our ado-
ration. -
To me it appears altogether wonderful to
find highly gifted and benevolent men, who
have abjured and denounced the base and in-
congruous dogmas which have so long ob-
scured and marred the sublime doctrines of
Christianity, still advocate the connexion sup-
posed to subsist between the historical rela-
tions of the Old Testament, and the doctrines
of the inspired teacher of the New Testament;
or in any way admit a comparison of Moses
and Christ, so highly derogatory to the char-
acter of this divine personage with whom
none can compare. All others were influence
ed by human passions and weaknesses; Jesus
alone was ever guided by the wisdom which
is from above.
It appears to me that whoever impartially
investigates the history of the Jews will per-
ceive that notwithstanding so much is said of
the vices of the Canaanites, and the superior

THE NARRAGANSETs. 97.
sanctity and goodness of the Israelites, that
these representations proceed from the exag-
gerations of self love so common to all nations,
who, though extremely indulgent to the crimes
and follies which abound among themselves,
describe those which prevail among a foreign
people as in the highest degree odious and
wicked. In discarding all unworthy preju-
dices, and allowing reason to guide us in our
researches after truth, we may detect the fal-
lacy of the arguments used to prove that to
the Jews alone were allowed the high privi-
lege of knowing and worshipping the true
God, whilst all others had forgotten the Being
who formed them, and had altogether become
vile in His sight.
Those who profess to believe that God in
the most familiar manner communed with the
Israelites, must also believe, from the same
authority, that this high privilege was granted
to the Canaanites, who hearkened to his voice,
and in all their transactions invoked the same
Almighty power to witness their integrity;
nor can it be allowed that the people of the
land with whom Abraham sojourned were so
greatly depraved, when they read of the kind-
mess shown to him and his posterity, before,
at the request of Joseph, they departed into
9
93 CONQUEST OF
Egypt. The readiness manifested both by the
king of Egypt, and the king of the Philistines,
at different periods, to restore Sarah, whom
they had unjustly detained, when warned by
God of the evil they had done ; their respect
for the marriage tie, and the munificent gifts
made by the latter Prince to Abraham as an
acknowledgment of the injury he had done
him, ‘And Abimelech said, “behold my land
is before thee, dwell where it pleaseth thee.”
These all abundantly attest that a strong
sense of justice and benevolence was prevalent
among these people. When Abraham, after
the death of Sarah, proposed to purchase
the cave of Machpelah of Ephron the Hit-
tite to bury his dead in, what can be more
noble and generous than the reply of Ephron,
“Nay, my lord, hear me, the field I give thee,
and the cave that is therein I give it thee;
in the presence of the sons of my people give
it I thee: bury thy dead.” Contrasting these
transactions with the treacherous murder of
the Shechemites, and the sacking of their
city by the sons of Jacob, and with the odious
deed of selling their brother Joseph as a slave,
all of which were in perfect keeping with the
atrocious deeds perpetrated by their descend-
ants, it appears to be wanting in respect for













THE NARRAGANSETS, 99
the moral attributes of the Deity to represent
Him as having chosen a people so destitute
of goodness to be his peculiar favourites.
Caroline. If the Jews were not a favoured
people, why should Christ have been of Jew-
ish parentage, and the predictions of his com-
ing have been made by prophets of that nation
only
Mother. The blessings promised by the
Messiah were not exclusively intended for the
Jews; there appears to have been a general
expectation of the coming of one who should
restore order and harmony among contending
nations, and lead them in the way of truth.
This event, which was foretold by Isaiah in
sublime poetic strains, was also recorded in
the Sibylline oracles, in language nearly re-
sembling that of the prophet; the felicities
which would result to mankind when all
crimes should cease, and peace universally
prevail, were such as doubtless existed in the
lofty conceptions of the prophet, and we may
venture to predict will be realized, when
christianity, pure and undefiled, shall exert its
benign influence over the heart. Neither can
it be deemed a mark of God’s preference of
the Jews that the Messiah was of their nation,
as the cruel and ignominious death to which

100 CONQUEST OF
they condemned him, and their extreme ob-
stinacy in denying his mission, has made
them singularly obnoxious to punishment.
The fact of the Jews having persisted in refus-
ing to acknowledge Christ, or to embrace his
doctrines, proves beyond doubt that they
could not have been designed in a peculiar
manner to preserve such a knowledge of God
as would enable them to perceive and embrace
the truths and benign precepts of the gospel.
Eliza. Were not the religious opinions of
the Jews, and their forms of worship, more
pure than those of other nations 7
Mother. The rites and ceremonies of the
Jews very nearly resembled those of the neigh-
bouring nations, particularly those of Egypt,
from whom they copied the garments of their
priests. Though they were strictly enjoined
to worship one God only, it must be inferred
that the Cherubim, those sacred emblems
who were always placed on or near the altar,
were deemed highly important, though they
did not receive any portion of the homage
due to the supreme Jehovah. The Cherubim
resembled the Egyptian Isis, who was wor-
shipped under a great variety of forms, repre-
senting the goodness and abundance of thº
gifts bestowed on man by the beneficent Crea-

ºr HE NARRA GANSETS. 101.
tor. But, above all visible objects, the sun,
the apparent source of light, by whose vivify-
ing heat all that sustains life and gratifies the
senses are produced, has attracted universal
homage and admiration; and the moon with
its mild reflected lustre has soothed the sor-
rows of the weary, and thus elicited senti-
ments of devotion and love. Nevertheless, it
is confessed that the homage they received
was given them as the most splendid visible
representatives of the all perfect mind.
Sir William Jones, who made many valuable
discoveries in India, and who had it princi-
pally in view to ascertain truths which had
been long disguised by fable, and to search
into the origin of idolatry, concludes that the
mythological system of the Hindoos is derived
from the same source as that of the Egyptians
and Grecians, whose apparent idolatry arose
from their enthusiastic admiration of the sun.
I have transcribed the closing stanzas of a
hymn to the sun, translated by this admired
writer, that you may be enabled to judge of
the sentiments of the Hindoos on this inter-
esting subject.
Yes; though the sanscrit song
Be strown with fancy’s wreaths,
And emblems rich, beyond low thought refin'd,
Yet heavenly truth it breathes
9 *

102 CONQUEST OF
With attestation strong,
That, loftier than thy sphere, the eternal mind
Unmoved, unrival’d, undefil’d,
Reigns, with providence benign :
He still'd the rude abyss, and bade it shine;
While sapience, with approving aspect mild,
Saw the stupendous work and smil’d;
Next, thee, his flaming minister, bade rise
O'er young and wondering skies–
Since thou, great orb, with all enlight’ming ray
Rulest the golden day,
How, far more glorious, He, who said, serene,
Be and thou Wast, Himself unform’d, unchang'd, unseen.
We are indebted to Sir W. Jones for many
other beautiful hymns which he has translated
from the Sanscrit, which, though they abound
in fanciful images, express the same noble
and elevated conceptions of the one eternal
mind.
Caroline. You think, mother, there is
sufficient proof that the Jews were not a fa-
voured people, or better instructed than other
nations in the knowledge of God 7
Mother. This, in my opinion, is suscepti-
ble of demonstration by referring to the prin-
cipal events in the history of this people,
where we shall find but few periods when
they were either happy or prosperous. They
were a stiff-necked, rebellious, contentious
people, almost perpetually engaged in intes-

"THE NARRA GANs ETS. 103
time or foreign wars. After the death of Sol-
omon, whose reign appears to have been more
prosperous than that of any other Jewish
sovereign, but who had nevertheless lost the
affection of the people by making his yoke
bear heavily upon them; ten of the tribes,
finding his son Rehoboam not disposed to
lighten their grievances, revolted, and made
Jeroboam their king, who openly encouraged
idolatry, and set up golden calves, as objects
of national worship. Those also who contin-
ued faithful to the son of Solomon, built them
high places and images on every high hill,
and under every green tree. The most fright-
ful disorders prevailed, and the most atrocious
and sanguinary deeds were perpetrated by the
contending parties with a view to gain or pre-
serve the empire, till, after repeated defeats
and subjection, the Jews were eventually de-
stroyed, the city of Jerusalem utterly demol-
ished, and the empire finally subverted, after
the land had been deluged in their blood.
The Jews who survived this dreadful catas-
trophe were most of them carried captive, with
the spoils of their city and temple, to Rome,
and thus ceased to be any longer a nation.
Long before this event, the ten tribes who had
separated from the other two, had been carried

104 CONQUEST OF
captive by the king of Assyria into his own
land, and it is probable became incorporated
with that people, as no record remains of
them after this disaster. The measure of
their iniquity was full, and hence they receiv-
ed the same punishment which has fallen on
other guilty nations. In my apprehension it
would therefore be highly absurd to insist that
the Jews were a chosen people, of whose
power and influence there should be no end.
The promises made to the Jews of the pros-
perity, and durability of their kingdom, all had
reference to their forsaking their evil ways,
and yielding obedience to the commands of
God, and they were repeatedly admonished,
that, except they did this, they must experi-
ence all those calamities which, in conformity
with the everlasting decrees of that holy and
unchangable Being, must eventually fall on
every soul that doeth evil, whether they be
Jew or Gentile.
It is assuredly wonderful, and altogether
irreconcileable with the dictates of reason and
moral sensibility, that a book containing the
history of a people whose vices create in un-
sophisticated minds a moral aversion too great
to be overcome, should be acknowledged to
have an intimate and necessary connexion

THE NARRA GANSETs. 105
with a belief in Jesus; and I am unable to re-
press the mingled emotions of shame and
regret excited by reflecting on the extreme
incongruity of exhibiting characters so utterly
unworthy, as examples for imitation, to a for-
eign people, with a view to prove the superior
purity and efficacy of our religion, and prevent
human sacrifices. For this purpose we pre-
sent to the Hindoos, and others, the records of
a people, whom we aver were the peculiar
favourites of heaven, who not only offered up
in sacrifice their own offspring, but, in demon-
stration of their gratitude for a memorable
victory, selected many hapless victims from a
multitude of women and children, (who had
previously been made to endure every degree
of misery) as an offering unto the Lord.
Elizabeth. What opinion should we enter-
tain of a people who should send to us such a
history for the purpose of proving the validity
and superior sanctity of their religion, and
thus induce us to become their proselytes ?
Mother. This idea has frequently occurred
to me, nevertheless the Old Testament is
highly valuable, as it contains a portion of
ancient history which is particularly interest-
ing, and it also contains many sublime pas-
sages and beautiful images. Solomon's prayer

106 CONQUEST OF
at the dedication of the Temple is in a high
degree interesting, as it demonstrates that,
however he may have been allured by the
splendid and imposing rites of pagan worship,
he was unquestionably imprest with the con-
viction that the idolatrous images, before whom
he bowed down, were only personifications of
the attributes of that Almighty power to whom
he addressed his ſervent and humble suppli-
cations. It must however be confessed, that
the great mass of the people, like all who have
multiplied their objects of worship, were more
attracted by forms and ceremonies, than by
those deep and spiritual impressions which a
belief in one all-perfect and only God can
inspire.
Caroline. Is there no other book beside
the Old Testament, which contains the same
historical accounts 7
Mother. Some of the principal events, re-
corded in the Old Testament, are found in the
sacred books of the Hindoos, described in
nearly the same terms; such is the account
of the creation and fall of man, the history of
the deluge, with all its eventful circumstances,
are related with much exactness. There are
also found in India, hieroglyphic monuments
which are supposed to have been designed to

THE NARRAGANs ETS. 107
commemorate some of these great events.
The Hindoos in many instances resembled
the Jews; like them they deemed it sacrile-
gious for foreigners to be allowed access to
their sacred books, and this privilege has
been obtained only by conquest. Josephus
has written a history of the Jews, which it
will be well for you to read at some future
period. Whatever partiality the historian of
their own country may be supposed to indulge,
you will find the Jews to have been a wicked
and perverse generation, far more barbarous
and vindictive than their enemies, especially
when you compare the treatment they received
during their captivity in Babylon, with their
own exterminating warfare against the Ca-
naanites.
In the course of our conversations I have
had frequent occasions to remark on the injury
done to Christianity, by the pernicious prac-
tice of associating with it the historical trans-
actions and institutions of the Jews. It is by
nourishing this root of iniquity, which may be
likened to the parasite plant which blights
and destroys the fair tree to which it clings
for support, that ample scope has been afford-
ed for the commission of those countless
crimes which have been perpetrated under

108 CONQUEST OF
the sanction of religion. It is ‘giving heed to
those profane Jewish fables and command-
ments of men that turn from the truth and
engender strife and division, and the vain
pretensions to infallibility, which have covered
the earth with the blood of her children, and
perplexed with doubts and difficulties sincere
enquirers after truth, who have thus been in-
duced to cast away the wheat with the chaff,
from the notion that they were inseparable.
I devoutly trust that ere long those invalua-
ble men, who have so nobly exerted themselves
in the cause of truth, will complete the work
they have so successfully begun, and wholly
cleanse Christianity from the impure influ-
ences of Judaism, and thus remove all incen-
tives which nourish passions opposed to that
religion, which is ‘pure and peaceable, full of
mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and
without hypocrisy l’ This I deem to be espe-
cially important, because the opponents to this
benign system daily manifest the same invet-
eracy which has marked the proceedings of
those who have, (whenever circumstances ad-
mitted,) put in execution every species of
torture, imprisonment, and death, with a view
to silence their adversaries, nor will this cen-
sure be deemed unmerited by those who

THE NARRA GANSET3. 109
attend to the denunciations which are perpet-
ually fulminated against all who dissent from
the self-elected judges, who contend for infal-
libility and exclusive privileges. It is in my
apprehension morally certain, that so long as
we continue to laud men who have acted in
conformity with these sentiments, we have
no right to complain of those who still insist on
the like privileges.
Elizabeth. But, mother, would not some
serious Christians be shocked at the reforma-
tion you propose, who have not been led to
reflect on the evils resulting from the corrup-
tions of which you complain"
Mother. This would unquestionably be the
case; for there are many who would wish to
support the pretensions of the Jews, who are
not swayed by a desire to screen their vices, or
to have it in their power to propagate perni-
cious doctrines, by examples drawn from the
history of that people; yet, though some may
be offended, much good will result from sepa-
rating truth from error, and bigotry : it will
relieve many from perplexing doubts relative
to the divine attributes, which have appeared
to them so contradictory and uncertain; while
others will be reclaimed from scepticism who
have been made to think that there is the same
10

110 CONQUEST OF
authority for believing in the Old Testament,
as in the New. By rejecting those parts of
the former which are so unsuitable, and dis-
cordant to the spirit of the Gospel, with all
those degrading and unworthy representations
of the high and lofty One who inhabiteth eterni-
ty, it will brighten and make clear the path which
has so long been encumbered with thorns.
The main prop of Calvinism is found in the
election of the Jews, with all their vices, to be
the peculiar favourites of Heaven; those,
therefore, who profess this belief, with much
consistency affirm, that the human race can do
nothing to promote their own salvation, which
altogether depends on the capricious will of
Him who formed them, some for honour, and
some for dishonour, without any regard to
moral qualities: and hence, to show the insuffi-
ciency of good works, though performed with
an ardent desire to comply with the will of the
Deity, they represent the most wicked and
profligate as elected by an instantaneous dis-
play of grace. David, for instance, has been
exhibited as literally a man after God’s own
heart, notwithstanding the heinous offences he
committed. A celebrated preacher of the
Calvinistic school, plainly stated to an atten-
tive audience, when one of our family were

THE NARRAGANSET3. 111
present, that this preference was given by God,
for the express purpose of manifesting his
utter disregard and dislike of those who relied
on moral purity as a passport to favour future
acceptance, even though they may have believ-
ed themselves influenced by a profound ven-
eration and love of the Deity.
Caroline. Then, conformably with this
system, our good or ill actions are of no impor-
tance; or, as it rather appears, the wicked are
most likely to be selected as objects of grace P
Mother. 'This is indeed the only construc-
tion which can be admitted consistently with
this doctrine; and it is moreover believed that
such as have experienced this instantaneous
conversion cannot fall away, though it does not
prevent them from acting in a high degree sin-
fully. History informs us that Oliver Cromwell,
though he was notorious for his barbarity, and
hypocrisy, a short time previous to his de-
cease, struck by the recollection of the crimes
he had committed, enquired of the priest who
attended him, if it were possible, after having
been once converted he could forfeit this high
privilege P. On being assured by the priest that
this could not possibly happen, Cromwell re-
plied, “then I am safe, for I am positive that
I was once in a state of grace.” I could men-

112 CONQUEST OF
tion many instances of the pernicious effects
resulting from the belief, that people, who adopt
a certain form of faith, are, by adoption, the
subjects of grace. Once possessed with this
notion, I have found it altogether useless to
urge them to do what is right, by quoting the
precepts or example of Him whom they pro-
fess to believe is God himself; they heed you
not, because they have been taught to believe
that the reprobate state of those, who are
unregenerated, prevents them from discerning
the qualities essential to such as depend on
imputed righteousness. I once endeavoured
to persuade a negligent mother of a fine boy,
to pay more attention to her child, by assuring
her that he would prove a blessing or a curse
in proportion as she exerted herself to make
him happy, and form his mind to virtue. A
supercilious smile passed over the dark coun-
tenance of the mother, when she firmly replied,
“I have no power to do him good or ill, his
fate is already fixed; and in proof of her asser-
tion repeated some lines from Milton’s Para-
dise Lost, which she said had the authority of
Scripture. In another istance a woman appli-
ed to me for assistance, complaining of her
great misfortune in having lost her husband,
and being obliged to provide for a daughter

THE NARRAGANSETs. 113.
who was infirm. I offered to find her employ-
ment, and urged her to a diligent application
of labour, to remedy the evils she suffered, and
thus to testify her submission to the will of Hea-
ven. Yet, notwithstanding she had made
great pretensions to resignation, she replied
with a look of anger and self-importance:
“I thank God, I depend not on my own exer-
tions, but on the merits of my saviour.”
Elizabeth. But would she not take the
work, you proffered her.
Mother. She took a little home, but soon
grew weary; Isuppose she found an easier way
of gaining a subsistence. Nothing is, in my
opinion, more injudicious than the charities of
many individuals, who give without any regard
to the capacity of the object to supply by
labour, aided by a little assistance, their own
wants; thus rendering exertion unnecessary,
and paralyzing the natural desire of indepen-
dence. This woman, I doubt not, from her
appearance, felt entitled to support, because
she was numbered among the saints, and she
preferred to attend meetings, &c. rather than
to remain at home occupied with domestic
cares, which might relieve the wants of her-
self and her invalid daughter. I believe you
have heard me mention a woman who lived in
10*

114 CONQUEST OF
the neighbourhood of your grandmother,
whose children busied themselves with tor-
menting birds and insects, whilst their mother
was attending lectures, &c. Your grandmoth-
er, who was one of the most pure, and intelli-
gent characters I ever knew, thought it was
her duty to acquaint the woman of the cruelty
of her children, and in remonstrating against
the indulgence of such propensities, cited a
passage of Scripture to enforce her admoni-
tions; when the woman replied with the most
supercilious indifference, “Oh, Mrs , the
Bible is to most people a sealed book.”
Caroline. This reminds me of Mary, our
cook; when you had detected her in an act of
dishonesty, and told her that you were astonish-
ed to find one who professed so much religion,
acting in direct opposition to its precepts,
Mary said, with an air of much importance,
“where sin abounds, grace much more
abounds.” At another time, when she was
angry with me for some trifle, she told me
that notwithstanding I now felt myself above
her, she would in another world look down
with triumph on my sufferings.
Mother. This spirit of bitterness and pue-
rile conceit is the natural result of the false
and pernicious notions so early impressed on

THE NARRAGANSETS. 115
the mind. Mary's temper was not really bad,
but she had been accustomed to cherish bad
passions, instead of repressing them, by the
odious doctrinessetforth by Calvinistic preach-
ers, of their sect being the only favoured
people who cannot err ; while all others are
not only excluded from mercy, but doomed to
everlasting torments. But, as if all this was
not sufficient to satisfy the spirit of revenge,
and attest the vindictive character of the
Deity, the Calvinists represent the felicity of
the elected as greatly increased by their being
permitted to contemplate the agonies, and
hear the groans of the condemned.
Elizabeth. Surely, mother, all Calvinists
have not this malicious feeling, or desire to
witness the torments of others
Mother. I trust they have not; for their
innate convictions of justice and benevolence,
overcome, in a great measure, this degrading
superstition. Nevertheless, we know by sad
experience, that whenever an opportunity is
given for persecuting their opponents, they
are all induced to join, or acquiesce in doing
them all the evil in their power, in the full
conviction that they are serving and honour-
ing Him, whose high behest they are bound to
fulfil.

116 CONQUEST OF
The Roman Catholic superstition is a system
of deception and oppression which countenances
abuses of almost every description. The sangui-
nary procedure of the Catholics, who laid claim
to infallibility, was supported by the arrogant
pretensions of the Jews who asserted a right
to destroy all who opposed their peculiar tenets
or customs. When Calvin renounced some
of the errors of the Romish Church, he appear-
ed to think that the infallibility of the church,
whose doctrines he had abjured, was transfer-
red to him and his followers; of this he has
given ample proof in his treatment of Servetus,
a man distinguished as a scholar and a theolo-
gian, who had opposed the prevailing supersti-
tion embraced by Calvin in regard to the doc-
trines of the trinity. Calvin, having by the
most insidious methods got Servetus in his
power, prevailed on the magistrates of Geneva
to arrest him, and after having deprived him
of all his property, he was thrown into a
damp and noisome dungeon, for his alleged
blasphemies; though he repelled the charges
with great firmness, and openly avowed him-
self the author of the writings that were stated
to contain the heretical opinions for which he
was arraigned. During a protracted trial
which lasted some months, Servetus endured

THE NARRAGAN SETS, 117
the most cruel sufferings, and was at last burned
by a slow fire, amidst the exultation and
scoffs of Calvin and his followers, who in vain
endeavoured to make him renounce what they
called his heresy.
Caroline. But you do not believe, mother,
that all Calvinists approve of such horrible
persecutions
Mother. As that sect acknowledge Calvin
to be their head and leader, we are compelled
to suppose they would deem themselves author-
ized to follow his example, whenever an op-
portunity presents; though I doubt not many
would suffer much inquietude should such an
event take place, notwithstanding they should
be convinced of its being their duty to acqui-
esce. I have before had occasion to remark,
that no superstition could be compared to
Calvinism in its demoralizing, petrifying ef-
ſects. However erroneous may be the be-
lief of the Hindoos, their self-devotion has
something in it great and impressive, because
it is themselves who are the victims, nor do
they by any vain subtilty expect to avoid re-
sponsibility. I have thought it right to enter
into this discussion, not assuredly with a view
to injure any sincere believer in the doctrines of
Calvin, for I have much regard and friendship

118 CONQUEST OF
for many who are of this sect, but because I
am persuaded it exerts abaneful influence over
its adherents, and I earnestly desire to guard
you against its pernicious effects, by exhibiting
its deformities and inconsistencies: and to
show that the dogmas of Calvinism derive no
support from reason, or Scripture, except by
some detached passages which are wholly at
variance with the general scope and sense of
the inspired writers. I will mention one in-
stance, among many which is directly in point.
I once happened to be present when a preach-
er of this sect took for his text the first sen-
tence of the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah,
“Cry aloud, spare not.” Throughout the
whole of this beautiful chapter we are exhort-
ed to testify our faith and love to God, by per-
forming acts of justice and mercy. Neverthe-
less the preacher rested his whole argument on
the first sentence, and went on with great flip-
pancy to prove that we were commanded to
pray continually for grace, regeneration, and
conversion, and that this was the great and
all-important duty enjoined by the prophet;
without giving any attention to the works of
benevolence, which form the whole texture of
the exhortation, and which we are assured will
alone render us acceptable to God.

THE NARRAGANSETS. 119
Elizabeth. I should think the people would
discover such an imposition, and lose all con-
fidence in their preachers.
Mother. Many are too ignorant to detect
the fallacy of such preachers; and those who
are better informed, appear to feel themselves
bound to receive as true, the explanation given
by their teachers. -
This, my dear children, is a long digression;
but it appeared to me so highly essential to
give you clear and elevated conceptions of the
Deity, by explaining the causes from which
errors and corruptions have arisen, with their
fatal consequences, that I was unwilling to pro-
ceed with the history of the war with Philip,
till I had fortified your minds by this expla:
nation.
Eliza. Caroline and myself are anxious,
mother, to hear the particulars of the war with
Philip, if it be convenient for you at this time,
Mother. You must previously be made ac-
quainted with Masassoit, the father of Philip,
the first native prince who entered into a treaty
of amity with the English, to whose kind off-
ces they were much indebted. They had for-
tunately met with Squanto, a native, who with
twenty-six beside himself, had been treacher-
ously carried to Spain by Hunt, a ship-master,

120 CONQUEST OF
but had been humanely restored to his country.
This man could speak a little English, and
with three other Indians came to the English,
bringing with them a few skins, and signified
that their great sagamore Masassoit, the great-
est king of the Indians bordering on us, was
hard by with his brother Quadequina, and their
company. “After an hour the king comes to
the top of a hill over against us, with a train
of sixty men. We send Squanto to him, who
brings word that we should send one to parley
with him. We send Mr Edward Winslow to
know his mind, and signify that our governor
desires to see him, and truck, and confirm a
peace. Upon this the king leaves Mr Wins-
low in the custody of Quadequina, and comes
over the brook with a train of twenty men,
leaving their bows and arrows behind them.
Captain Standish and master Williamson with
six musketeers meet him at the brook, where
they salute each other, and they conduct him
to a house wherein they place a green rug, and
three or four cushions. Then instantly comes
our governor, with drum, trumpet, and mus-
keteers. After salutations, (the governor kiss-
ing his hand, and the king kissing him,) they
sit down; the governor entertains him with
some refreshments, and then they agree on a

THE NARRAGANSETs. 121
league of friendship, for mutual assistancé and
defence: and that Masassoit should certify his
neighbour confederates of this, that they might
not wrong us, but be comprised in the condi-
tions of peace. That doing thus, king James
would esteem him his friend and ally. After
this, the governor conducts him to the brook,
where they embrace and part.
“This morning, divers Indians coming over
tell us, the king would have some of us come
over and see him. Captain Standish, and
Mr J. Allerton go venturously to them, whom
they welcome after their manner, and about
noon return to their place called Sowam, about
forty miles to the westward. The king is a
portly man, in his best years, grave of counte-
nance, spare of speech, and we cannot but
judge he is willing to be at peace with us.”
“We agree to send Mr. E. Winslow, and
Mr. S. Hopkins with Squanto to see our new
friend Masassoit at Pokanokit, to bestow some
gratuities on him, and bind him faster to us, to
view the country, see where and how he lives,
his strength, &c. At nine this morning we
set out, travel fifteen miles westward to Na-
masket by three in the afternoon. The peo-
ple entertain us with joy, give us bread they
call maizum, and the spawn of shads, which
11

122 CONQUEST OF
-
now they have in great plenty, and we eat with
spoons. By sun-set we get eight miles further
to a wear, where we find many of the Namas-
ket men fishing, having caught abundance of
bass; who welcome us also, and there we
lodge. The head of this river is said to be
not far from the place of our abode, upon it are
and have been many towns, the ground very
good on both sides, for the most part cleared.
Thousands of men have lived here, who died
of the great plague which befel these parts
about three years before our arrival: the liv-
ing not being able to bury them, and their
skulls and bones appear in many places where
their dwellings had been. Upon this river
Masassoit lives: it goes into the sea at Narra-
ganset Bay. Next morning we travel six
miles by the river to a known shoal place, and
it being low water, put off our clothes and
wade over. Thus far the tide flows : we ob-
served few places on the river but what
had been inhabited, though now greatly wast-
ed by the plague aforesaid. So we travel to
Pokanokit, where Masassoit kindly welcomes
us, and gratefully receives our presents, assures
us he will gladly continue the peace and friend-
ship, tells us the Narragansets live on the other
side of that great Bay, are a strong people and

*HE N ARRA GANSETs. 123
many in number, live compactly, and were not
touched by that wasting sickness ; desires us not
to let the French trade with them ; and there
we lodge. Next day, many of their sachems
or petty governors come to visit us ; We See
their games for skins and knives, and there
lodge again. Next morning we take our leave:
Masassoit retaining Squanto to procure truck
for us, appoints Tockamahamen in his place,
whom we had found faithful before, and after
upon all occasions. That night we reach to
the wear, and the next day home.”
I have given you this account as it is rela-
ted in Prince's New-England Chronology, and
is taken verbatim from the journals of Gover-
nor Bradford and others, who were the actors
in the scenes they describe; as I deem it essen-
tial for you to have a precise knowledge of
the manners of the natives, with their mode of
living, and the reception they gave to the pil-
grim fathers, as many are disposed to cavil,
and misrepresent the facts so explicitly stated.
Caroline. We should not have expected
the Indians would have been so kind and
courteous to the settlers, after Hunt had so
treacherously stolen, and carried into slavery
so many of their people.
Mother. We learn that these Indians, who

124 CONQUEST OF
were the immediate sufferers, showed much
resentment at first; an unhappy woman, whose
sons were among those who were so barba-
rously carried away, burst into a flood of tears
on seeing white men, supposing them to be-
long to the party who had robbed her of her
children; but they were soon reconciled by
the mediation and influence of Masassoit. As
an instance of this, we are told that a boy
being lost in the woods, the governor caused
him to be enquired for among the natives: at
length Masassoit sends word he is at Nawsit.
“He had wandered five days, lived on berries,
then lighted of an Indian plantation twenty
miles south of us, called Manomet, and they
conveyed him to the people who first assaulted
us, but the governor sends ten men in a shal-
lop with Squanto and Techamahamon to fetch
him, The first day the shallop sails for the
harbour of Cummaquid, but night coming on
we anchor in the midst of the Bay where we
are dry at low water. Next morning the In-
dians on the other side of the channel invite
us to come and eat with them; as soon as our
boat floats, six of us go ashore leaving four of
them pledges in the boat: the rest bring us to
their sachem whom they call Iyanough, a man
not above twenty-six years of age, but person-

*HE NARRAGANSETS. 225
able and courteous, who gives us plentiful and
various cheer. After dinner we take boat for
Nawsit, Iyanough and two of his men with us.
We send Squanto to tell Aspinet, the sachem
of Nausit, our errand. After sun-set, Aspinet
comes with a great train of a hundred with
him, bringing the boy: one bearing him
through the water delivers him to us. The
sachem makes peace with us. We give him a
knife, and another to him who first entertained
the boy, and setting sail carry Iyanough to
Cummaquid, and get home the next day.
Those people also come and make their peace,
and we give them full satisfaction for the corn
we had formerly found in their country. Ho-
bamock, a pinese or chief captain of Masas-
soit, also comes to dwell among us, and con-
tinues faithful as long as he lives.”
Elizabeth. The Indians did not discover
any of that revengeful spirit so commonly at-
tributed to them in their treatment of this boy;
on the contrary they seem to have been much
pleased with the white people, from the enter-
tainment they gave them.
Caroline. Some of them manifested a
strong attachment to the settlers : did those
natives who came and dwelt with them always
continue faithful ?
11 *

126 CONQUEST OF
Mother. All, except Squanto, discovered
a truly disinterested attachment; this man en-
deavoured to excite suspicions against Masas-
soit, with a view of promoting his own inter-
est, which was easily detected. There were
some pretended rumours that the Narragan-
sets had assaulted Masassoit, and were joined
by Corlitant, a petty sachem, and that Masas-
soit was driven from his country; but as gov-
ernor Bradford says nothing of all this, or of
Masassoit being seized or invaded by the
Narragansets, we must conclude there was no
foundation for these reports.
The settlers always continued on the most
friendly terms with Masassoit during his life,
and we learn that, a short time previous to his
death, “this chief came with his eldest son,
afterwards called Alexander, to the English at
the court of Plymouth, and did renew the
league for himself and son, their heirs and suc-
cessors. And after that he came to Mr
Brown's, who lived not far from Mount Hope,
bringing with him his two sons Alexander and
Philip, desiring there might be love and amity
after his death, between his sons and them, as
there had been betwixt himself and them in
former times. Yet it is very remarkable that
this Masassoit, called also Woosamequen, (how

THE NARRAGANSETS. 127
much soever he affected the English,) yet was
never in the least degree well affected to the
religion of the English, but would in his last
treaty with his neighbours at Plymouth, when
they were with him about purchasing some
land at Swanzey, have had them engaged
never to attempt to draw away any of his
people from their old Pagan superstition, and
devilish idolatry, to the Christian religion: and
did much insist upon it, till he saw the English
were resolved never to make any treaty with
him more upon that account; which, when he
discerned, he did not further urge it.”
“After the death of Masassoit, his eldest son
succeeded him about twenty years since, Alex-
ander by name, who, notwithstanding the
league he had entered into with the English,
together with his father, in the year 1639, had
neither affection to their persons, nor yet to
their religion; but had been plotting with the
Narragansets to rise against the English: of
which the governor and council of Plymouth
being informed, they presently sent for him to
bring him to the court; the person to whom
this service was committed, was a prudent and
resolute gentleman, the present governor of
the said colony, who was neither afraid of
danger, nor yet willing to delay in a matter of

lºs CONQUEST OF
that moment ; he forthwith, taking with him
eight or ten stout men well armed, intended to
have gone to the said Alexander's dwelling
distant at least forty miles; but by a good prov-
idence he found him, whom he went to seek,
at a hunting house, within six miles of the
English towns: where Alexander, and with
him about eighty men were newly come in
from hunting, and had left their guns without
doors, which Major Winslow and his small
company seized and conveyed away, and then
went into the wigwam, and demanded Alex-
ander to go along with him before the gover-
nor ; at which message he was much appalled,
but being told by the undaunted messenger,
that if he stirred or refused to go, he was a
dead man; he was by one of his chief coun-
sellors, in whose advice he most confided, per-
suaded to go along to the governor’s house:
but such was the pride and height of his spirit,
that the very surprisal of him so raised his
choler and indignation that it put him into a
fever, which notwithstanding all possible means
that could be used, seemed mortal; whereupon
entreating those that held him prisoner, that
he might have liberty to return home, promis-
ing to return again if he recovered, and to send
his son as a hostage till he could do so; on

THE NARRAGANSETS. 129
this considcration he was fairly dismissed, but
died before he got half way home. Here let
it be observed, that, although some have taken
up false reports as if the English had compelled
him to go further, or faster than he was able,
and so he fell into a fever : or as if he was not
well used by the physician that looked to him
while he was with the English; all of these
are notoriously false. Nor can it be imagined
that a person of so noble a disposition as is
that gentleman, (at that time employed to
bring him) should himself be, or suffer any one
else to be uncivil to a person allied to them,
by his own as well as his father's league, as
the said Alexander was; nor was any thing of
that nature ever objected to the English at
Plymouth by Philip, the brother of Alexander,
when he came in the year 1662, in his own
person, with Sausaman, his secretary and
chief counsellor, to renew the former league
that had been between his predecessors and
the English at Plymouth, but there was as
much correspondence betwixt them for the
next seven years as ever had been in any for-
mer time.”
Caroline. Was it true, mother, that Alex-
ander had been plotting to destroy the English?
130 CONQUEST OF
Mother. No proof was found of any con-
spiracy against them, though the English un-
questionably were conscious that the Indians
had ample cause of alarm from the constant
encroachment of the whites, and it is probable
that they frequently expressed their discon-
tent, and apprehension of danger; but after
the destruction of the Pequods, and the unjus-
tifiable treatment of the people of Block
Island, they despaired of being able to resist
by force any designs of the English, and of
course were ready to sacrifice much to pre-
serve peace, as we have witnessed in the Nar-
ragansets. There were many reports of a
conspiracy among the Indians, which, says
Hubbard, ‘were found by experience to be
very uncertain, especially when they may be
raised and carried by such as are at variance
one with another; who may be very lieve to
accuse one another to ingratiate themselves
with the English.’ This has been verified
in the case of Miantonimo.
Elizabeth. No excuse then can be given
for the indignity which this high-minded
chief was made to suffer, which cost him his
life. -
Mother. Of late it has been attempted to
show that Alexander was not treated so harshly


THE NARRAGANSETS. 131
as was represented ; but as Hubbard endeav-
ours to excuse and extenuate the violence
done to this prince, and refers to the person
who had been sent to arrest Alexander, at that
time Governor of Plymouth, who attempted
not to refute his statement of the fact, we
must conclude that it was represented as fairly
as the case would admit, and moreover it is
in perfect keeping with the feelings manifest-
ed toward the Indians. This is fully demon-
strated in their treatment of Philip.
* In the year 1671, the devil, who was a
murderer from the beginning, says Hubbard,
‘had so filled the heart of this savage miscre-
ant with envy and malice against the English,
that he was ready to break out in open war
against the inhabitants of Plymouth, pretend-
ing some trifling injuries done him in his
planting land, but when the matter of contro-
versy came to be heard by divers of the Mas-
sachusetts Colony, yea, when he himself came
to Boston, as it were referring his case to the
judgment of that colony, nothing of that na-
ture could be made to appear; whereupon in
way of submission, he was of necessity by that
evident conviction forced to acknowledge that
it was the naughtiness of his own heart that
put him upon that rebellion, and nothing of
132 GONQUEST OF
any provocation from the English. A writing
was drawn up which Philip was required to
sign, acknowledging himself the aggressor,
and promising in future to be faithful and
friendly to the English, whom he had ever
found so kind, and to resign up all his English
arms to the government of New Plymouth, to
be kept by them for their security as long as
they shall see reason.’
Elizabeth. How could the English con-
strue the complaints made by Philip into an
act of rebellion 7
Mother. This is readily comprehended
when we mark the results. It cannot be
doubted that Philip had just cause for his
complaint; had he been disposed to maintain
his rights by arms, he would not have appeal-
ed to the English for justice, or trusted his
person within their jurisdiction, nevertheless
they seized on the opportunity of having his
person in their power, to exact such condi-
tions as they knew would enable them to con-
trol and entangle Philip in their snares. The
restraints and impositions to which he was
subjected, unquestionably exasperated him in
a high degree, and the English were conscious
they had no claim to his confidence or re-
spect, and they well knew from Philip's lofty


THE NARRAGANSETS. 133
sense of justice, and his rights as a sovereign,
that the dread of their power only prevented
him from avenging the injnries he had receiv-
ed. Impressed with these convictions, the
people of Plymouth, in the course of the same
year, renewed their complaints of conspiracy
and cited Philip as a subject to appear and
answer to the charges preferred against him.
‘Mr. Morton, in the name of the court of
Plymouth, wrote to the Massachusetts Gov’r,
acquainting him that they had summoned
Philip to appear on the thirteenth of the next
month ; that if he did not do it, they had de-
termined on the twentieth to send out forces
to reduce him to reason, unless better cause
should seasonably appear to them by the Mas-
sachusetts advice to prevent it ; that it was a
common cause, and they should well accept
of assistance; but it was plainly intimated
that if aid should be refused, they would en-
gage alone. Philip happened to come to Bos-
ton, with his counsellors, the same day the
letter was received, and represented his case
so favourably to the Gov. and council, that in
their answer to Plymouth, they urged that
Government to refer the difference between
Philip and them to commissioners from Mas-
sachusetts and Connecticut. Plymouth de-
12

134. CONQUEST OF
clined this proposal, and insisted on Philip's
appearance at the time proposed; but finally,
Massachusetts declaring that there did not ap-
pear sufficient grounds for commencing hos-
tilities, Plymouth consented to give Philip
further time, until the twenty-sixth, promised
him safe conduct, and desired commissioners
from Massachusetts and Connecticut to be
present, and give advice.”
‘The nature of Philip's subjection to Ply-
mouth was inquired into upon this occasion
by Massachusetts. They say in their letter,
“We do not understand how far he hath sub-
jected himself to you; but the treatment you
have given him, and proceedings towards him,
do not render him such a subject, as that if
there be not a present answering to summons
there should presently be a proceeding to hos-
tilities; and the sword once drawn, and dipped
in blood, may make him as independent upon
you, as you are upon him.” When Philip
was at Boston, and the letters which had been
received from Plymouth were read to him,
he expressed himself before the Governor and
council as follows.-" That his predecessors
had been friendly with the Plymouth Gover-
mors, and an engagement of that nature was
made by his father, and renewed by his brother,

THE NARRA GANSETS. 135
and, (when he took the government) by him-
self; but they were all agreements for amity,
and not for subjection any further, as he ap-
prehends; he desired to see a copy of the
engagement they speak of, and that the Gov-
ernor of Massachusetts would procure it for
him.” He knew not they were subjects.”
Caroline. I am pleased to find that the
people of Massachusetts were disposed to do
justice, on this occasion, to Philip.
Mother. It would assuredly be gratifying,
were we not given to understand that there
was at this time a breach in the union be-
tween the colonies, which was healed the next
year; accordingly we find that when the me-
diators met at Plymouth, Philip was obliged to
sign articles highly unjust and arbitrary,
which were as follows:
“We, Philip, and my council, and my sub-
jects, do acknowledge ourselves subject to his
Majesty, the king of England, and the gov-
ernment of New Plymouth, and to their laws.
I am willing, and do promise to pay unto the
government of Plymouth, one hundred pounds
in such things as I have ; but I would entreat
the favour that I might have three years to
pay it in, forasmuch as I cannot do it at pres-
ent. I do promise to send unto the Governor

136 CONQUEST OF
five wolves' heads, if I can get them, or as
many as I can procure, until they come to five
wolves yearly. If any difference fall between
the English and myself, and people, then I do
promise to repair to the Gov. of Plymouth to
rectify the difference. I promise not to make
war with any but with the Gov.’s approbation,
and I promise not to dispose of any of the
lands that I have at present, but by the appro-
bation of the Gov. of Plymouth.” The true
performance of these promises, Philip, with
three of his counsellors, bound themselves
faithfully to observe.
Eliza. Philip must have been sadly morti-
fied and disappointed to find the people of
Massachusetts, to whose justice he had ap-
pealed, oblige him to the performance of such
conditions as would entirely subject him to
the Plymouth Government.
Caroline. We should have expected that
the misfortunes of a great prince, of whose
noble qualities they were not ignorant, would
have induced the Massachusetts people to
have softened the rigorous conditions to which
Philip had before been subjected, instead of
increasing them.
Mother. No compunctious visitings of con-
science, or regard to justice, appear to have

THE NARRAGANSETS. 137
influenced the decisions, or proceedings, of
the colonists; they were, as I have before ob-
served, possessed with the notion that they,
like the Israelites of old, were the peculiar
favourites of heaven, and like them commis-
sioned to drive out and destroy the heathen
inhabitants of this land. Influenced by these
impressions, they were equally regardless of
the precepts of our benign Master, and the
ties which bind man to his fellow beings.
Eliza. Did Philip comply with the requi-
sitions imposed on him, mother?
Mother. Whatever may have been the feel-
ings of Philip, he doubtless was sensible that
nothing could be gained by resistance, and
that it was better to be content with the cir-
cumscribed limits he still held, than to risk
all by a breach of engagements. Hutchinson
says that Philip, in the first agreement with
Plymouth, was prevailed on to deliver up
what English arms he then had with him,
being about seventy guns, and to promise to
send in the remainder in a few days. The
loss of so many guns must have been grievous
to Philip, at a time when he only waited a
good opportunity of falling upon the English,
and when he was at liberty he thought no
more of his engagements; the guns were not
12*

138 CONQUEST OF
brought in.” Yet, as Hubbard, who is very
desirous of proving the origin of the war to
have been just, makes no charge of this kind
against Philip, and nothing appears in the
second articles drawn up by the commission-
ers, to prove the nonperformance of his prom-
ises; we may be assured that the accusation
was got up with an intent to excuse the unjus-
tifiable proceedings against this unfortunate
chief. There were at this period, as at the
present, some estimable men, who, rising
above vulgar prejudices and sordid calcula-
tions, reprobated the crimes which under
false allegations were perpetrated against the
natives. We learn from Hutchinson, that,
‘The English have been charged by some
writers with acts of injustice to the Indians,
which have provoked them and occasioned
the frequent wars. There have been many
instances of abuse offered to particular per-
sons among the Indians, by evil-minded Eng-
lishmen, and the inhabitants of some parts of
the province which have suffered most by
Indian cruelties, may have been under too
strong prejudices, and by this means, offend-
ers, when brought upon trial, may have been
acquitted by too favourable juries. We are
too apt to consider the Indians as a race of

THE NARRAGAN SETS, 39
beings by nature inferior to us, and born to
servitude. Philip was a man of a high spirit,
and could not bear to see the English of New
Plymouth extending their settlements over
the dominions of his ancestors; and although
his father had, at one time or other, conveyed
to them all they were possessed of, yet he had
sense enough to distinguish a free voluntary
covenant, from one made under a sort of du-
resse, and he could never rest until he brought
on the war which ended in his destruction.”
Caroline. It would seem that the colonists
thought that the Indians had no right to de-
fend themselves, or prevent them from taking
possession of their country.
Mother. This was undoubtedly the feeling
which prompted them to exclaim against the
barbarities of the Indians, whenever they
attempted to inflict that punishment on ag-
gressors, which they knew it would be vain to
expect from an appeal to the justice of the
English. In a note we are told that Philip
was charged with pride and ambition, in aspir-
ing to the sovereignty of a country which
he would have enjoyed as his inheritance if
they had not prevented; with perfidy, in
breaking promises made whilst under restraint,
and in the power of those to whom they were

140 CONQUEST OF -
made ; and with impiety in refusing to receive
his religion from his enemies. *
* From 1671 to 74, we meet with no trans-
action of moment relative to the Indians; but
it is affirmed that Philip was all this time using
measures to engage the Indians in all parts of
New England to unite against the English.
The Indians about Hadley confessed such a
plot. The Narragansets had engaged to bring
four thousand men. This could not be done
immediately. The English were upon the
watch. Some fire-arms had been taken from
the Indians. To provide sufficient arms, am-
munition, and provisions, whilst under suspic-
ion, was a work of time. They did not expect
to be prepared before the spring of 1676; but
Philip precipitated his own nation and his
allies into a war before they were prepared.
This was evident from the distraction of the
Indians in all parts of New England, upon
the first news of the disturbance from Philip.
They were amazed, not knowing which way
to turn, sometimes ready to declare for the
English, as they had been used to do in the
former contests with Philip, at other times
inclining to join with Philip, as first or last
most of them did.”
* Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, p. 257.
THE NARRA GANSET3, 141
‘The war was hurried on by a piece of re-
venge which Philip caused to be taken upon
John Sausaman, a praying Indian. He had
been bred up in the profession of the christian
religion, was some time at the college, and
afterwards employed as a schoolmaster at Na-
tick, but upon some misdemeanor fled to Philip,
who made him his secretary and chief coun-
sellor and confidant. After remaining some
years with Philip, Mr. Eliot, the Indian evan-
gelist, who had been his spiritual father, pre-
wailed with him to return to the christian
Indians at Natick, where he manifested public
repentance for his apostacy, and became a
preacher, and conformed more to the English
manners than any other Indian. In the year
1674, Sausaman upon some occasion went to
Namasket, where he fell in company with some
of Philip's Indians, and with Philip himself.
There he discovered by several circumstances
that the Indians were plotting against the
English. He informed the Governor what he
had discovered, and told him that if it should
be known that he was the informer, it would
cost him his life. It was not long after, that
Sausaman was met by three or four Indians
upon a frozen pond; they knocked him down,
and put him under the ice, leaving his gun


142 CONQUEST OF
and hat upon the ice, to make the world be-
lieve that he accidentally fell in and was
drowned. When the body was found and
taken up, the wounds appeared upon his head.
An Indian happened to be upon a hill at a
distance, and saw the murder committed ; he
concealed it for some time, but at length dis-
covered it.”
‘The murderers were apprehended, tried
upon the Indian's testimony, and other cir-
cumstances, convicted, and executed; two of
them denying the fact to the last, the third,
when he came to die, confessed that his fath-
er, (one of the counsellors and special friends
of Philip) was one of the two that murdered
Sausaman, himself only looking on.’
Elizabeth. If the English confided in the
testimony of this man, they must have believed
him guiltless of the murder; why then did
they put him to death
Mother. If the assertion was true that one
of the executioners was father to the young
man who died last, one only of the three
could have been guilty.
Caroline. Was it not very wrong to put
these Indians to death on evidence so slight
and uncertain''
Mother. Extremely so in my apprehen-

THE NARRAGANSETS. 143
sion, not only in reference to the little confi-
dence which could be had in an obscure
individual, but as these Indians were the sub-
jects of Philip, it was not only an arbitrary
exercise of power, but highly insulting and
injurious to that Prince. When the Pequods
slew Stone to rescue their own men, whom
he had fraudulently seized and detained,
the English made it a pretext to destroy the
whole nation; notwithstanding the Pequods
endeavoured to conciliate them by messages
and presents. In a note it is observed, ‘This
action of Philip, in procuring the death of
Sausaman, has always been pronounced to be
a most heinous crime. Philip no doubt con-
sidered him as a traitor and renegade, who
had justly forfeited his life. The Indians left
murderers to the revenge of relations and
friends, but punished traitors by public exe-
cution.”
Elizabeth. Then it appears that Philip
only exercised a legal act of justice, in putting
to death a traitorous subject.
Mother. It was unquestionably so, and
Philip, we learn, was enraged to see the im-
mediate actors brought to punishment by the
English laws, and expecting that it would be
his own turn next, (being conscious that the
144 CONQUEST OF
murderers were employed by him,) took no
pains to exculpate himself, but gathered what
strangers he could, and (together with his own
men) marched them up and down the country
in arms. The English of Plymouth ordered
a military watch in every town, but took no
notice of the Indians' behaviour, hoping that
when Philip saw no measures were used for
apprehending him, the threatened storm would
blow over, as it had done several times before.
But the Indians coming in to him from several
quarters, gave him fresh courage, and he
behaved with insolence, first threatening the
English at Swanzey, then killing some of their
cattle, and at length rifling their houses. An
Englishman was so provoked that he fired
upon an Indian and wounded him. One of
the inhabitants of Rehoboth was fired upon
by a party of Indians, and the hilt of his
sword shot off. The same day in the after-
noon, being a fast, as the Swanzey people
were coming from public worship, the Indians
attacked them, killed one, and wounded an-
other, and killed two men who were going for
a surgeon; beset a house in another part of
the town, and murdered six more.’ It is
probable that these victims who first fell a
sacrifice to the resentment of Philip, were


THE NARRAGAN SETs, 145
those who had committed depredations on his
lands, or otherwise injured him or his people,
against whom he had sought redress in vain.
We are authorized to adopt this conclusion
from what is related of the treatment of
Philip, when he appealed to the court of Ply-
mouth for justice against those who had injured
him in his planting lands, and from the man-
ner in which the victims were selected.
Caroline. Philip, I suppose, finding that
all the sacrifices and concessions he had made
had failed to procure him any permanent
peace, or free him from perpetual suspicion,
was determined to submit no longer to the
insults and impositions of the English.
Mother. The natural discernment of Philip
unquestionably led him to conclude that the
English had determined on his ruin ; and he
therefore preferred to risk all, and die brave-
ly, defending his country, than become their
slave. It is, we find, not in the nature of
things for those, who have injured others, to
rest satisfied or be at ease ; and the English
were conscious that Philip could not forgive
them for having robbed him of his territory
and independence, however he may have sup-
pressed his resentment. It is esy to foster
suspicions, when every new accusation pre-
13
146 CONQUEST OF
sents an opportunity of exacting new de-
mands. Philip was not only harassed by con-
tinual accusations of conspiracy, but grossly
insulted by an assumption of authority to
judge and condemn his actions in conformity
with the laws of England ; or, more frequent-
ly, by such as would forward their own base
and selfish views. Mr. Winslow, Governor
of Plymouth, writes to Mr. Leverett, the Mas-
sachusetts Governor, July 4th, 1675 –“ I do
solemnly profess, we know not anything from
us, that might put Philip upon these motions,
nor have heard that he pretends to have suf-
fered any wrong from us, save only that we
have killed some Indians, and intended to send
for himself for the murder of John Sausaman.”
Elizabeth. Mr. Winslow speaks of their
having killed some Indians, as a very trifling
affair; without adverting to the signal and un-
pitying revenge of the English for the murder
of Stone and Oldham, two men who had been
deemed too vile to be permitted to live in their
community.
Mother. Hubbard speaks, with much ap-
parent satisfaction, of their scouts having
brought in one Joshua Tift, a renegado En-
glishman, who had upon some discontent
turned Indian, and married one of their



THE NARRAGANSETS. 147
squaws; who, after examination, was con-
demned to die as a traitor. This appears to
be a case similar to that of Sausaman. It is
wonderful to find the English accusing Philip
of a criminal act in taking the life of Suasa-
man, and inveighing against Indian barbarity,
whilst they themselves on all occasions testifi-
ed the most sanguinary feelings, slaughtering
their prisoners without mercy, even the most
noble ; or, what is more terrible, dooming
them to an hopeless and ignominious bon-
dage. In the prosecution of this war, perpet-
ual instances occur of this sanguinary, unre-
lenting spirit, which excites our utmost horror
and disgust.
I shall not enter into the horrid details of
the war, which was carried on with great
rigour. Troops were immediately raised in
all the colonies, and marched into the Indian
towns, through fields of stately corn ; but all
was deserted. They discerned Philip's wig-
wam among the rest ; but met with no ene-
my. I have elsewhere related the determina-
tion of the English to fall upon the Narragan-
sets first, lest they should be induced to join
Philip ; and, notwithstanding the sincere de-
sire which that people manifested for peace,
the barbarous attack and destruction of the
†45 EoNº UEST of
-
Narraganset fortress, together with the aged
and infirm, who, with the women and children,
had retired thither for safety. Yet, notwith-
standing all the Narragansets had suffered,
they still struggled to procure peace ; and we
learn, that the rest of the winter was spent
in fruitless treaties; both sides being well wea-
ried with the late desperate fight. “The par-
ticular passages of the treaty,” says Hubbard,
“ being carried on by the enemy only in pre-
tence,—and by our men, that soon discerned
the fraud, rather out of necessity, to conceal
their incapacity of engaging them anew, than
any real expectation of a good effect, are not
worth relating. However, though the foot
were unable to do any service in the depth of
the snow and sharpness of the cold, the troop
was sent out upon all occasions to scout about
the country, who brought in daily much
of the enemies' corn and beans, which they
had hid in the ground under barns ; or, at
least, kept them from making use of their own
provisions, or spoiling the English cattle ;
now and then also bringing in prisoners, as
they were straggling about to get food. Cap-
tain Prentice was sent into Bonham's coun-
try, where he burnt near a hundred wig-
wams.” This, I suppose, was Pomham, who


THE NARRAGANSFTS. 149
had been persuaded to renounce his allegiance
to his lawful sovereign, Miantonimo, and be-
come the subject of the English.
Caroline. For what reason was this chief
now treated as an enemy
Mother. I do not recollect that Pomham
had given any offence to the English ; yet it is
probable that he refused to take an active part
against his countrymen, or submit to the im-
positions required. Toward the close of this
war, we learn from Hubbard, that, after many
successful combats, “ the victory was greatly
increased by the slaughter of Pomham, who
was one of the stoutest and most valiant sa-
chems that belonged to the Narragansets :
whose courage and strength was so great, that,
after he had been mortally wounded so as he
could not stand, he catched hold of an En-
glishman, and had done him an injury, had
he not been presently rescued. Amongst the
rest of the captives at this time was one of the
said Pomham's sons, a very likely youth, and
one whose countenance would have bespoken
favour for him, had he not belonged to so
bloody and barbarous an Indian as his father
was.”
Elizabeth. Can it have been possible that
this fine youth was condemned to die for no
13 *

150 CONQUEST OF
other reason than that his father had bravely
defended his country :
Mother. He unquestionably shared the
fate of many other noble chieftains, who un-
fortunately fell into the hands of their inva-
ders. But I will now proceed with the histo-
ry, as related by Hubbard, who, in some in-
stances, is more particular than others —
“Two messengers were sent from the Nar-
ragansets to make way for a treaty of peace,
who laid the blame upon Canonchet, who
came to Boston in October last to confirm the
peace with the commissioners of the united
colonies, as if he had misinformed them, viz.
that they were not by the former treaty to
have delivered up the Wampanoogs, or Phil-
ip's Indians, until the said Canonchet's bro-
ther, one of the hostages at Hartford, was re-
leased. An English child, of about three
years old, taken from Warwick, was sent in,
to put the better pretence upon the treaty
mentioned.”
“Messengers came from Ninnigret, the
old sachem of Narraganset, signifying the re-
ality of his friendship to the English, and the
straits of the enemy that corn was two shil-
lings a pint with them. Yet, notwithstanding
all their difficulties, they rather delayed the

THE NARRAGANSET5. 51.
time till they could get away, than really en-
deavoured the making a peace, as was soon
manifest ; for that young, insolent sachem
Canonchet, and Panonquin, said they would
fight it out to the last man, rather than be-
come servants to the English.”
Elizabeth. It is not wonderful, that the
Narragansets should come to this determina-
tion, when the English refused to deliver up
the hostages, when the Indians should have
fulfilled the conditions for which they had
been put in custody.
Mother. The Indians were early discour-
aged, as they found, no sooner had they com-
plied with one stipulation, than another was
demanded ; and the terms were frequently so
vaguely expressed as not to be understood by
the Indians; which afforded frequent oppor-
tunities to the English of taking advantage, as
will be explained in the sequel of this disas-
trous war. Canonchet was doubtless deceiv-
ed, or he would not, with so little prospect of
success, have broken a treaty which he had
consented to make. We are informed by
Hubbard, that “Canonchet was the chief sa-
chem of all the Narragansets, the son of Mi-
antonimo, and heir of all his father's pride and
insolence, as well as of his malice against the

152 CONQUEST OF
English, and who had with his people been
driven out of his own country by the sword of
the English. The whole body of the Indians
to the westward, trusting under the shadow of
that aspiring bramble, he took a kind of care
of them upon himself. Wherefore, foreseeing
so many hundreds could not well subsist with-
out planting, he propounded it to his council,
that all the west plantations upon Connecti-
cut river, taken from the English, should be
planted with Indian corn, which was indeed
in itself a very prudent consideration. To
that end, he resolved to venture himself with
but thirty men (the rest declining it) to
fetch seed corn from Seakonk, the next town
to Mount Hope, leaving a body of men, not
fewer than fifteen hundred, to follow or meet
him about Seakonk the week after. This ad-
venture brought him into a snare,from whence
he could not escape. He was discovered,
and pursued by a party of the English, and,
after having vainly attempted to escape his
pursuers, made their captive, though he was
a very proper man, of goodly stature, and great
courage of mind, as well as strength of body.
One of the first English that came up with
him was Robert Stanton, a young man that
had scarcely reached the twenty-second year

THE NARRA GAN SETS, 153
of his age, yet adventuring to ask him a ques-
tion or two ; to whom this manly sachem,
looking with some neglect, replied, You are
too much a child to understand matters of
war : let your brother or your chief come, him
will I answer ; and was as good as his word,
acting herein as if, by a Pythagorean metemp-
sychosis, some old Roman ghost had possess-
ed the body of this western Pagan ; and, like
Attitius Regulus, he would not accept of his
own life, when it was tendered to him, upon
that (in his account) low condition of com-
pliance with the English ; refusing to send an
old counsellor of his to make any motion that
way, saying, he knew the Indians would not
yield ; but, more probably, he was not willing
they should, choosing rather to sacrifice his
own and his people's lives to his private hu-
mour of revenge, than timely to provide for
his own and their safety. He, continuing in
the same obstinate resolution, was soon after
carried to Stonington, where he was shot to
death. He was told at large of his breach of
faith ; and how he had boasted, he would not
deliver up a Wampanoog, or the paring of a
Wampanoog's nail ; that he would burn the
English in their houses —to which he repli-
ed, others were as forward for the war as him-

154 CONQUEST OF
self, and that he desired to hear no more
thereof. When he was told his sentence was
to die, he said he liked it well ; that he should
die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken
any thing unworthy of himself.”
Caroline. It appears scarcely possible that
any people could have been so barbarous and
wicked, as to put to death one so great and
noble.
Mother. This is true, Caroline, and one
whom they knew was actuated by heroic zeal
and true patriotism ; nevertheless, it is no
small consolation to be assured, that a speedy
end was put to the sufferings of this heroic
chief. The extreme misery, which many
captives were doomed to bear, who were con-
demned to be transported and sold for slaves,
cannot well be imagined or described ; and
there is much reason to suppose that the young
and interesting son of Pomham, whose fate is
darkly told, was doomed to slavery.
Elizabeth. How greatly preferable is death,
where the pang though violent is short, than
to live in a state of perpetual misery and bon-
dage I remember to have seen an engra-
ving of a plantation, where the poor slaves,
with their bodies half bent and without cloth-
ing, were at work under a burning sun, whilst

THE NARRAGANSETs, 155
their overseers were waving their whips over
them, ready to strike on the slightest remission
from their labour. I shudder to think of the
barbarity and cruelty which is exercised to-
ward those poor beings ; but the state of this
young and noble creature, accustomed as he
was to having every wish gratified, and allow-
ed to roam wherever he pleased, must have
been scarcely possible for him to have borne.
But, dear mother, I cannot bear to think of the
many instances of barbarity, which the rec-
ords of our country exhibit.
Mother. You will not find consolation in
perusing the details of this war, which are
replete with scenes revolting to humanity :
and will experience no relief from the most
painful sensations, except in the heroism of
the Indians, who in various instances redeem-
ed, by their noble bearing and intrepidity, the
human character, from the odium which at-
taches itself to all that is barbarous and base.
The Indians, aware that nothing could save
them from the rapacity of the invaders, unless
they could be compelled to quit their shores,
and sensible that they could not withstand
them in the field of battle, strove to destroy
the habitations and provisions of the English;
and to kill, and make as many captive, as pos-

158 CONQUEST OFº
sible, by a war of depredation. In these ef-
forts they were greatly overmatched by the
English, who, moreover, had the address to
engage many of the natives, as auxiliaries.
Great fear had fallen on them ; and, whenever
a party fell into the hands of the English, they
were told, that they must expect no mercy,
unless they joined them, and gave them all the
assistance they were able. Nothing appears
to have operated so powerfully on the natives,
as their extreme fear of being transported and
sold for slaves. Captain Church, we are told,
was very successful in making captives of the
Indians, by besetting the places to which they
frequently resorted, and suddenly falling upon
them before they were sensible of danger.
Those who fell into his hands were not only
compelled to become his partizans, but were
obliged, by threats and the most cruel treat-
ment, to guide the English to the retreats of
their people. Church acknowledges their ex-
treme unwillingness, in most instances, to for-
sake or betray their countrymen ; but, having
once given or plighted their faith, they were
ever after faithful to their engagements. Ma-
uy instances occur, in the first settlement of
this country, of the steady adherence of the
Indians to their plighted faith, however great

THE NARRAGANSETs, 157
may have been the sacrifice, though all are
not equally entitled to this character.
Philip, who had at first been cheered with
success, soon experienced the most cruel re-
verses of fortune. At the close of this bloody
contest, in which this heroic chief had dis-
played the most undaunted determination to
preserve his independence, and guard the
rights of his country against a foreign power
who usurped dominion over them, he was
subjected to every calamity “ which flesh is
heir to.” At one time he very narrowly
escaped from his pursuers, being forced to
leave his beloved wife and only son, with his
treasures, to the mercy of the English. “His
ruin (proceeds the historian) being thus grad-
ually carried on, his misery was augmented
with the sense and experimental feeling of
the captivity of his children, loss of friends,
slaughter of his subjects, bereavement of all
family relations, and being stripped of all out-
ward comforts, before his own life should be
taken away. The desertion of his followers,
many of whom to save their own lives had
joined the English, and were accessary to his
destruction, it is said broke Philip's heart, so
as he never rejoiced after, or had any success
in his designs.”
14

158 CONQUEST OF
“Philip, having been hunted by the English
forces through the woods above a hundred
miles, backward and forward, was at last forc-
ed to take refuge on Mount Hope, his ancient
residence, where he retired with a few of his
best friends into a swamp, which proved but
a prison to keep him fast till the messengers
of death came to execute vengeance upon
him. Philip, finding himself discovered, en-
deavoured to make his escape, but was shot
through the heart by one of his own nation,
and with him fell five of his trustiest follow-
ers.” This was deemed a remarkable testi-
mony of divine favour, and gave great cause
for rejoicing to the colonies. A high reward
had been offered to any one who should de-
liver Philip alive or dead to the English, and
a sum proportionable for any of his subjects.
Caroline. Was not this offering a reward
to induce people to become traitors and mur-
derers ?
Mother. In the struggle to obtain the sole
empire of this country, the settlers showed lit-
tle scrupulosity in regard to the means used
to ensnare or seize by violence the natives ;
and the treatment received by many of Phil-
ip's brave and faithful chiefs, evinces an en-
tire disregard either to faith, justice, or hu-

THE NARRAGANSET3. 1.59
manity. The English, though they laid great
stress on some portions of scripture, appear to
have altogether overlooked the parts most im-
portant; particularly that which informs us,
that God hath made of one blood all the na-
tions of the earth, that they may dwell to-
gether. Hubbard says, “It appears thus by
the sequel of things, that after the Lord has
accomplished his work upon his people, that
he is beginning to call his enemies to an ac-
count, and punish them for the pride of their
hearts, and for their treachery and cruelty
against his servants.” Philip's captains have
shared the same fate with himself, some be-
fore, and some since his own fall.
Tespiquin, a brave chief, induced by a pro-
mise from Capt. Church, that he would make
him his captain over the Indians, if he was
found to be as stout as he was reported to be,
(for the Indians had said that Tespiquin could
not be pierced by a bullet,) came and sub-
mitted himself, and being sent to Plymouth
on trial, was found penetrable by the English
guns, for he fell at the first shot. The next
that was seized was Annawan, one of Philip's
chief counsellors ; who had betaken himself
with a few others, besides women and chil-
dren, to a ledge of rocks ; he was, however,
*

160 CONQUEST OF
surprized by Capt. Church before he was
aware of danger, who told him he had come
to sup with him. Annawan, who had ex-
pected immediate death, was much affected
with the Captain's generosity, and in token of
his submission, and by way of acknowledg-
ment for his courtesy, presented him with
Philip's belt, curiously wrought, being nine
inches broad, wrought with black and white
wompum in various figures, and flowers, and
pictures of many birds and beasts. This,
when hung on Capt. Church's shoulders,reach-
ed his ancles; and another belt of wompum
he presented him, wrought after the same
manner, which Philip was wont to put upon
his head, and which hung down on his back;
and another small belt with a star upon the end
of it, which he used to wear on his breast;
these were all edged with red hair. These,
with other emblems of royalty, Annawan pre-
sented to Capt. Church, telling him the war
was now over. Annawan was induced to be-
lieve from the courteons behaviour of Capt.
Church, that he should receive protection,
and therefore neglected to attempt an escape
when it was in his power. This great chief-
tain was, nevertheless, doomed to die because
he had bravely fought in defence of his coun-

THE NARRAGAN SETS. 16.1
try and king, and of course had destroyed
many English.
“The cruelties, which had been exercised
upon the Euglish, were urged in excuse for
the treatment which the Indians received, who
were made prisoners or surrendered them-
selves. In all the promises of mercy, those
who had been principal actors in the murders of
the English were excepted, and none had any
promise made of any thing more than their
lives. A great many therefore of the chiefs were
executed at Boston and Plymouth, and most of
the rest were sold and shipped off for slaves.”
Elizabeth. I think you told us, mother,
that few captives were ill treated by the In-
dians, and that most of them were allowed to
return home uninjured"
Mother. We must keep in remembrance,
that the combat was maintained by the In-
dians to preserve themselves and their coun-
try from subjugation to usurpers, whose in-
gratitude and perfidy they held in abhorrence,
and that, although they in some instances
manifested a cruel and vindictive spirit in
subjecting their prisoners to torture ; yet as I
find but one or two instances specified, I con-
clude that few suffered this ordeal, though it
* Hutchinson.
14.

162 CONQUEST OF
was made a pretext by the English to inflict
the worst of evils on those unhappy natives
who fell into their hands, Hubbard, after re-
lating the manner in which many were taken
prisoners by the Indians, says, “And such
was the goodness of God to those poor cap-
tive women and children, that they found so
much favour in the sight of their enemies,
that they offered no wrong to any of their
persons, save what they could not help, being
in many wants themselves. Neither did they
offer any uncivil carriage to any of the fe-
males.” Among those captives who safely
returned, was the celebrated Mrs Rolandson,
whose history I read with much interest when
a child. She was the wife of the minister of
Lancaster, “who being absent to seek help
to defend that place, on returning, was enter-
tained with the tragical news of his wife and
children being surprised, and carried away by
the enemy, and his house turned into ashes;
yet it pleased God so to uphold his heart, that
he always said, he believed he should see his
wife and children again, which did soon come
to pass, within five or six months after ; all
save the youngest, who being wounded at first,
died soon after.” After this, we learn from
the same writer, that “a day being set apart

*HE NARRAGANSETS. 163
of public thanksgiving to God, who had re-
membered his people thus in their low estate,
that matter of thanksgiving might not be
wanting at the day appointed, the very day be-
fore were most of our English captives brought
back from the Indians, and many more soon
after.” Thus it appears that the English cap-
tives were in the main subjected to no evils
except such as which their conquerors were
by necessity obliged to submit to ; and that fe-
males in particular were treated with a degree
of decency and attention, which they do not
commonly receive from those who boast of
their superior advantages. We have, there-
fore, abundant proof, that the pretence of re-
taliation on the Indians for their cruelty, must
have been a mere subterfuge of the English;
though nothing can be alleged to justify or ex-
tenuate the miseries which the unfortunate
Indians were doomed to suffer. Can the tor-
ments of a few hours be compared with the
anguish and despair of those who were forced
to linger out a protracted and miserable ex-
istence in the basest servitude, whilst their
indignant spirits were perpetually goaded by
the wrongs they suffered, contrasted with the
happiness and independence they once en-
joyed

* 64 CONQUEST OF
Caroline. This must, indeed, have been a
sad reverse of fortnne, far more terrible than
death in its most hideous form. We have,
however, been informed that chiefs only, who
had signalized themselves by deeds of hero-
ism, deemed themselves privileged to undergo
this cruel ordeal, by torture; and that in the
midst of the most excruciating sufferings they
would defy their enemies, and relate with ex-
ultation the deeds which had entitled them to
this honourable death.
Mother. It is greatly to be regretted, that
the conduct of the Indians toward some of
their distinguished prisoners is so highly rep-
rehensible, and altogether opposed to those
noble qualities which distinguish them in their
primitive state. There is, nevertheless, a re-
deeming spirit in those who are doomed to
suffer, which engages our respect and admira-
tion. Amidst the most appalling torments,
which are frequently prolonged for many
hours, the sufferer exhibits the most heroic
fortitude and composure: not a groan escapes
him ; it is the triumph of the soul over the
body, and to the last he defies his enemies,
and relates with exultation those heroic
achievements in defence of his country, which
will secure him an entrance into the abodes

THE NARRAGANSETS. 165
of the blest, where the spirits of his fathers
will rejoice over the deeds of their son.
Elizabeth. Is not this horrid custom pecu-
liar to the Indians, mother ? -
Mother. It is only so in form ; death by
torture was common, I believe, in the dark ages
of Europe; nor can we boast at the present day
an exemption from this barbarous custom.
Slaves are stretched on the rack even on sus-
picion ; and the tortures inflicted on the vic-
tims of the inquisition surpass in magnitude
and duration all that has ever been recorded;
even the sufferings of the martyrs were light
when compared with the protracted and re-
peated trials inflicted within the walls of the
inquisition, though both resulted from the
bigotry and base superstition of those who laid
claim to infallibility.
I have in general omitted the abusive epi-
thets bestowed on Philip and other great
chieftains by Hubbard, who relates their suf-
ferings and death in a strain of exultation in-
dicative of a harsh and sordid mind ; never-
theless, their characters are unstained by any
unjustifiable acts of cruelty or injustice. If it
be proved that Sausaman was put to death by
the order of Philip, he was unquestionably

166 CONQUEST OF
authorized by the laws of his country to con-
demn him as a traitor and a renegade.
Philip is also accused of putting to death
one of his confederates, for proposing terms of
peace with the English; this, in my appre-
hension, may be excused, by adverting to the
hazard in which he was involved. This chief
had retired from the scene of action with a
few brave adherents, who, like himself, had
determined to die in defence of their liber-
ties, rather than submit to the English, in
whose justice or generosity they could not
confide. Philip had witnessed the slavery
and ignominious death of many great chief-
tains, who had unfortunately fallen into their
hands ; especially, we may imagine, that the
fate of the noble und magnanimous Mianton-
imo and his gallant son, pressed heavily on
his mind. The retrospect afforded no assu-
rance or even hope that his life or liberty
would be respected ; and he was also aware,
that the treachery of insidious friends or sub-
jects, who had been suborned to betray their
sovereign, had occasioned most of the disas-
ters which had fallen on his countrymen.
Philip, therefore, had just cause to suspect the
fidelity of him who proposed conditions of
peace with an enemy so implacable, and he

THE NARRAGAN SETS. 167
unquestionably viewed this man as an instru-
ment suborned for his destruction, whose
machinations could only be prevented by in-
stant death.
Elizabeth. I do not at all wonder, mother,
that Philip should have no confidence in the
English ; his brave and ardent spirit could
not endure the wrongs he had suffered ; neith-
er would he have acted a faithful part to his
subjects, had he allowed the English to go on
taking their lands at pleasure, and murdering
his people, and returning only insults to his
amicable and just complaints. Philip tried
conciliating measures; he gave presents to the
English, and they had been treated in the
kindest manner by his father. But they
would not be content; their jealous spirits
could not rest until the ruin of Philip was
complete ; until the whole Indian power was
exterminated. -
Mother. The facts recorded are sufficient
to excite the utmost commiseration for the
Aborigines, who appear to have been truly de-
sirous to preserve peace with the settlers; nor
can it be doubted that many injuries were
done them which have not been told. We
learn from Morton’s Memorial, that the
friendly Indians were subjected to many vex-

168 CONQUEST OF
atious restrictions to which they were wholly
unaccustomed, and to which they reluctantly
submitted; and, that such as embraced the
faith of their conquerors, were required to
prove their sincerity by minute observances,
not exacted from the English. It is worthy of
remark, as it indicates the justice and gene-
rous feelings of the Indians, that at the com-
mencement of the war Philip's party offered
no injury to the towns of Taunton and Bridge-
water, though in his immediate vicinity, nor
were any of the people assaulted so long as
they remained quiet at home. No reason is
assigned for this forbearance ; but it unques-
tionably resulted from the friendly conduct of
the inhabitants; as the natives ever manifest-
ed amicable and grateful feelings toward
those who respected their rights.
Caroline. Since you have given us this ac-
count of the Indians, my dear mother, I have
become greatly interested in their history, and
the more I hear of them, the more unjust and
cruel their treatment appears to have been.
The history of the much-injured, but noble-
minded Philip, who so bravely defended his
people and his liberty, has particularly affect-
ed me. Why was Philip thus persecuted and
driven from place to place his only crime

ºf E N ARRA GANSETS, 69
was his attachment to his country and his peo-
ple How many heroes, among civilized na-
tions, have had statues and monuments erect-
ed to their memories for the same patriotism
which was deemed criminal in Philip ! My
heart bleeds when I think of the unmerited
suffering of this heroic chief, who was slain in
his own domain, and within sight of the dwell-
ing where he had passed so many happy days.
He had also the anguish of knowing, that his
beloved wife and only son were captives in the
hands of his unmerciful enemies. Oh, moth-
er, I shudder when I reflect on the fate of this
unfortunate princess and her son, condemned
to quit forever their native country, and doom-
ed to perpetual bondage in a foreign land.
Labour and confinement must have been
doubly severe to those, who had been accus-
tomed to ease and unbounded liberty. How
unmindful were their enemies of the precepts
of our blessed Saviour, to do unto others, as
they would have others do unto them.
Mother. Your observations, my children,
are just ; and we have the satisfaction of
knowing that, in the sentiments we entertain
of our natives, and of the wrongs they have
sustained, we coincide with many truly wor-
thy and intelligent individuals ; conspicuous
15
170 CONQUEST OF
among these, we find our much distinguished
countryman Washington Irving, whose inter-
esting memoir of Philip of Pokanoket, I have
lately read with grateful emotion. His just and
manly defence of the Indian character, and
his sympathy for the wrongs which have been
heaped upon them, is truly honourable. This
writer observes : —
“ The scanty anecdotes that have reached
us are full of peculiarity and interest ; they
furnish us with nearer glimpses of human na-
ture, and show what man is, in a comparative-
ly primitive state, and what he owes to civili-
zation. There is something of the charm of
discovery, in happening upon these wild and
unexplored tracts of human nature to wit-
ness, as it were, the native growth of moral
sentiment, and perceive those generous and
romantic qualities, which have been artificial-
ly wrought up by society, vegetating in spon-
taneous hardihood and rude magnificence.
“These reflections arose on casually looking
through a volume of early provincial history,
wherein are recorded, with great bitterness,
the outrages of the Indians, and their wars
with the settlers of New-England. It is pain-
ful to perceive, even from those partial narra-
tives, how the footsteps of civilization in this


THE NARRAGAN SETS. 171
country may be traced in the blood of the
original inhabitants; how easily the colonists
were moved to hostility by the lust of con-
quest ; how merciless and exterminating was
their warfare. The imagination shrinks at
the idea, how many intellectual beings were
hunted from the earth; how many brave and
noble hearts, of nature's sterling coinage, were
broken down and trampled in the dust.”
“Such was the fate of Philip of Pokano-
ket, an Indian warrior, whose name was once
a terror throughout Massachusetts and Con-
necticut. He was the most distinguished of a
number of cotemporary sachems, who reign-
ed over the Pequods, the Narragansets, the
Wampanoags, and other eastern tribes, at the
time of the first settlement of New-England.
A band of native, untaught heroes, who made
the most generous struggle of which human
nature is capable; fighting to the last gasp
for the deliverance of their country, without a
hope of victory or a thought of renown ; wor-
thy of an age of poetry, and fit subjects for
local story and romantic fiction, they have left
scarcely any authentic traces on the page of
history, but stalk like gigantic shadows in the
dim twilight of tradition.” After detailing
the misfortunes which surrounded this lofty-

172 CONQUEST OF
minded chief, whom our author describes as
“ displaying a vigour of genius, a fertility in
expedients, and an unconquerable resolution,
that commands our sympathy and applause,”
he says:– “The spring of hope was broken
—the ardour of enterprize was extinguished
– he looked around and all was danger and
darkness—there was no eye to pity, nor any
arm that could bring deliverance; with a scan-
ty band of followers, who still remained true
to his desperate fortunes, the unhappy Philip
wandered back to the vicinity of Mount
Hope, the ancient dwelling of his fathers.
Here he lurked about, like a spectre among
the desolated scenes of former power and
prosperity, now bereft of home, of family,
and friends.
“Even in this last refuge of desperation
and despair, a sullen grandeur seems to gath-
er round his memory. We picture him to our-
selves seated among his care-worn followers,
brooding in silence over his blasted fortunes,
and acquiring a savage sublimity from the
wildness and dreariness of his lurking place.
Defeated but not dismayed – crushed to the
earth, but not humiliated – he seemed to
grow more haughty beneath disaster, and to
receive a fierce satisfaction in draining the

THE NARRAGANS ETS. 173
last dregs of bitterness. Little minds are
tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great
minds rise above it. The very idea of sub-
mission awakened the fury of Philip, and he
even smote to death one of his followers who
proposed an expedient of peace.”
“Such is the scanty story of the brave, but
anfortunate King Philip ; persecuted while
living, slandered and dishonoured when dead.
If, however, we consider even the prejudiced
anecdotes furnished by his enemies, we may
perceive in them traces of amiable and lofty
character, sufficient to awaken sympathy for
his fate, and respect for his memory. We
find amid all the harassing cares and ferocious
passions of constant warfare, he was alive to
the softer feelings of connubial love and pa-
ternal tenderness, and to the generous senti-
ment of friendship. The captivity of his be-
loved wife and only son are mentioned with
exultation, as causing him poignant misery :
the death of any near friend is triumphantly
recorded, as a new blow on his sensibilities ;
but the treachery and desertion of many of his
followers, in whose affection he had confided,
is said to have desolated his heart, and bereav-
ed him of all further comfort. He was a pat-
riot attached to his native soil—a prince true
15*

174 CONQUEST OF
to his subjects, and indignant of their wrongs
– a soldier, daring in battle, firm in adversity,
patient of fatigue, of hunger, of every variety
of bodily suffering, and ready to perish in the
cause he had espoused. Proud of heart, and
with an untameable love of natural liberty, he
preferred to enjoy it among the beasts of the
forest, or in the dismal and famished recesses
of swamps and morasses, rather than bow his
haughty spirit to submission. With heroic
qualities and bold achievements that would
have graced a civilized warrior, and rendered
him the theme of the poet and historian, he
lived a wanderer and fugitive in his native
land, and went down like a foundering bark
amid darkness and tempest—without an eye
to weep his fall, or a friendly hand to record
his struggle.”
In closing the history of Philip, it has af.
forded me great pleasure to call to aid the
richly-varied tribute of praise given by Irving,
to this great prince. It was my intention to
relate what is recorded of the brave and gen-
erous Canonchet, and of Wetamoe, the mag-
nanimous Indian princess, by the same mas-
ter spirit; but this must be deferred to an-
other day.

"HE NARRAGANSETs. 175
In this memoir, Canonchet, one of the most
faithful friends of Philip in his adversity, is
spoken of in terms of just encomium. After
relating the events prior to his captivity,
which you have previously heard, our author
observes:– “Though repeated offers were
made to him of his life, on condition of sub-
mitting, with his nation, to the English, yet
he rejected them with disdain, and refused to
send any proposals of the kind to the great
body of his subjects. Being reproached with
his breach of faith, he disdained to justify
himself, haughtily answering that others were
as forward for the war as himself, and he de-
sired to hear no more thereof.”
“So noble and unshaken a spirit, so true a
fidelity to his cause and his friends, might have
touched the feelings of the generous and the
brave ; but Canonchet was an Indian ; a be-
ing toward whom war has no courtesy, hu-
manity no law, religion no compassion — he
was condemned to die. The last words of
his, that are recorded, are worthy of the great-
ness of his soul, and challenge a comparison
with any speech on a similar occasion in the
whole range of history. When sentence of
death was passed upon him, he observed he
liked it well, for he should die before his heart

176 CONQUEST OF
was soft, or he had spoken any thing unwor-
thy of himself. His enemies gave him the
death of a soldier, for he was shot at Ston-
ington, by three young sachems of his own
rank.”
Mention is also made of Wetamoe, an In-
dian princess of Pocasset, a near relation and
confederate of Philip, whose subjects through
treachery were betrayed into the hands of the
enemy. Our author indignantly describes the
unmanly and dastardly vengeance, taken on
the corpse of this illustrious female ; whose
only crime was, affectionate fidelity to her
kinsman, and her friend.
Elizabeth. I rejoice to find a man like
Irving so impressed with the native worth of
our Aborigines, and who is capable of de-
scribing, in terms so appropriate, and glow-
ing, the unjust treatment they have suffered :
is not Washington Irving related to the ven-
erable father of our country
Mother. Your conjecture, Elizabeth, is
very natural; should it be true, the tie of kin-
dred is withont doubt distant : nevertheless,
his sentiments toward our Indians, bear a
close affinity with the respect and paternal so-
licicitude, which ever actuated our Washing-
ton. The writings of Irving, all bear the

THE NARRAGANSETs. - 1.77
stamp of benevolence, and a lofty integrity,
uninfluenced by those miserable and sordid
calculations which sanction the sacrifice of the
life and comfort of fellow-beings to ambi-
tion or gain. Queen Isabella, the patroness
of Columbus, by whose munificence he was
enabled to discover this new world, alone of
all her age possessed those exalted qualities,
to which the ardent imagination of Irving
turned with delight, when fatigued and dis-
gusted with those whose vices had destroyed,
in their insatiable thirst of gain, millions of
beings, whose courtesy and gentle virtues
entitled them to the respect and protection of
their invaders.
That you may duly appreciate the superior
worth of this exalted princess, we must take
a slight view of the sentiments which prevail-
ed at the period when this new hemisphere
was discovered. The Pope, who was believ-
ed to be the vicegerent of Christ on earth, and
assumed the prerogative of disposing at pleas-
ure of the possessions of the heathen, had, by
various edicts, empowered the sovereigns of
Christendom to take possession of all new-
discovered countries, and to subject, or drive
out the native inhabitants. Columbus, though
possessed of native integrity, and knowledge

178 CONQUEST OF
far beyond most of his contemporaries, was
nevertheless much addicted to the prevailing
superstition, and of course believed himself
authorized to subject the natives of the Islands
he had discovered to the most cruel servitude,
for the purpose of raising a revenue ; thus
aggrandizing his benefactors, and enhancing
the value of his services. Columbus was also
desirous of being enabled to perform a solemn
vow of making a crusade to the holy land, by
the profits accruing to him from the laborious
occupation of the natives. I have elsewhere
explained to you the disastrous results, produ-
ced by associating the sanguinary institutions
of the Jews with the pure and benign religion
of Jesus, as it was exemplified by the settlers
of this portion of country in their treatment of
the Indians. This is abundantly corrobora-
ted by the conduct of Columbus in his newly
acquired government. Although he was strong-
ly impressed with the beauties of the country
he had discovered, and describes it in the
most vivid colours, as an earthly paradise,
and speaks with delight of the hospitality,
gentleness, and joyous temperament of the
natives; he nevertheless, unmoved by justice,
humanity, or gratitude, in the course of a few
years blasted all their fair prospects, and con-

THE NARRAGANSETS. 179
verted this scene of enjoyment and beauty
into a wide-spreading one of wretchedness
and desolation. Although Columbus was na-
turally beneficent, and believed himself to be
a true Christian, we find no instance in which
he was seriously inclined to relieve the natives
from the burthens he had imposed ; though,
to lull the inquietude which ever presses hea-
vily on a guilty conscience, he incessantly re-
curred to vows of penance, of pilgrimages, and
crusades, which to him appeared far more
meritorious, than to obey the divine behest
“ to undo the heavy burthens, and let the op-
pressed go free.” The precepts of Christ ap-
pear to have made no impression on his mind;
but he perpetually cited the example of Moses
and other Jewish leaders, who had been pe-
culiarly favoured by heaven, and believed
himself, like them, the instrument of the Most
High, commissioned to do his pleasure.
Yet, amid the degeneracy and bigotry,
which so universally prevailed, no prospect of
worldly gain could subdue the firm resolve of
Queen Isabella, to protect and guard the
rights of her new-made subjects. This admi-
rable woman reminds us of a lone column,
which rises uninjured by time, amidst the
fallen ruins of former splendid edifices, to at-
180 CONQUEST OF
test the magnificence, and fair. proportions of
the ancient structure. The portrait of Isa-
bella, as drawn by Irving, is interesting in the
extreme –
“Cotemporary writers have been enthusiastic
in their descriptions of Isabella, but time has
sanctioned their eulogies; she is one of the
purest and most beautiful characters on the
pages of history. She was well formed, of the
middle size, with great dignity and graceful-
ness of deportment, and a mingled gravity
and sweetness of demeanour. Her complex-
ion was fair ; her hair auburn, inclining to
red ; her eyes were of a clear blue, with a be-
nign expression; and there was a singular
modesty in her countenance, gracing as it did
a wonderful firmness of purpose, and earnest-
ness of spirit. Though strongly attached to
her husband, and studious of his fame, yet
she always maintained her distinct rights as
an allied prince. She exceeded him in beau-
ty, in personal dignity, in acuteness of genius,
and in grandeur of soul. Combining the ac-
tive and resolute qualities of man, with the
softer charities of woman, she mingled in the
warlike councils of her husband; engaged
personally in his enterprises; and in some
instances surpassed him in the firmness of


THE NARRAGANSETS. 181;
intrepidity of her measures; while being in-
spired with a truer idea of glory, she infused
a more lofty and generous temper into his
subtle and calculating policy.”
“It is in the civil history of their reign,
however, that the character of Isabella shines
most illustrious. Her fostering and maternal
care was continually directed to reform the
laws, and heal the ills engendered by a long
course of internal wars. She loved her peo-
ple, and, while diligently seeking their good,
she mitigated as much as possible the harsh
measures of her husband, directed to the same
end, but inflamed by a mistaken zeal. Thus,
though almost bigoted in her piety, and per-
haps too much under the influence of ghostly
advisers, still she was hostile to every measure
calculated to advance religion at the expense
of humanity. She strenuously opposed the
expulsion of the Jews, and the establishment
of the inquisition, though, unfortunately for
Spain, her repugnance was slowly vanquished
by her confessors. She was always an advo-
cate for clemency to the Moors, although she
was the soul of the war against Granada.
She considered that war essential to protect
the Christian faith, and to relieve her subjects
from fierce and formidable enemies.”
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132 CONQUEST OF
“While all her public acts were princely and
august, her private habits were simple, frugal,
and unostentatious. In the intervals of state
business, she assembled round her the ablest
men in literature and science, and directed her-
self by their councils in promoting letters and
arts. Through her patronage, Salamanca rose
to that height which it assumed among the
learned institutions of the age. She promoted
the distribution of honours and rewards for
the promulgation of knowledge; she fostered
the art of printing (recently invented;) and
encouraged the establishment of presses in
every part of her kingdom; books were admit-
ted free of all duty, and more, we are told,
were printed in Spain, at that early period of
the art, than in the present literary age. It is
wonderful how much the destinies of countries
depend at times upon the virtues of individ-
uals, and how it is given to great spirits, by
combining, exciting, and directing the latent
powers of a nation, to stamp it as it were
with their own greatness. Such beings real-
ize the idea of guardian angels, appointed
by heaven to watch over the destinies of em-
pires.”
Caroline. How beautiful is the character
of Isabella, and how happy would it have been

THE WEST INDIE8. 133
for the world had the natives of this country
been treated in the manner she desired.
Mother. The beauty of virtue is fully illus-
trated in the character of this princess, and
hence we fully perceive the benefits which
naturally result from good actions, and are
also convinced that the Almighty requires
nothing from his creatures but what is calcu-
lated for their best good, both in this life and
that which is to come; and hence also we are
assured that Christ was a teacher sent by God
to confirm and illustrate those divine impres-
sions which have been written in the heart.
In the precepts of Christ, many of the duties
which are enjoined have immediate reference
to the rewards which naturally result. “Bles-
sed are the merciful, for they shall obtain
mercy,” &c. Nothing can better attest the
truth of those innate impressions, than the
spech of an aged chieftain to Columbus, who,
as it was his custom to erect crosses in con-
spicuous situations, to denote the discovery
of the country and its subjugation to the true
faith, had ordered a large cross to be elevated
on the bank of a river, “This was done with
great ceremony on Sunday morning, and the
celebration of a solemn mass. When Colum-
bus disembarked for the purpose, he was met

184 CONQUEST OF
upon the shore by the cacique and his princi-
pal favourite, a venerable Indian of fourscore
years of age, of grave and dignified deport-
ment. The old man brought a string of a
certain kind of beads, to which the Indians
attached a mystic value, and a calabash of a
delicate kind of fruit; these he presented to
the admiral in token of amity. They then
each took him by the hand, and proceeded
with him to the grove, where preparations had
been made for the celebration of the mass.
A multitude of the natives followed. While
mass was performing in this natural temple,
the Indians looked on with awe and rever-
ence, perceiving from the tones and gesticula-
tions of the priests, the lighted tapers, the
smoking incense, and the devotion of the
Spaniards, that it must be a ceremony of a
sacred and mysterious nature. When the
service was ended, the old man of fourscore,
who had contemplated it with profound atten-
tion, approached Columbus, and made him an
oration in the Indian manner.”
“‘This which thou hast been doing,” said
he, ‘is well, for it appears to be thy manner
of giving thanks to God. I am told that thou
hast lately come to these lands with a mighty
force, and hast subdued many countries,

THE WEST INDIES. 185
spreading great fear among the people ; but
be not, therefore, vain-glorious. Know that,
according to our belief, the souls of men have
two journies to perform, after they have de-
parted from the body; one to a place dismal
and foul, and covered with darkness, prepared
for those who have been unjust and cruel to
their fellow men; the other pleasant, and
full of delight, for such as have promoted
peace on earth. If then thou art mortal, and
dost expect to die, and dost believe that each
one shall be rewarded according to his deeds,
beware that thou wrongfully hurt no man, nor do
harm to those who have done no harm to thee.”
“This speech was explained to the admiral
by his Lucayan interpreter, Diego Colon, (who
had received this name according to the rites
of the Christian church in Spain, whither he
had been carried by Columbus,) who was
greatly moved by the simple eloquence of this
untutored savage. He told him in reply, that
he rejoiced to hear his doctrine respecting the
future state of the soul, having supposed that
no belief of the kind existed among the inhab-
itants of these countries.”
Although Columbus, we are told, was greatly
moved with the sentiments expressed by this
native chief, so congenial with the doctrines
16 °

186 CONQUEST OF
he was instructed to teach these simple peo-
ple; he was nevertheless too much influenced
by the debasing superstition of the age, and
the fancied partiality of God for those who
bear the appellation of Christians, to doubt
the infallibility of the church, by whose author-
ity he was empowered to take possession of
the countries he should discover, and subject
its heathen inhabitants to the most grievous
servitude, and thus destroy forever all their
present and future prospects of earthly happi-
ness, in violation of every tie of justice and
gratitude. Notwithstanding my admiration of
the genius and inflexible intrepidity of Co-
lumbus, my compassion and regret for the in-
jurious treatment he suffered is greatly dimin-
ished by the recollection of his base ingratitude
and cruelty toward a people, who had so hospi-
tably received him, and so generously relieved
his wants; and we should be forcibly imprest
with a sense of that retributive justice which
by an eternal decree is ordained to fall on
those who have transgressed the laws of God.
The keen sense of the injustice he suffered
must unquestionably have led Columbus to
reflect on the criminality of his own deeds,
and these must have added a deeper sting to
the miseries he was fated to endure.

THE WEST INDIES. 137
Elizabeth. Oh, mother, how very sad must
have been the condition of Columbus; had he
acted in conformity with the dictates of his
own heart, his fame would not thus have been
Sullied.
Mother. We must ever lament that super-
stition and avarice should have overcome the
better feelings of Columbus; had he resisted
these base allurements, he would have been
ranked among the great benefactors of the
human race ; a conscious rectitude would
have supported him in his greatest adversity;
but sad indeed must have been his reflections
when he recalled to remembrance the ruin
and misery he had inflicted on those gentle
beings, who came forth to meet him with
songs and dances; gracefully conducting the
Spaniards to their pavilioned habitations
among verdant groves, decked with flowers
of the gayest hue and most splendid forms; and
presenting them with delicious fruits and vi-
ands, cheerfully parting with their garments
and most valued ornaments to gratify their
stranger guests.
“Columbus,” says Mr Irving, “from his
continual remarks on the beauty of the scen-
ery, appears to have been extremely open to
those delicious influences exercised over some

188 CONQUEST OF
spirits, by the graces and wonders of nature.
When speaking of some lovely scene among
the groves, or along the flowery shores of these
favoured islands, he says, “one could live
there forever.’ Cuba broke upon him like an
Elysium, ‘it is the most beautiful island, he
says, “that eyes ever beheld.” The verdure
of the groves and the colours of the flowers
and blossoms derive a vividness to the eye
from the transparent purity of the air, and the
deep serenity of the azure heavens. The
forests too are full of life, swarming with
birds of brilliant plumage. Painted varieties
of parrots and woodpeckers create a glitter
amidst the verdure of the groves, and hum-
ming-birds rove from flower to flower, resem-
bling, as it has well been said, animated parti-
cles of a rainbow. The scarlet flamingos too,
seen sometimes through an opening of a
forest in a distant savannah, have the appear-
ance of soldiers drawn up in battalions, with
an advanced scout on the alert, to give notice
of approaching danger. Nor is the least
beautiful part of animated nature the various
tribes of insects that people every plant, dis-
playing brilliant coats of mail, which sparkle
to the eye like precious gems.”
“The beautiful plain called the Royal Vega,

THE WEST INDIES. 139
governed with patriarchal sway by a noble
cacique, who with many subordinate chief-
tains had received the Spaniards with the
most generous hospitality, was in ashort period
almost deserted. The pleasant life of the
island was at an end ; the dream in the shade
by day, the slumber during the sultry noon-
tide heat, by the fountain or the stream, or
under the spreading palm-tree, and the song,
the dance, and the game, in the mellow even-
ing, when summoned to their simple amuse-
ments by the rude Indian drum. They were
now obliged to grope, day by day, with bend-
ing body, and anxious eye, along the borders
of their rivers, sifting the sands for grains of
gold which every day grew more scanty; or to
labour in their fields beneath the fervour of a
tropical sun, to raise food for their task-
masters, or to procure the vegetable tribute
imposed upon them: they sunk to sleep, weary
and exhausted at night, with the certainty that
the next day was but to be a repetition of the
same toil and suffering. Or if they occasion-
ally indulged in their national dances, the
ballads to which they kept time were of a
melancholy and plaintive character. They
spoke of the times that were past, before the
white men had introduced sorrow and slavery

190 CONQUEST OF
and weary labour among them, and they re-
hearsed pretended prophesies handed down
from their ancestors, foretelling the invasion
of the Spaniards.”
When Columbus was seized by a new gov-
ernor appointed to succeed him, and sent
bound in chains to Spain, his reflections must
have been truly appalling. The visionary
shadows of those, whom he had so cruelly
wronged, would haunt his indignation, and his
slumbers would be fearfully broken and dis-
turbed by the sad and long succession of those
injured forms, which, like the phantoms who
appeared to Macbeth, and the usurper Rich-
ard in their dreams, would threaten and af.
fright his guilty soul. I am not inclined to
admit the excuse which has been urged in
favour of Columbus by a reference to the
opinions and usages of the age, his patroness
Isabella nobly resisted the efforts of those
base minds who endeavoured to induce her to
abandon the natives of her new domain, and
exhibited a memorable example of all that
was truly great and good; which Columbus,
who was not insensible to her worth, should
have had the magnanimity to imitate. The
bright visions of glory which had filled the
mind of Columbus was in one instance only

THE WEST IND Es. 191
realized; his reception at t e court of Spain
was a scene of splendid tri mph which equal-
led his high anticipations.
“Columbus, on his a val at Seville, im-
mediately wrote to the panish monarchs,
announcing his discove ; shortly after he
received a letter from th 1, expressing their
great delight, and requesting him to repair im-
mediately to court. This letter was addressed
to him by the title of ‘Don Christopher Co-
lumbus, our admiral of the ocean sea, and
viceroy and governor of the islands discovered
in the Indies,’ at the same time he was prom-
ised still further rewards. Columbus lost no
time in complying with the commands of the
sovereigns, and arrived at Barcelona about the
middle of April, where every preparation had
been made to give him a solemn and magnifi-
cent reception. The beauty and serenity of
the weather in that genial season and favoured
climate, contributed to give splendour to this
memorable ceremony. As he drew near the
place, many youthful courtiers, and hidalgos
of gallant bearing, together with a vast con-
course of the populace, came forth to meet and
welcome him. His entrance into this noble
city has been compared to one of those tri-
umphs which the Romans were accustomed

192 CONQUEST OF
to decree to conquerors. First were paraded
the Indians, (whom he had brought with him,)
painted according to their fashion, and decorat-
ed with tropical feathers, and with their national
ornaments of gold; after these were borne vari-
ous kinds of live parrots, together with stuffed
birds and animals of unknown species, and rare
plants supposed to be of precious qualities:
while great care was taken to make a conspic-
uous display of Indian coronets, bracelets, and
other decorations of gold, which might give
an idea of the wealth of the newly discovered
regions. After these followed Columbus, on
horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade
of Spanish chivalry. The streets were almost
impassable from the countless multitudes; the
windows and balconies were crowded with the
fair : the very roofs were covered with specta-
tors. It seemed as if the public eye could not
be sated with gazing on these trophies of an
unknown world, or on the remarkable man by
whom it had been discovered. There was a
sublimity in this event that mingled a solemn
feeling with the public joy. It was looked
upon as a vast and signal dispensation of
Providence in reward for the piety of the mon-
archs, and the majestic and venerable appear-
ance of the discoverer, so different from the

THE WEST INDIES. 193
youth and buoyancy that are generally expect-
ed from roving enterprise, seemed in harmony
with the grandeur and dignity of his achieve-
ment. To receive him with suitable pomp
and distinction, the sovereigns had ordered
their throne to be placed in public, under a
rich canopy of brocade of gold, in a vast and
splendid saloon. Here the king and queen
awaited his arrival, seated in state, with
prince Juan beside them; and attended by
the dignitaries of their court, and the princi-
pal nobility; all impatient to behold the man
who had conferred so incalculable a benefit
upon the nation. At length Columbus entered
the hall, surrounded by a brilliant crowd of
cavaliers, among whom,’ says Las Casas, “he
was conspicuous for his stately and command-
ing person, which, with his countenance ren-
dered venerable by his gray hairs, gave him
the august appearance of a senator of Rome.
A modest smile lighted up his features, show-
ing that he enjoyed the state and glory in
which he came ; and certainly nothing could
be more deeply moving to a mind inflamed by
noble ambition, and conscious of having greatly
deserved, than these testimonials of the admi-
ration and gratitude of a nation, or rather of
a world.” As Columbus approached, the
17

194 CONQUEST OF
sovereigns rose, as if receiving a person of the
highest rank. Bending his knees, he request-
ed to kiss their hands; but there was some
hesitation on the part of their majesties to
permit this act of vassalage. Raising him in
the most gracious manner, they ordered him
to seat himself in their presence; a rare hon-
our in this proud and punctilious court.”
“At the request of their majesties, Columbus
now gave an account of the most striking
events of his voyage, and a description of the
islands which he had discovered. He dis-
played the specimens he had brought of un-
known birds, and other animals; of rare
plants of medicinal and aromatic virtue; of
native gold in dust, in crude masses, or labour-
ed into barbaric ornaments; and above all, the
natives of those countries, who were objects
of intense interest, since there is nothing to
man so curious as the varieties of his own
species. All these he pronounced mere har-
bingers of greater discoveries he had yet to
make ; which would add realms of incalcula-
ble wealth to the dominions of their majesties,
and whole nations of proselytes to the true
faith.”
“The words of Columbus were listened to
with profound emotion by the sovereigns.

THE WEST INDIES. 195
When he had finished, they sunk on their
knees, and raising their clasped hands to
heaven, their eyes filled with tears of joy and
gratitude, they poured forth thanks and praises
to God, for so great a providence. All pre-
sent followed their example ; a deep and so-
lemn enthusiasm pervaded that splendid as-
sembly, and prevented all common acclama-
tions of triumph: the anthem of te deum lau-
damus, chanted by the choir of the royal
chapel, with the melodious responses of the
minstrels, rose up from the midst in a full
body of sacred harmony, bearing up, as it
were, the feelings and thoughts of the auditors
to heaven, so that,’ says the venerable Las
Casas, “it seemed as if in that hour they com-
municated with celestial delight.” Such was
the solemn and pious manner in which the
brilliant court of Spain celebrated this sub-
lime event ; offering up a grateful tribute of
praise, and giving glory to God for the discov-
ery of another world.”
“When Columbus retired from the royal
presence, he was attended to his residence by
all the court, and followed by the shouting
populace. For many days he was the object
of universal curiosity, and wherever he ap-

196 CONQUEST OF
peared he was surrounded by an admiring
multitude.”
Caroline. The splendid reception given to
Columbus by the Spanish sovereigns must
have greatly aggravated the neglect and cruel
treatment he afterward received.
Mother. It did so, unquestionably. The
triumph of Columbus was at this period full
and complete ; a conscious rectitude assured
him that he merited the honours so graciously
conferred upon him : it was not till after his
return to the Islands that he became guilty of
acts of atrocity, which cast a deep gloom over
the closing scenes of his varied life. On the
return of Columbus to the settlement, he found
the people, whom he had left in the fortress
he had constructed, all destroyed. Unmind-
ful of the injunctions of their leader, to treat
the natives with justice and kindness, the
Spaniards had taken every advantage of the
hospitable natives; subjecting them to the
most galling and injurious treatment, and forc-
ibly wresting from them whatever excited
their cupidity or avarice. The natives, op-
pressed and irritated by the unbridled licen.
tiousness of the Spaniards, had risen upon
them and massacred these lawless invaders.
Columbus, who should have conciliated the

THE WEST INDIES. 197
natives by kindness, was determined to sub-
due and subject them by force. For this pur-
pose, the most flagitious measures were
adopted. The natives were trampled down
by their war horses, and torn in pieces by
fierce bloodhounds trained for the purpose,
while they were pursued by the Spaniards
with the sword and fire, to their most hidden
retreats. Those who escaped slaughter were
compelled to pay an enormous tribute, that
Columbus might be enabled to fulfil the high
expectations he had raised. It is probable,
that the promise of inexhaustible wealth, made
by Columbus to the sovereigns, suggested this
cruel and rigorous treatment, with the view
to procure the gold he had averred was so
abundant, and thus give satisfactory proofs of
the value of his discoveries. “He remitted
to the sovereigns by his brother Diego, all the
gold that he could collect, with specimens of
other metals, and in his eagerness to produce
immediate profit, and to indemnify them for
these expenses, which bore hard upon the roy-
al treasury, he sent, likewise, above five hun-
dred Indian prisoners, who, he suggested,
might be sold as slaves at Seville.”
“It is painful,” says our author, “ to find
the brilliant renown of Columbus sullied by
1.7%

198 CONQUEST OF
so foul a stain, and the glory of his enterprize
degraded by such flagrant violations of human
rights; yet,” he adds by way of palliation,
“the custom of the times must be pleaded
in his apology.” “A large number of In-
dians arrived in Spain, who had been captur-
ed in the recent wars with the caciques, and
royal orders had been issued that they should
be sold as slaves—Isabella, however, had
been deeply interested by the accounts given
of the gentle and hospitable character of these
Islanders. The discovery had been made
under her immediate auspices; she looked
upon these people as under her peculiar care,
and she anticipated with pious enthusiasm
the triumph of leading them out of darkness
into the path of light. Her compassionate
spirit revolted at the idea of treating them as
slaves, even though sanctioned by the custom
of the times. Within five days after the roy-
al order for the sale, a letter was written by
the sovereigns, suspending that order until
they could inquire into the cause for which
the Indians had been made prisoners, and
consult learned and pious theologians, wheth-
er their sale would be justifiable in the sight
of God. Much difference of opinion took
place among divines on this important ques-

THE WEST INDIES. 199
tion ; the queen eventually decided it accord-
ing to the dictates of her own pure conscience
and charitable heart. She ordered that the
Indians should be sent beck to their native
country, and enjoined that the islanders should
be conciliated by the gentlest means, instead
of being treated with severity.”
Thus we find the illustrious Isabella un-
contaminated by the bigotry and false conclu-
sions which then prevailed ; she triumphed
over the sordid calculations of interest and
ambition, so difficult to restrain, when the
indulgence of those hateful passions are rep-
resented as compatible with duty. Her char-
acter, when contrasted with that of Columbus,
who was deemed one of the greatest men of
the age, shines with a purer and brighter
lustre.
Elizabeth. How I admire the character
of Isabella the more we investigate her con-
duct, the more interesting and delightfel she
appears.
Mother. Isabella was truly a wonderful
woman; and we shall have the pleasure of be-
ing made acquainted with one in another
hemisphere, who was equally attractive for the
goodness and gentleness of her disposition, as
well as for her great and noble qualities.

200 CoNQUEST OF
The harsh measures put in operation by Co-
lumbus, for subjugating the Islanders, was still
more rigorously enforced by his successors,
nor was any degree of violence omitted which
could gratify the lust of wealth and power.
I shall relate one instance only, among many
others, of the perfidious cruelty of the
Spaniards.
Don Bartholomew, the brother of Colum-
bus, set forth on an expedition to visit the do-
minions of Behechio, one of the principal
chieftains of the island. This cacique reign-
ed over Xaragua, a province comprising al-
most the whole coast at the west end of St.
Domingo. It was one of the most populous
and fruitful districts. The climate was shel-
tered and delightful; the people were softer
and more graceful in their manners than the
rest of the Islanders. Being so remote from
all the fortresses, the cacique, although he
had taken a part in the combination of the
chieftains, had hitherto remained free from
the incursions and exactions of the white
In 1611.
With this cacique resided Anacaona, widow
of the late formidable Caonabo. She was sis-
ter to Behechio, and had taken refuge with
her brother after the capture of her husband.

THE WEST INDIES. 201
She was one of the most beautiful females of
the island; her name, in the Indian language,
signified flower of gold. She possessed a
genius superior to the generality of her race,
and she was said to excel in composing those
little legendary ballads or areytes, which the
natives chanted as they performed their na-
tional dances. All the Spanish writers agree
in describing her as possessing a natural dig-
nity and grace hardly to be credited in her
ignorant and savage condition. Notwith-
standing the ruin with which her husband
had been overwhelmed by the hostility of the
white men, she appears to have entertained
no windictive feelings toward them. She
knew that he had provoked their vengeance by
his own voluntary warfare.” She regarded the
Spaniards with admiration, as almost super-
human beings; and her intelligent mind per-
ceived the futility and impolicy of any at-
tempt to resist their superiority in arts and
arms. Having great influence over her bro-
ther Behechio, she counselled him to take
warning by the fate of her husband, and to
conciliate the friendship of the Spaniards;
and it is supposed that a knowledge of the
friendly sentiments and powerful influence of
* See mote at the end of the book.

202 CONQUEST OF
this princess, in a great measure prompted the
adelantado to this expedition.”
The adelantado, (the title given to Don
Bartholomew) as he advanced into the terri-
tories of Behechio, was met by this chieftain
“with a great army of his subjects, armed with
bows, arrows, and lances. If he had come
forth with an intention of opposing this in-
road into his domains, he was probably daunt-
ed by the formidable appearance of the Span-
iards. Laying aside his weapons, he advanc-
ed and accosted the adelantado, enquiring the
object of this incursion of the Spaniards. The
adelantado assured him that he came in peace
to pass a little time with him in a friendly in-
tercourse. He succeeded so well in allaying
the apprehensions of the cacique, that he dis-
missed his army, and sent swift messengers in
advance, to announce his approach, and to
order preparations for the suitable reception
of so distinguished a guest. As the Spaniards
passed through the districts of his inferior ca-
ciques, the latter brought forth cassava bread,
hemp, cotton, and the various productions of
their lands. At length they drew near to the
residence of Behechio, which was a large
town situated in a beautiful part of the coun-

THE WEST INDIES. 203
try, near the coast, at the bottom of that deep
bay called at present the Bight of Leogame.”
“The Spaniards had heard many accounts
of the soft and delightful region of Xaragua,
in one part of which the Indian traditions
placed their Elysian fields. They had heard
much, also, of the beauty and urbanity of the
inhabitants; the mode of their reception was
calculated to confirm their favourable prepos-
sessions. As they approached the place, thir-
ty females of the cacique's household came
forth to meet them, singing their areytes or
traditionary ballads, and dancing and waving
palm-branches. They wore aprons of em-
broidered cotton, with merely a fillet round
the forehead, their hair falling on their shoul-
ders. They were beautifully proportioned,
their skin smooth and delicate, and their com-
plexions of a clear and agreeable brown.
The Spaniards, when they beheld them issu-
ing forth from their green woods, almost im-
agined they beheld the fabled dryads or native
nymphs and fairies of the fountains, sung by
the ancient poets. When they came before
Don Bartholomew, they knelt, and graciously
presented him the green branches.”
“After these came the female cacique, An-
acaona, reclining on a litter, borne by six In-

204 CONQUEST OF
dians. Like the other females, she had on an
apron of various-coloured cotton, and wore
round her head a fragrant garland of red and
white flowers, and wreaths of the same round
her neck and arms. She received the adelan-
tado and his followers with that natural grace
and courtesy, for which she was celebrated.
The adelantado and his officers were conduct-
ed to the house of Behechio, where a banquet
was served up of a great variety of sea and
river fish, with the roots and fine fruits which
formed the principal food of the Indians.
The banquet being over, Don Bartholomew
and six of his principal cavaliers were lodged
in the dwelling house of Behechio; the rest
were distributed in the houses of the inferior
caciques, where they slept in hammocks of net-
ted cotton, the usual beds of the natives.”
“For two days they remained with the hos-
pitable Behechio, where they were entertain-
ed with various Indian games and festivities.
When the festivities were over, and familiar
intercourse had promoted mutual confidence,
the adelantado addressed the cacique and
Anacaona on the real object of his visit. He
informed them that his brother, the admiral,
had been sent to this island by the sovereigns
of Castile, who were great and mighty poten-

THE WEST INDIES. 205
tates, with many kingdoms under their sway.
That the admiral had returned to apprize his
sovereigns how many tributary caciques there
were in the island, leaving him in command,
and that he had come to receive Behechio un-
der the protection of these mighty sovereigns,
and to arrange a tribute to be paid by him in
such a manner as should be most convenient.
The cacique assured him that in no part of his
territory was gold to be found, but readily con-
sented to pay a tribute in cotton, hemp, and
cassava bread, with which the surrounding
country appeared to abound.”
“Having made all the requisite arrange-
ments, the adelantado took the most friendly
leave of the worthy Behechio and his sister.
Thus by amicable and sagacious management,
one of the most extensive provinces of the
island was brought into cheerful subjection;
and had not the wise policy of the adelantado
been defeated by the excesses of worthless and
turbulent men, a large revenue might have
been collected without any recourse to vio-
lence. In all instances these people appear
cheerfully to have resigned their rights to
the white men, when treated with gentle-
ness and humanity.”
Elizabeth. How happy and delightful must
18

º()6 CONQUEST OF
have been the life of these islanders, and
how wicked and hardened to all feelings of
humanity were the Spaniards, who wantonly
destroyed a people so interesting and good.
Mother. When you hear the sad catastro-
phe which befel this beautiful and celebrated
Princess, the feelings you have expressed
will be greatly augmented. “Behechio, the
ancient cacique of Xaragua being dead, An-
acoana, his sister, had succeeded him in the
government, in conformity with the laws of
these islands, which ordain the succession to
be in the female line. The marked partiality
which she had once manifested, which had
made Xaragua the seat of hospitality, and re-
fuge of the suffering Spaniards, had been
greatly weakened by the general misery they
had produced in her country, and by the bru-
tal profligacy exhibited in her immediate do-
minions. The unhappy story of the loves of
her beautiful daughter, who had been affianc-
ed to a young Spaniard of noble birth, who
had been forcibly seized and imprisoned by
the jealousy of Roldan, one of the Spanish
commanders, had also caused her great afflic-
tion, and finally the various and enduring
hardships inflicted on her once happy subjects
by the grinding systems of labour enforced on

THE WEST INDIES. 207
them, had at length converted her friendship
into absolute detestation.”
The Indians of this province were uni-
formly represented as being a more intelli-
gent, polite, and generous-spirited race than
any others of the island. They were the more
prone to feel and resent the overbearing and
insulting treatment to which they were sub-
jected. Quarrels sometimes took place be-
tween the caciques and their oppressors.
These were immediately reported to the gov-
ernor as dangerous mutinies; and a resistance
to any capricious or extortionate exaction was
magnified into a rebellious resistance. Com-
plaints were continually pouring in upon the
governor, until he was persuaded that there
was a deep-laid conspiracy among the In-
dians of this province to rise upon the
Spaniards.
“Ovando immediately set out for Xaragua
at the head of three hundred soldiers, and
seventy horsemen, under the pretext that he
was going on a mere visit to Anacaona.
When Anacaona heard of the intended visit,
she sent to all her tributary caciques, and to
all her principal subjects, to assemble at her
chief town, that they might receive the com-
mander of the Spaniards with becoming dis-

208 CONQUEST OF
tinction. As Ovando at the head of his little
army approached, she went forth to meet him
according to the custom of her nation, attend-
ed by a great train of her most distinguished
subjects, male and female, who were, as has
been before remarked, noted for superior
grace and beauty. They received the Span-
iards with their popular areytos, their national
songs; the young women waving palm-
branches and dancing before them, in the
same way that had so much charmed the
followers of the adelantado on his first visit
to the province.”
Anacaona treated the governor with that
natural graciousness and dignity for which
she was celebrated. She gave him the largest
house in the place for his residence, and his
people were quartered in the houses adjoining.
For several days the Spaniards were enter-
tained with all the natural luxuries that the
province afforded. National songs, and
dances, and games were performed for their
amusement, and there was every outward de-
monstration of the same hospitality, and the
same amity, that Anacaona had uniformly
shown to white men.
Notwithstanding all this kindness, and her
uniform integrity of conduct, and open gen-

THE WEST INDIES, 209
erosity of character, Ovando was persuaded
that Anacaona was secretly meditating a mas-
sacre of himself and his followers. Histori-
ans tell us nothing of the grounds of such a
belief; it was too probably produced by the
misrepresentations of the unprincipled adven-
turers who infested the province. Ovando
should have considered the improbability of
such an attempt by naked Indians against so
large a force of steel-clad troops, and he
should have reflected upon the general char-
acter and conduct of Anacaona. At any
rate, the example repeatedly set by Columbus
and his brother, should have convinced him,
that it was a sufficient safe-guard against the
machinations of the natives, to seize upon
their caciques, and detain them as hostages.
Ovando however was determined to anticipate
the alleged plot by a counter artifice, and to
annihilate this defenceless people with an in-
discriminate and bloody vengeance.
* As the Indians had entertained their
guests with various national games, Ovando
invited them in return, to witness certain
games of his country. Among these was a
tilting match, or joust, a chivalrous game
which the Spaniards had learnt from the
Moors of Granada. The joust was appointed
18* -

210 CONQUEST OF
to take place in the public square, before the
house in which Ovando was quartered. The
soldiers had their secret instructions, and
were ready for action at a concerted signal.”
“At the appointed time the square was
crowded with the Indians, waiting to see the
military spectacle. The caciques were as-
sembled in the house of Ovando. None were
armed ; an unreserved confidence prevailed
among them, totally incompatible with the
dark treachery of which they were accused.
Ovando, to prevent all suspicion, was playing
at quoits, with some of his principal officers,
when, the cavalry having arrived, the caciques
begged the governor to order the jousts to
commence. Anacaona, and her beautiful
daughter Higuaniota, with several of her fe-
male attendants, were present, and joined in
the request.” -
“Ovando left his game, and came forward
to a conspicuous place. When he saw that
every thing was disposed according to his
orders, he gave the fatal signal. A trumpet
was immediately sounded, the house in which
Anacaona, and all the principal caciques were
assembled, was surrounded by soldiery, and
no one was permitted to escape. They en-
tered, and, seizing upon the caciques, bound

THE WEST INDIES, 211
them to the posts which supported the roof.
Anacaona was led forth a prisoner. The un-
happy caciques were put to horrible tortures,
until some of them, in the extremity of an-
guish, were made to accuse their queen and
themselves of the plot of which they were
charged. When this cruel mockery of judi-
cial form had been executed, instead of pre-
serving them for after examination, fire was
set to the house, and all the caciques perished
miserably in the flames.” -
“While these barbarities were practised
upon the chieftains, a horrible massacre took
place among the populace. At the signal of
Ovando, the horsemen rushed into the midst
of the defenceless throng, trampling them
under the hoofs of their steeds, cutting them
down with their swords, or transfixing them
with their spears. No mercy was shown to
age or sex, it was a savage and indiscriminate
butchery. Humanity turns with horror from
such atrocities, and would fain discredit them;
but they are circumstantially recorded by the
venerable Bishop Las Casas, who was resident
in the island at the time, and conversant with
the principal actors in this tragedy.”
“As to the princess Anacaona, she was
carried in chains to St. Domingo. The mock-

212 CONQUEST of
ery of a trial was given her, in which she was
found guilty, on the confessions which had
been wrung by torture from her subjects, and
on the testimony of their butchers, and she
was ignominiously hanged in the presence of
the people whom she had so long and so sig-
nally befriended. Contemporary writers, of
grave authority, have concurred in represent-
ing Anacaona as remarkable for her native
propriety and dignity. She was adored by
her subjects, so as to hold a kind of domin-
ion over them, even during the life-time of
her brother.”
“After the massacre at Xaragua, the de-
struction of its inhabitants still continued.
The favourite nephew of Anacaona, the ca-
cique of Guaora, who had fled with the af.
frighted natives to the mountains, was hunted
like a wild beast, until he was taken and hang-
ed. For six months the Spaniards continued
ravaging the country, and having at length
hunted the Indians out of all their retreats,
and reduced the survivors to the most de-
plorable misery and abject submission, the
whole of that part of the island was consider-
ed as restored to good order; and in com-
memoration of this great triumph, Ovando

THE WEST INDIES. 213
founded a town near to the lake, which he
called, St. Mary of the true peace.”
Such is the tragical story of the delight-
ful region of Xaragua, and of its amiable and
hospitable people. A place which the Euro-
peans, by their own account, found a perfect
paradise, but which, by their vile passions,
they filled with horror and desolation.
Caroline. Oh mother, it appears impos-
sible that human beings could have been so
altogether lost to the feelings of humanity,
or that they could have been so grossly de-
ceived as to imagine themselves entitled to
the name of Christians.
Mother. We can scarcely believe it pos-
sible that men should become so utterly de-
praved, did we not perceive the gradual ap-
proaches to vice, when the voice of conscience
is stifled, and the natural emotions of com-
passion are paralyzed. The most powerful
agents in producing this deplorable state of
mind, are fanaticism and bigotry ; and when
tempted by the lust of wealth and power to
gratify these insatiable passions, it is impossi-
ble to estimate the horrible results, The time
when Columbus first sought his fortunes in

214 CONQUEST OF
Spain, was one of the most brilliant periods
of the Spanish monarchy. Every event had
conspired to exalt the sovereigns, and render
Spain independent and prosperous. - Yet it
has with truth been remarked, that its decline
may be traced from the period when the
treasures of the New World were added to
the wealth and revenue she had heretofore
possessed ; and Spain is now abject and im-
poverished. She has lost the greater part of
the countries she so barbarously subdued, and
the happiness, which once reigned over these
delightful regions, is exchanged for gloomy
superstition, galling servitude, and perpetual
warfare. When Columbus arrived at St.
Domingo, (after his second visit to Spain,)
wearied by a long and arduous voyage, and
worn down by infirmities, both mind and
body craved repose ; but from the time he
first launched upon public life, he was doom-
ed never again to taste the sweets of tranquil-
lity. The beautiful region, called the Royal
Vega, which but four years before the Span-
iards had found so populous and happy, which
seemed to shut up in its luxuriant bosom all
the sweets of nature, and to exclude all the
cares and sorrows of the world, was now a
vast scene of wretchedness and repining,

THE WEST INDIEs. 215
Many of those towns, where the Spaniards
had been detained by genial hospitality, and
almost worshipped as beneficent deities, were
now silent and deserted. Some of the late
inhabitants were lurking among rocks and
caverns; some were reduced to slavery :
many had perished with hunger, and many had
fallen by the sword.
The evil passions of the white men, which
had inflicted such calamities upon this inno-
cent people, had insured likewise a merited
return of suffering to themselves. They were
idle, factious, and dissolute ; many of them
were broken in constitution, and many had
perished by disease. There was a universal
desire to leave the island, and to escape from
the miseries which they had created.
Elizabeth. Was it not in the power of the
queen to prevent this horrible treatment of
the natives
Mother. We are informed, that “the san-
guinary acts of Ovando, in particular the mas-
sacre at Xaragua, and the execution of the
unfortunate Anacaona, awakened equal hor-
ror and indignation in Isabella ; she was lan-
guishing on her death-bed when she received
the intelligence, and with her dying breath
she exacted a promise from king Ferdinand,

216 CONQUEST OF
that Ovando should be recalled from his gov-
ernment. Thus retribution was continually
going its rounds in the chequered destinies
of this island, which has ever presented a lit-
tle epitome of human history ; its errors, and
crimes, and consequent disasters. Had Isa-
bella been spared, her benignant vigilance
would have prevented many a scene of horror
in the colonization of the new world, and have
softened the lot of its native inhabitants. As
it is, her fair name will ever shine with ce-
lestial radiance in the early dawning of its
history.”
In surveying the disastrous events of this
history, we find that nations and individuals
are alike punished for their crimes, by a per-
petual reaction, which subjects them to the
like sufferings and privations which they caus-
ed to fall on others; and it is thus that this
beautiful world, which God in His goodness
has bestowed on the human race, is perpetu-
ally drenched with their blood, and deformed
by vice. We every where behold the abun-
dant provision made to satisfy the wants of
man, and administer to his enjoyment; never-
theless, not content and grateful for all the
good he so bounteously receives, he is ever
endeavouring to wrest from his fellow-beings

THE WEST INDIES. 217
that portion of earth destined by the Creator
to his use. Hence it is, that the fair cities of
old, decorated by the arts, and exalted by
scientific improvements, which were once
the busy marts of splendour and opulence,
are now desolate, or inhabited only by a few
solitary beings who have lost the remembrance
of all that once constituted their greatness.
It is thus also that the inhabitants of Europe
are quitting their fertile plains and magnifi-
cent cities to wrest from the natives of this
newly-discovered hemisphere the beloved
land of their fathers. In observing atten-
tively the course of events, one may, without
the gift of prophecy, venture to predict that
the fate, which has fallen on the countries of
Asia and Africa, will eventually fall on Europe.
Already has the progress of desolation begun,
and nothing is left to attest the former gran-
deur of some of the splendid cities of Greece
and Rome, except the mouldering though
beautiful remains of ruined edifices. This
catastrophe has long been anticipated, and
an eloquent writer has some time since re-
marked – “It is to be hoped the wise and
good friends of British glory in England
will regard this flourishing off-set of their
own native stock, and witness with pride
19

218 THE WEST INDIES.
the progress of their language, their manners,
their laws, and their literature ; and will
with joy reflect that not a note is struck at
the centre of thought and opinion in the
British capital, but is heard and propagated
by our presses to the valley of the Missouri;
and if the day should come, in the pro-
gress of national decline, when England shall
be gathered with the empires that have been ;
when her thousand ships shall have disappear-
ed from the ocean, and the mighty chain of
her wealth shall be broken, with which she
has so long bound the European world to her
chariot-wheels, and mustered the nations from
the banks of the Tagus to the banks of the
Don, to march beneath the banner of her coa-
litions, that then there will be no unworthy
descendant to catch her mantle, and that the
rich treasure of her institutions, and character,
instead of becoming the unrescued prey of
Huns and Vandals, will be preserved, upheld,
and perfected in the western world of prom-
” And again, the same writer observes,
“We do think there are passages, and long
and frequent passages, in the poems of Southey,
Scott, and Byron, which will be read while
any thing English shall be read, which will be
admired when London is a sheep-walk.”
ise.
ILLUSTRATIONS, ANECDoTEs, &c. 219
The causes which have produced this per-
petual desire of change will forever continue
to operate until mankind are sufficiently en-
lightened, virtuous, and magnanimous to allow
their fellow beings to enjoy in peace the boun-
teous provisions of nature which have been so
graciously bestowed on them.
Caroline. It appears to me, mother, that the
natives of the islands strongly resembled the
Aborigines of this continent.
Mother. They did indeed in many partic-
ulars; and although they were more gentle,
and less impatient of restraint, they possessed
many admirable qualities. Many of the island-
ers, when they discovered the intentions of
the Spaniards to subjugate them, displayed
the most heroic determination to preserve
their liberty, and many endured every extrem-
ity of suffering, rather than betray their friends;
but the natives of the continent seem to have
possessed a more lofty character than was
common to the islanders. You doubtless well
recollect the noble bearing of some of the na-
tive chiefs which I have related to you, and
no reasonable doubt can be entertained of
their being entitled to the high character
which has been in many instances so involun-


220 ILLUSTRATIONS,
tarily granted; when even at this period of
declension such instances are found of unri-
valled heroism and self-devotion as have of
late been exhibited by the Osage and Winne-
bago chieftains. As these occurrences are too
well authenticated to admit of cavils, it is
presumed that all who are capable of appre-
ciating the worth of men highly gifted, will
readily admit that no individuals in any age
or country have displayed more true great-
ness. “These six Osage chiefs resigned
themselves with more than Roman firmness
into the hands of our government to be tried
for their lives in consequence of the murder
of five Americans, who were slain by a party
of Osages on a war expedition against the
Caddo tribes, and the Americans slain were
supposed to be of the tribe with whom the
Osages were at war. Nevertheless, as the
head men were deemed responsible, and no
alternative presented but war, which would
involve their country in ruin, these chiefs vol-
untarily yielded themselves up to be tried for
the offence. The interesting account of the
manner in which this surrender was made,
was given in a letter from Mr Wail, a mission-
ary, who witnessed the scene a few years past.”
“The chiefs, accompanied by all the inhab-

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 221
itants of the town, encamped four miles from
the fort, which the chiefs approached, attend-
ed by four hundred warriors. The chiefs
advanced toward the commanding officer, Col.
Arbuckle, and gave him their hands, assuring
him that it was by accident those white people
were slain, they had never wished to kill white
men, but when they had come to their town,
they had with pleasure fed them; but at your
word, (said they) we will go and answer for
this offence. As they closed, the counsellors
and fathers round the circle, in mild accents,
pronounced what they had said to be right.
During all this time not a sigh nor a cry was
heard among the people. Indeed, so far
from opposing the measure, the women are all
in favour of it, knowing that it would save
them and their children from being destroyed
by war.” ". It was asked at the close of this
account, “ where shall we find six military
chiefs in the U. States, possessed of so much
magnanimity or patriotism, as voluntarily to
surrender themselves to be tried for their
lives, by the laws and people of a foreign
country, rather than to see our nation involve
ed in war on their account Very few instan-
ces of such patriotism are found in history.”
* Friend of Peace.
19% -
323 ILLUSTRATIONS,
What is now presented is but a sketch of
the affair as stated in various newspapers.
The interesting letter of Mr Vail has been
much abridged. Although the resolute devo-
tion of the Osage chiefs evinces a moral
courage and generosity highly gratifying ; the
noble conduct of the Winnebago chief, who
delivered himself up to our government in the
summer, and died in prison the following Feb-
ruary, is still more touching. These chief-
tains had doubtless deemed themselves fortu-
nate to have been allowed at once to resign
their lives ; but to be immured within the
walls of a dreary prison, cut off from all inter-
course with those they loved, and compelled to
submit to restraints, to which they were wholly
unaccustomed, with meagre fare, inadequate
to their support, with the conviction, that,
should they survive the period of confinement,
they must close their lives with ignominy on
the gallows, a mode of punishment, than which
nothing can be more disgraceful in the mind
of the Indian,—demands a strength of resolu-
tion and a lofty sense of rectitude rarely found.
The provocation, which induced the Winneba-
go chief to commit the crime with which he was
charged, has not been specified ; but it must
have been of great magnitude to have tempted


ANEcDoTEs, &c. 223
one whose character (we are told) had, during
his whole life, and up to the period of his
bloody adventure, been marked by all that was
kind and friendly and faithful. A man so
highly distinguished and beloved, and posses-
sing ample means for the gratification of his
generous hospitality, both to white men and
Indians, would not assuredly, except in self-de-
fence, or on the most galling provocation, have
jeopardized a life so invaluable. “But, it is
said, “all his distinction was swallowed up
and lost in one fell resolve—one act of guilt.
But he rose, if not to innocence and life, yet
high in general admiration and sympathy, in
the voluntary surrender of himself, and in the
manner of the act. No individual act was
ever more imposing than was that act of self-
devotion. His white dress of beautiful deer
skin, fitting his elegantly proportioned frame,
as if to show the beauty and perfection of his
finish; his war-pipe made fast to his breast,
as if to indicate the attachment of his heart to
the Indians' glory; his white flag, the emblem
of peace, in one hand, and his calumet, or
pipe of peace, in the other; and then the long
line of one hundred and fourteen unarmed
warriors, attending the self-devoted victim;
and, to crown all, his death song All this

224 ILLUSTRATIONS,
was highly impressive; but it was over-matched
by the calm, though commanding spirit, that
gave grace and firmness to his steps, life to his
eye, majesty to every movement of the man,
and grandeur to the ceremony. As he enter-
ed the portal of death, stepping firmly up, he
said, by a manner forcible as language, “I
give away myself—my life.” The death of
this chief was announced in the paper from
which I have taken this account, “ Died in
prison at Prairie du Chien, on the night of the
sixteenth of February last, Wannig-sooth-kaw,
or the Red Bird, a Winnebago chief of note.
His free wilderness spirit could not bear the
confinement of a narrow prison house, nor
could his body be supported by the provisions
usually dealt out on such occasions, they
being so unlike those he had gathered in his
native forests. He was buried in the presence
of his fellow prisoners, the next evening. He
was an extraordinary man. In form and ap-
pearance he had few equals, white or red;
and in the graces of action, of face, and of
spirit, he was not surpassed. This is the chief
who killed and scalped Gagnier. He is the
same who together with his companion in
guilt voluntarily surrendered himself last sum-
mer at the Portage of Fox and Ouisconsin
-

ANECDOTEs, &c. 225,
rivers, and who was afterward delivered over
by Maj. Whistler, to whom he gave himself
up, to Gen. Atkinson, who conveyed him and
others to Prairie du Chien, to await the penal-
ties of the law.”
Caroline. This, mother, is, I think, the
most extraordinary character of which you
have given any account; but is it possible
that such a man should have been suffered to
perish from want of suitable food and accom-
modations.
Mother. It must have been so, and in my
opinion the worst has not been told, as it im-
plies a degree of guilt, and a total absence of
those just and honourable feelings, which
should characterize men to whom are intrust-
ed the defence of their country. It was
assuredly the duty of Gen. Atkinson to attend
to the accommodation of a prisoner like the
Winnebago chief, and had he been capable of
estimating the value of such a man, or the no-
bleness of the sacrifice, he could not have been
so regardless of the high trust reposed in him.
Elizabeth. Have you never heard the pro-
vocation which induced this chief to involve
himself in guilt.
Mother. I have lately met with an article
in the American Quarterly Review, which

226 ILLUSTRATIONS,
explains the cause. The writer is of opinion
that our treaties with the Indians are not
only useless, because no equivalent can be
given them for their lands, but that the most
deplorable results are often produced. In
these treaties every artifice is used to engage
the assent of the chiefs to the measures re-
quired. “At the treaty of Chicago, when
every other means failed of success, the beset-
ting and overpowering sin of the Indians had
been called in, to aid the pure and charitable
design of the white men. We are not pre-
pared, (says the writer) to exhibit the items of
a formal account current, but fair deduction
from circumstantial proofs, and direct testi-
mony of good and sufficient eye witnesses,
lead us to believe that not far from fourteen
barrels of whiskey were, by some direct or
circuitous channels, issued by the commis-
sioners to the Potawatomies, before they were
so far besotted, so completely subdued by the
horrors of returning sobriety, that they could
be made to accede to the terms proposed, or
even in any manner to treat concerning the
cession of their lands.” It is also stated that
the Indians are called to attend treaties at the
season of the wild rice harvest, and at the time
when by hunting they gain their winter's

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 227
supply of food, to them the most important
seasons, and that several of the northern
Chippeways who were called to attend the
treaty at Fond du Lac, in 1826, left it long
before the commissioners had completed their
speeches, alleging that if they should wait for
the distribution of the presents, and the con-
clusion of the council, the season for gather-
ing wild rice would have passed. “The in-
habitants of the country about the upper
lakes, and the sources of the Mississippi, and
to the eastward of the Red River, of Lake
Winipeg, derive their subsistence from a bar-
ren soil, under the influence of an ungenial
sky. Those can best estimate their situation,
who have visited their dreary country of
swamps and snows, and have had an opportu-
nity to see that even the dry blue-berries
which they preserve, constitute an important
item in their winter's supply of food. We have
information from good authority, that many per-
sons in the country of the Chippeways have,
in the two winters succeeding the treaties of
Prarie du Chien, and Fond du Lac, perished
of hunger, in consequence of the unavoidable
neglect of their customary avocations occa-
sioned by their absence to attend these trea-
ties.”—“Let us then, for a moment,” proceeds

228 ILLUSTRATIONS,
our author, “consider the occasion of the late,
disturbances among the Winnebagoes, and
the effect which this quickly repressed and
expiring struggle has had on them. This was
one of the tribes called from their hunting
grounds, and cornfields, to attend the boasted
treaty of 1825, at Prairie du Chien ; and it is
well known that these, among other Indians,
received the most solemn assurances, that the
boundaries, then established or recognised,
would, on the part of the United States, at
least, be carefully respected. Their great
father himself was pledged by his commission-
ers, not merely to compel his own people to
respect the right of the Red skins; he would
make his “arm long” to punish any among
his red children, who should venture to dis-
turb the universal peace and harmony which
was from that moment to prevail. Let it be
supposed, then, that the chiefs and warriors of
the Winnebagoes, who were present at that
council, received these assurances in good
faith ; that they believed the commissioners
had the power and the disposition to make good
their promise; that neither whites nor Indians,
not of their own tribe, would be suffered to
hunt or settle on those lands acknowledged to
belong to them, between the Ouisconsin and

ANECDoTEs, &c. 229
Rock rivers.”—“Suppose,” we say, “they had
not too well understood the character of those
with whom they treated, to look for the fulfil-
ment of these fair promises, what must have
been their wonder, almost immediately on re-
turning to their villages, to find the finest
portions of their territory overrun with white
men searching for lead mines Is it surpris-
ing, that so prompt and palpable a violation of
the treaty should have produced some act of
retaliation 1 Need we wonder, that the Win-
nebagoes, exasperated by repeated insults,
and open violation of their rights, should,
within sight of that very treaty ground, and
before ten months had passed, have reminded
us, by the murder of an entire family, that
professions of friendship and protection, did
not compensate them for the evils they were
compelled to suffer . The events which fol-
lowed the murder of the family of Methode,
the butchering at mid-day, and within call of
the agent's house, of the family of Garnier,
the attack upon the keel boats on the Missis-
sippi, the alarms and disturbances at Fever
river, the march of Gen. Atkinson, with a
large force from Jefferson barracks, of Major
Whistler from Green Bay, and the minor
events of this, to us unimportant, campaign,
20

230 ILLUSTRATIONS,
are still fresh in the recollection of many.
But though, to the United States, this affair
has cost only the lives of a few unimportant
individuals, and an inconsiderable expendi-
ture, its effects upon the miserable and devoted
Winnebagoes, has been much more serious.
We speak not of the alarm and distress, the
starvation and despair introduced into their
villages. These are less serious evils than the
loss of the amplest and best part of their terri-
tory, between the Ouisconsin and Rock rivers,
which, as we have understood, the agents of
the government in that quarter have been di-
rected to seize and hold, apparently as a kind
of memento to the Indians, that they may
henceforth beware of exciting the impatience
of a power so abundantly able to crush them.
The result is easily foreseen ; their valuable
lands and rich lead mines will invite the en-
terprise of our restless western population,
and the miserable remnant of the Winneba-
goes, retaining their ancient habits and feel-
ings, will be compelled to seek westward of
the Mississippi, amid hostile lands, and in a
desolate region, a precarious subsistence.”
Caroline. I am pleased to find so much
sympathy expressed for the Indians,
Mother. In what I have related, a spirit of

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 23 ſº
justice and philanthropy appears in most in-
stances to influence the feelings of the writer
which elicited my warm approbation; but
what can be said in vindication of the follow-
ing sentence? “This result is not, perhaps,
greatly to be regretted. It is a result which
must speedily have arrived, whatever probable
course events might have taken. A people
so rude, so obstinately averse to settled indus-
try, so incapable of patient, connected, and
useful thought, must soon have yielded their
place to a more enterprising, and, we hesitate
not to say, a better race of men.” Would the
writer in truth have it believed, that the inhu-
man and shuffling tricks of our civilized coun-
trymen, are preferable to the native integrity,
and loſtiness of spirit which characterize the
Aborigines of the land; which, though it in
the apprehension of some may be styled rude-
ness, will assuredly be deemed by those who
are capable of appreciating true worth, vastly
preferable to the underhand dishonest conduct
he so forcibly describes, as so-commonly prac-
tised by white men. Neither can it be denied
that the industry of the Indians is fully ade-
quate to the supply of all their wants, when
they are allowed to reap the fruits of their
toil, In proof of this, we need only advert to

282 ILLUSTRATIONS.
the food and clothing which the first settlers
received from their hospitable and courteous
Indian friends, and that no beggars or desti-
tute persons were found among them. Should
further proof be wanting, we may refer to the
public despatches of our military commanders,
where thousands of acres of corn are boast-
ingly stated to have been destroyed in their
hostile expeditions against the Indians, in
addition to fruit trees, and esculents of various
kinds. There is also abundant testimony of
the industry and ingenuity of the Indian
women, who, in addition to their usual labour,
fabricate baskets of various kinds, moccasins,
and other articles, in which they display great
perseverance, taste, and skill. Their submis-
sion to the laws has excited the admiration of
many intelligent writers at the early settle-
ment of the country. Charlevoix says, “At
first view one would imagine them without
any form of government; they notwithstanding
enjoy all the advantages which the best reg-
ulated authority is capable of procuring, in
the most enlightened nations. They have a
natural repugnance to restraint of every sort,
but reason alone is capable of restraining
them in a kind of subordination, not less ef-
fectual, for being entirely voluntary.”

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 233
Governor Cass, who cannot be suspected of
partiality toward the Indians, witnessed a
most affecting instance of the influence of their
laws, and the fortitude and magnanimity with
which an Indian of the Chippewa tribe sub-
mitted to the sentence awarded him. All
this was accomplished without the aid of
gibbets, or dungeons, or guards. Are the In-
dians, then, incapable of connected, useful
thought ! Whatever advantages result from
civilization, it must be granted, from the
equality which reigns among them and the
patriarchal sway by which they are governed,
that the great mass of the people are, or were,
abundantly better supplied, and of course
happier, than those of that class in civilized
portions of the globe, where so much abject
misery is found arising from vice and oppres-
sion, with all their train of evils; from these,
previous to the coming of the whites, the In-
dians were exempt. Charlevoix says – “The
Indians were perhaps the only happy mortals
on the face of the earth, before they were ac-
quainted with those objects which seduce and
pervert us.” I know not by what casuistry
the people of the United States can brand the
Indians as an inferior race, because they too
enerally appear unable to risist inebriation,
20*.
234 ILLUSTRATIONS,
(though Gov. Cass tells us, it is not so preva-
lent as has been represented) when this vice
pervades so great a portion of our own popu-
lation, which is not confined to the lower
classes. How frequently do we hear of men
in the higher circles, who indulge in this odi-
ous vice ; nay, who deliberately set in for a
riotous debauch, attended with all its disgust-
ing accompaniments. Neither should we
censure them for their present improvidence,
when among the people of these States, not-
withstanding they enjoy every facility for ac-
cumulating wealth, and are sure of protection,
still paupers are so abundant. When we ad-
vert to the unhappy state of our Indians; the
uncertainty which attends their efforts to pro-
vide for their wants; to their crops being so
frequently the prey of white men; and the
contumely, and injurious treatment to which
they are compelled to submit, we should cease
to scoff at their destitute condition, or inveigh
against them because they seek to drown by
inebriation all sense of the ruin, which they
perceive is fast coming upon their race. For
what purpose does the writer of the article, on
“Indian language and Condition,” so forci-
bly describe their wrongs, and in some instan-
ces, point out the mode of alleviation; when,


ANEcDoTEs, &c. 235
after all, he can so coldly consign them to de-
struction ? I am at a loss to determine, un-
less he feared to incur the resentment of that
class of men, to whom the injuries and out-
rages against the Indians, are mainly to be
attributed. When he speaks of the benign
influences of Christianity, and the hitherto
useless efforts, made to enable the Indians to
receive and comprehend the important doc-
trines of revealed religion, he should have re-
collected how little influence it has had on
our own people, and how very imperfectly it
is understood by the great body of those who
profess themselves christians. Had the writer
comprehended the importance of the admo-
nition, “ be not overcome of evil, but over-
come evil with good,” he would not have
framed excuses to justify the unmerciful and
unjust usurpation of Indian territory. The
Indians have much sagacity and discern-
ment ; is it, therefore, wonderful if they be-
lieve either that christianity is not sufficient-
ly pure and powerful to restrain the evil pas-
sions, or that its professors have too much in-
nate depravity to submit to its authority ?
Several Seneca chiefs, who in 1818 were
much noticed in England, expressed them-
selves in the following manner, in an address

236 ILLUSTRATIONS,
to some benevolent people at Leeds:– “The
great injuries we received from white men,
and the wickedness we constantly saw prac-
tised among them, greatly strengthened our
minds against their ways, and their religion ;
thinking it impossible that any good could
come out of a people, where so much wicked-
ness dwelt.” If the period shall ever arrive,
when Christianity, pure and undefiled, shall
enlighten the mind with its benign lustre, and
the heart become obedient to its divine dic-
tates, we may be assured that our light will
so shine, that the Indians seeing our good
works will glorify God, and be no longer
averse or unable to comprehend a religion
which secures to them the privilege of sitting
down under their own vines and fig-trees,
having none to make them afraid.
Elizabeth. Does the writer, who gives the
account of the Winnebagoes, make no men-
tian of the noble chief who yielded up his life
to save his country "
Mother. I expected that an event like this
would assuredly have been noticed ; but soon
was reminded, that it would have been alto-
gether at variance with the character he has
given of the people to whom this great man
belonged ; for it will not be believed that this

ANECDoTEs, &c. 237
chief, who was “so distinguished and beloved
in all the regions of the Northwest,” possess-
ed qualities to which the rest of his people
were strangers, however he may have ex-
celled. -
Caroline. I thought, mother, it was es-
teemed highly honourable to defend one's
country against invaders ?
Mother. It has ever been deemed so ; but
acts of heroic patriotism in the Indians, we
have thought proper to stigmatize as traitor-
ous, and deserving of severe chastisement.
The people of the United States, who style
themselves a Christian, civilized nation, feel
at liberty to inflict the greatest calamities on
the Indians, whenever they attempt to repress
our incursions or depredations. We are in-
formed, that there were two expeditions from
Kentucky against the Indians in 1791, under
the command of Generals Scott and Wilkin-
son, which had for their object the chastise-
ment of a predatory, troublesome, and warlike
tribe, who lived in several detached towns up-
on the Wabash and its waters. In these ex-
peditions many towns and villages were re-
duced to ashes, and their corn and fruits utter-
ly destroyed – many warriors were killed, and
a large number of women and children made

238 ILLUSTRATIONS,
captives. Two only of these are particularly
noticed. “We arrived, (says the writer,
who was one of the party who achieved this
boastful exploit) completely concealed on the
south bank of Ell River, directly opposite the
town of Kanapacomaqua. The surprise of
this town was so very complete, that, before
we received orders to cross the river and rush
upon the town, we observed the children
playing on the tops of the houses, and could
distinguish the hilarity and merriment that
seemed to crown the festivity of the villagers,
for it was the season of the green-corn dance.
The want of day-light prevented us from Sud-
denly attacking, which enabled several In-
dians to escape, and in some measure obscur-
ed the brilliancy of the enterprize, by limit-
ing the number of warriors killed, to eleven,
and capturing forty women and their children,
and destroying about two hundred acres of corn,
which was then in the milk, and in that stage
when the Indians prepare it for zassomony.
This was achieved with the loss of two men
only.” “ The town of Kathlippacamunch
was surprized by Gen. Wilkinson, and imme-
diately burnt and levelled with the ground.
This town contained about one hundred and
twenty houses, most of them roofed with shin-

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 239
gles; the gardens and improvements round
the town were truly delightful, and every thing
considered not a little wonderful. The best
houses belonged to French traders, and the
whole marked no small degree of order and
civilization. The situation of this town was
well chosen for beauty and convenience; it
stood in the bosom of a delightful country, on
a very rich bottom, extending about two miles
on the Wabash River. The country is beau-
tiful beyond description.”
Elizabeth. It is very astonishing that men
can become so hardened as to boast of such
inhuman exploits. I suppose, from the
charge exhibited against these Indians, that
the crime for which they suffered was their
attempting to defend themselves, and prevent
the white men from getting possession of
their land 7 -
Mother. Much blood had been shed, and
many brave warriors had fallen, in the con-
flict to preserve their possessions in the de-
lightful regions of the Mississippi and Ohio, but
all their efforts were unavailing; they were per-
petually driven back by the ceaseless current of
emigration, and the towns, destroyed in these
expeditions, doubtless had afforded a refuge
to the remnant of those tribes who had before

240 ILLUSTRALIONS,
been subdued. Those, who still possessed
their native land, would of course use all pos-
sible means to keep these hostile invaders at
a distance from their settlements.
Caroline. You remarked, some time ago,
mother, that the gloomy retrospect of the
atrocious acts, which have been perpetrated,
would induce the belief of innate depravity,
were we not cheered and consoled, by con-
templating the virtues and rich endowments
of some highly-gifted individuals.
Mother. I have indeed often made this re-
mark. When we call to mind the noble char-
acters which have been exhibited, we feel as-
sured that man, though formed of the dust,
has been gifted by the Almighty with a por-
tion of His own inspiration. Nevertheless,
the divine impress is too frequently darkened,
or paralyzed by the earthly tenement with
which we are invested, and all that is divine
is stified and absorbed by gross and sordid
passions.
Elizabeth. It is, I think, extraordinary,
that two female sovereigns, so celebrated as
Isabella and Anacaona, should have lived at
the same period of time ; but, delightful as is
the character of the queen of Spain, some

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 241.
may object to her acting so independently of
her husband. -
Mother. Although Isabella treated her
husband with much affection and respect, she
was doubtless convinced that her power of do-
ing good would be greatly diminished, had
she yielded up her right to govern her own
kingdom; and she would unquestionably have
received less attention and respect. The
common notion, that women are incapable of
occupying high and responsible stations in
society, is not sustained by history or experi-
ence. The few females, who have attained
sovereign power, have, in most instances, dis-
charged the important duties which devolved
on them, with dignity, and an attention to
humanity and the rights of their subjects,
which is not commonly found in kings. I
would not, however, have it imagined that I
suppose women to possess superior talents for
governing, but think it unquestionably arises
from their being early taught to exercise and
cherish the gentle virtues of kindness, for-
bearance, and a desire to please.
Although the duties, which are by nature
assigned to females, are of a different char-
acter from those which men are called to per-
form, they are assuredly not less important.
21

242 ILLUSTRATIONS,
Nothing in life requires more talent and dis-
cernment, than the proper management of a
family. To expand the minds of children,
and train them up in habits of virtue and
persevering industry, without exercising too
much control or checking their native love
of independence and desire of innocent en-
joyment ; to give an example of integrity, and
pure disinterestedness, demands high intellec-
tual endowments, improved by an education
truly liberal. If it be granted, that the moral
character is formed at the early period when
children receive their most important impres-
sions from the mother, it is certainly essential
that women should not only receive an en-
lightened education, but that they should pos-
sess a degree of independence, which will se-
cure to them respect and attention. This
would, in my opinion, greatly improve the
concord and felicity of domestic life, on which
all ultimately depend for happiness. I deem
it a great advance in improvement, that wo-
men, who possess property, are not, when they
now marry, obliged to resign all their right to
the disposal of it ; but, on the contrary, have
it secured to them and their children. This
arrangement is equally advantageous to both
parties, as it prevents the extreme distress to

ANEcDoTEs, &e. 243
which many families are reduced by misfor-
tunes in business, and gives the father of a
family, opportunity of retrieving his affairs
before it be too late. To give full effect to
this salutary improvement, women, who have
no fortunes, should, when they marry, have a
certain portion of the property, or income
of their husband's, secured to them for their
use, exclusively. The happiness of domestic
life would thus be greatly enhanced; there
would be no abject submission on one side,
or arbitrary interference on the other. I may
be told, that this is found to prevail chiefly
among vulgar and common people, – true, –
but is it not in this class that the great body
of our citizens are formed " How will the
pure and benign precepts of Christianity ever
be understood, and prevail among us, while
we are meanly striving to overreach each
other, or are busied in sordid calculations to
gratify selfish propensities " Nothing has a
stronger effect to debase the mind, and unfit
us for the performance of the duties which we
are bound to perform, than an idea of weak-
ness or inferiority ; and I have frequently
heard mothers complain of their inability to
manage their children, more especially boys,
and have, of course, been compelled to con-

244 ILLUSTRATIONS,
sign them to the care of men, to whom they
will be obliged to yield obedience. Children
have thus been exiled from home, and com-
mitted to the care of strangers, who content
themselves with merely doing what they deem
to be their duty, without any regard to the
happiness of the beings confided to them.
Children have thus been rendered morose and
selfish, by perpetually striving to gain, by art-
ful contrivance, those indulgences which they
could not openly obtain, however innocent,
and they are hence prepared to act a part in
riper years which will procure them selfish
gratification, even at the sacrifice of integrity
and honour; when, in all probability, they
would have been just and beneficent members
of society, had they in youth found happiness
and instruction under the paternal roof.
The degree of independence, I so anxiously
desire should be secured to females, is the
more important here, as they receive so lit-
tle protection from the laws of their country.
The only relief a women can obtain, who
wishes to free herself from an unfaithful and
abandoned husband, is in most instances at-
tended by circumstances more cruel and hu-
miliating, than the evils she so much desires
to avoid. She must relinquish the society of

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 245
her children, and consign them to the super-
intendence of perhaps the very woman to
whom she owes her wretchedness. She is
deprived of her rank in society, and obliged
to subsist upon the pittance, however humble,
which the Court, (who are careful to dis-
courage every attempt made by women to
emancipate themselves from their thraldom)
deem it proper to allow. The laws of the
United States are far less favourable to fe-
males, than are those in continental Europe,
where they possess the undoubted right to
dispose of their own property ; and even in
England, whence originated our laws, women
have by articles of marriage a certain portion
of wealth secured to them. There is also an-
other evil, which results from the abuse of
power among us, highly reprehensible : a
husband may so dispose of his estate, notwith-
standing his wife's possessing property in her
own right at their marriage, as to leave her at
his death, so small a portion as will oblige her
to quit the style of living to which she has
been accustomed, and move in a humbler
sphere, which is not only painful and morti-
fying in the extreme, but subjects her to the
suspicion of having secret faults which alien-
ated the affections of her husband; although
21*

246 ILLUSTRATIONS,
she may have conscientiously discharged all
her duties. Much power, even when possess-
ed by those who are not disposed to do wrong,
often leads them to be unjust ; but common
and vulgar minds feel no restraint, when they
are not overawed by the fear of retribution.
Caroline. Why is it so often asserted, that
women owe to Christianity much of their
present estimation and rank in society
Mother. Those, who profess this belief,
can have given but little attention to the sub-
ject ; women were created to be the compan-
ions and equals of man, and, although differ-
ent stations have been allotted them, the duties
which devolve on women are assuredly not
the least important. One cannot read the
Old Testament, without remarking the pow-
erful influence exerted by women. When
Sarah told Abraham to cast out the bond wo-
man and her son, for the son of this bond
woman shall not be heir with my son, even
with Isaac ; although the thing was very grie-
vous in the sight of Abraham, he did not hes-
itate to comply, notwithstanding the demand
was cruel and unjust in the extreme. When
the children of Israel had been oppressed by
the Canaanites for the space of twenty years,
they were triumphantly delivered by Deborah

ANECDoTEs, &c. 247
the prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth ; “ she
judged Israel at that time.” When David
had determined to destroy Nabal for his in-
hospitality and churlishness, in refusing him
the supply he had requested so courteously,
Abigail, sensible of the danger incurred, im-
mediately sent him an abundant supply, and
by her influence and address prevented the
ruin which David had determined to inflict
on her house. Huldah, the wife of Shellum,
who dwelt at Jerusalem, in the College, re-
ceived messages from the king of Israel, to
enquire of her what he must do to avert the an-
ger of the Lord, Huldah, with the conscious
dignity of inspiration, answered the messen-
gers:– “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
tell ye the man that sent you to me,” &c.
If we turn to the New Testament, we find
our blessed Master, who in all things gave a
pure and beautiful example, treating women
with affectionate respect, and gaining many
proselytes among them. Some of these ex-
hibited the strongest attachment, and ſear-
lessly attended him to the last ; they witness-
ed his dying agonies, and were the first at his
sepulchre, to watch the ascension of their
Lord, and bear testimony to his truth and ex-
altation. Many converts were made by the

248 ILLUSTRATIONS,
preaching of Paul, who had much influence;
and frequent mention is made of devout and
honourable women, who possessed no incon-
siderable authority.
When Paul was cited to appear before
Felix the Roman governor, his wife Drusilla
was with him; and when Paul was again sum-
moned before Festus, King Agrippa, with Ber-
nice, sat with him on the judgment-seat, at-
tended with great pomp ; when, after hearing
Paul's defence, they went aside with the prin-
cipal men to consult on his case.
Elizabeth. I think, Caroline, those who
entertain the opinion you mentioned, can
have given little attention to the history of
the bible, or indeed to any ancient history.
I recollect, when we read the history of
Rome, many matrons were celebrated for
their patriotism, and maternal care, and af.
fection for their families and friends.
Caroline. Oh, yes; I remember the ac-
count given of Coriolanus, who, although
unmoved by the intreaties of the senators and
people of Rome, to relinquish his hostile de-
signs against their city ; yet was unable to
resist the intreaties of his mother, and wife,
attended by the matrons of Rome. The
character of Cornelia, mother of Tiberius,

ANECEOTEs, &c. 249
and Caius Gracchus, strongly imprest me.
The Roman ladies appear to have had mūch
influence, and to have been treated with great
respect.
Mother. I am pleased to find you so well
remember what you have read, and you could
doubtless call to mind many other instances
of the estimation in which the Roman women
were held ; indeed the manners of the Ro-
mans all have a tendency to confirm the in-
fluence of women. The Spartan females re-
sembled those of Rome. You recollect the
very interesting story of Chelonis, daughter
of Leonidas, king of Sparta ; who, when her
father had been dethroned by a faction, and
her husband retained the possession of the
kingdom, refused to share with him the regal
honours, and insisted on accompanying her
father in his exile ; but when the banished
monarch was recalled, and Cleombrotus doom-
ed to become an exile, this heroic and affec-
tionate woman, determined to share his fate,
nor could the entreaties of her fond father
shake her firm resolve.
Elizabeth. I have seen a beautiful repre-
sentation of this parting scene. Leonidas,
seated on his throne, bending forward and
stretching out his arms in an attitude of suppli-

250 ILLUSTRATIONS,
cation to prevail with his daughter to remain
with him in Sparta. Chelonis turns aside her
beautiful face, to hide the emotions of grief
and tenderness which overspread her intelli-
gent countenance; while Cleombrotus is seen
in the back ground, waiting to receive his
wife and weeping sons.
Mother. I recollect the fine picture you so
well describe, nor can it be doubted that the
grief of Chelonis was much aggravated by her
sense of the criminal deeds, which had sever-
ed and dishonoured her royal house, and the
unhappy fate of her country. Homer is al-
lowed to have faithfully delineated the man-
ners of the Greeks and Trojans, and the cel-
ebrated dramatic writers have confirmed the
veracity of the poet. Had women been light-
ly esteemed, all Greece would not have risen
in arms to avenge the loss of Helen; nor do
we any where find a more interesting descrip-
tion of domestic manners than is given of the
royal family of Priam, which you will readily
call to mind ; nor must we forget in our re-
view of ancient customs and manners, the
importance attached to the ties of hospitality,
which were deemed so sacred as to arrest the
uplifted arms of those who were engaged in
mortal strife. We know, that in nations, call-

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 251
-
ed heathen, women preside, as priestesses in
their temples; and that, in all their festiyals
and processions in honour of their deities,
the young women carried baskets of fruits
and flowers, as acceptable offerings.
Caroline. But, mother, is it not strange
that they should have worshipped female
deities 7
Mother. I believe I have before explained
to you the notions entertained of inferior
deities by ancient nations, who, in their
prayers and votive offerings, hoped to receive,
through their mediation and influence, the
forgiveness of their sins, and to find favour in
the sight of the great Parent of the Universe;
and they naturally believed that those who
had been the benefactors of mankind while
on earth, would still endeavour to preserve
and intercede for them in another state of ex-
istence. In the time of the Apostles, women
held offices in the churches, and were exhort-
ed not to pray or prophecy with their heads
uncovered.
I have only noticed a few prominent char-
acters, which may be regarded as proof of the
estimation and influence of women, from the
earliest records. Many instances of the
strength of domestic affection and tender

252 ILLUSTRATTIONS,
friendship might be adduced, which would
fully evince the never-failing goodness of
God in bestowing on his creatures all those
benevolent affections and endearing charities,
which are reciprocated by beings who were
formed free and equal,—which cheer and
console them in every step of their existence.
I ardently desire, my dear children, to im-
press on your minds the important part you
are designed to act in life; and with the full
conviction that you are endowed with powers
adequate to the performance of the high du-
ties, which devolve on your sex in all the rela-
tions of life. Home should be the centre of
attraction, where all the virtues and graces
should be exhibited in their most perfect form.
The misfortunes, to which you are subjected
by the law of nature, demand the exertion of
that fortitude, magnanimity, and resignation,
which evince high intellectual powers; every
calamity may thus be borne, when entire con-
fidence is reposed in the supreme Ruler of
the universe, who ordereth every event for
the ultimate good of his creatures.
Caroline. It frequently happens that good
people are much afflicted.
Mother. This life is a state of trial; then
how should we approve ourselves worthy of

ANECDOTEs, &c. 2.53.
immortal happiness, if our fortitude and reli-
ance on God were not proved by tribulation ?
“ Brown, in his argument for the benevolence
of the Deity, has (says an eloquent and amia-
ble writer) deemed it sufficient to show, that
our happiness far exceeds our misery ; but,
in addition to this, we find evil sometimes
productive of good, especially moral good.
The virtue of patience, magnanimity, and for-
titude, could not have been developed, with-
out suffering; and who is there, that would
not blush to prefer the most perfect but inglo-
rious ease and luxury, to these virtues tº
The more we reflect, the more firmly are we
impressed with the conviction of the wisdom
and goodness of the Almighty, who requires
of us nothing but what is calculated to pro-
mote our happiness and best good, both in this
life and that which is to come. Hence in the
character and principles of Jesus, we recog-
nize him as a teacher inspired by God to illus-
trate and confirm those divine impressions,
which He hath graciously written on the
heart. In the minds of our Aborigines this
law hath not been darkened or corrupted by
superstition, and they are guided by the pure
* American Quarterly Review for September, 1828.
22

254 ILLUSTRATIONS,
lustre of that light, which is from above,
when not contaminated by our vices. We
must be convinced, therefore, that the prim-
itive virtues, which elevate these children of
nature in the scale of being, are congenial to
the mind, and, if properly cultivated, will sub-
due the wayward and sordid passions which
are nourished in civilized society.
I trust that the arguments, which have been
unblushingly brought forward in defence of
our usurpation of Indian territory, and the
consequent destruction of life and liberty,
will hereafter be deemed too unjust and un-
sound to be tolerated. If it be admitted, that
we have a right to take the land of the na-
tives, because they do not improve it in the
manner we think best ; it goes to prove, that
all, who do not possess houses or lands which
they do not occupy themselves, especially
grounds devoted to pleasure or hunting, may
be compelled to resign them to those who
have no settled habitations or possessions, and
thus an equal distribution of property take
place, which would subvert all our institutions
and incitements to industry or distinction.
I rejoice to find that men of high intellectual
endowments, have been touched with the

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 255
wrongs and unmerited sufferings of our In-
dians, and have come forward to vindicate
their rights and exhibit their claims to respect
and admiration. Mr J. Neal has with much
ability exposed the futility and injustice of the
arguments used in defence of our wresting
from the Indians their land, and has given a
high and glowing picture of their character
and manners. He contends, that “up to this
day no faithful portrait of the native North
Americans is to be had either in prose or poe-
try.” Mr Neal, however, refers to the record
left by Smith, who settled Virginia, one of the
most extraordinary men of his age.—“But
for Pocahontas, the Indian girl, who interfered
just in time to save his life, at the risk of her
own, he would have been put to death by
Powhatan, her imperial father. Already were
the stones brought forth for sacrifice; already
were the clubs lifted, with which the brains
of the white man were to be dashed out,
when the beautiful daughter of Powhatan, a
child of ten or eleven years of age, broke
away from the side of her royal father, and
threw herself upon the neck of the white man,
the scourge of her tribe, the brave and terri-
ble stranger, and clung to him till her father
consented to spare his life.”

256 ILLUSTRATIONS,
Mr Neal refers also to the death of Naman-
tenoo, the son of Miantonimo, the head sachem
of all the Narragansets. I have spoken to you
before, of the fate of this noble young chief,
and the magnanimity with which he refused
to accept of life on condition of submitting
to the terms proposed by the English—he is
commonly called Canonchet.
Elizabeth. You have reference, mother,
to the story of Otter-Bag, the Oneida chief,
that has lately appeared in the Token, which
I have read with great interest ; but I was
much imprest with what was said of the mon-
uments of departed grandeur : —
“There may be, (says the writer) no such
ruins in America as are found in Europe, or
in Asia, or in Africa ; but other ruins there
are, of prodigious magnitude—the ruins of a
mighty people. There may be no piles of bar-
barian architecture, each a wilderness of tur-
rets, towers, and battlements, rocking to the
sea-breeze, or over-shadowing the high places
of power in America ; no half-buried city,
like the pillared and sculptured treasures of
art which encumber the earth and choke up
the rivers of the old world, &c. But if there
are no such things in America, there are

ANECDoTEs, &c. 257
things which are to be found nowhere else
on earth now — the living wreck of a prodi-
gious empire, that has departed from before
our face within the memory of man ; the last
of a people, who have no history, and who,
but the other day, were in the possession of a
quarter of the whole earth.”
Mother. Mr Neal has made many re-
marks which are new and highly interesting;
and I am well pleased to find you remember
so much of what he has written ; but I wish
to know, what are your impressions in regard
to the monuments of our country
Elizabeth. Why, it appears to me, that we
have more reason to be proud of our monu-
ments, than any other nation — are you not
of my opinion, mother ?
Mother. It is unquestionably more honour-
able to be the natives of a soil, which has pro-
duced a people so highly gifted, than to have
been preceded by men renowned for a know-
ledge of the arts; or by kings and conquerors
of the earth.
Caroline. Yet we are not altogether des-
titute of monuments, which require skill and
power in their construction. Mr Neal says,
“Centuries and centuries ago, North America
22*

258 ILLUSTRATIONS,
must have been more populous by far than it
is now ; the tumuli, that are ploughed up
every year in the Western wilderness, are to
be regarded as proof of this. They are like
a chain of military works, now, link after link,
overshadowed by large trees that have grown
up out of the wreck of other large trees. Or
it may be, that they are burial places; it may
be, that they are the outworks of a great em-
pire—the path of her battles—the route of
her march from sea to sea—the places where
she halted in her career from the rude north
to the warm south, from the rough Atlantic to
the smooth Pacific, from the high parts of our
earth,
‘Where the stars and the hills are together at night,'
away to the green level, where she disappear-
ed forever. But, in either case, they prove,
that, ages ago, the very solitudes were peopled
from shore to shore.”
Mother. “A field for inquiry” is indeed
here presented, which can never be exhaust-
ed; we must be sensible that there are many
things respecting the history and antiquities
of the Red men, which imply a greater degree
of power and civilization, than was found

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 259
when the country was first visited by white
men. It has been unceasingly urged, that
the Indians are incapable of becoming a civi-
lized people, or of assimilating with them, and
that they voluntarily retire at the approach of
the whites; yet I know of no instance where
this has been the case. Among all the vari-
ous tribes, from the first settlement of the
country to the present day, all have invariably
manifested great reluctance to quit their na-
tive land ; – witness with what regret the
Creeks and Cherokees anticipate a removal,
and their willingness to part with large por-
tions of valuable land, and to adopt our arts,
our religion, and husbandry ; in the hope of
being permitted to retain what is left of their
native inheritance. Thus the argument, so
pertinaciously maintained, that the Indians
are averse to becoming a civilized people, is
contradicted by adverting to the present con-
dition of the nations who inhabit the south-
ern States.
Elizabeth. I recollect a letter which was
published from David Brown, some time ago;
a young Cherokee, who had received an edu-
cation in this part of the country. He gives
a very favourable account of the country and

260 ILLUSTRATIONS,
improvements of the Cherokees; that schools
are increasing every year ; that learning is
greatly encouraged; and that the christian
religion is the religion of the nation.
Mother. We cannot doubt the integrity of
Brown ; and his statements are confirmed by
the testimony of others. They have estab-
lished a printing press, and a paper is weekly
issued, in which we find much that is inter-
esting, “ The soil is generally rich pro-
ducing Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, wheat,
oats, indigo, sweet and Irish potatoes. The
natives carry on considerable trade with the
adjoining states, and some of them export cot-
ton in boats, down the Tennessee and the Mis-
sissippi, to New Orleans. Apple and Peach
orchards are common ; and gardens are culti-
wated with much attention. Butter and
cheese are seen on Cherokee tables. There
are many public roads in the nation, and
houses of entertainment, kept by the natives.
Numerous and flourishing villages are seen in
every section of the country. Cotton and
woollen cloths, and blankets of various dimen-
sions, are manufactured by Cherokee hands.
Almost every family grows cotton for its own
consumption. Agricultural pursuits, the most

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 261
solid foundation of our national prosperity,
engage the chief attention of the people.
Horses are plenty, and are used for servile
purposes, and numerous flocks of sheep,
goats, and swine cover the valleys and hills.”
“Our system of government, founded on
republican principles, by which justice is
equally distributed, secures the respect of the
people.”
Brown describes, with enthusiasm, the na-
tural beauties and flourishing state of the
country, much of which I have omitted; but
all, which is essential to prove the advanced
state of civilization among the Cherokees, is
corroborated by the testimony of Mr Flint, in
his History and Geography of the Western
States. --
“The Cherokees, (he says) are in many re-
spects the most interesting tribe of whom he
has before given any account, and have been
most successful in imitating the habits and
institutions of the whites.” Other tribes are
not far behind in improvement; the Creeks,
Choctaws, and others, cultivate their farms
with great industry and success.
Notwithstanding all their efforts, these In-
dians are perpetually harrassed and impeded

262 ILLUSTRATIONs,
by agents from the government, and the neigh-
bouring states, importunately urging for grants
of land to construct canals and public roads,
which, though the Indians are sensible will
expose them to incessant annoyance, they
fear in most instances to refuse, But what
disheartens and perplexes them most, is the
insidious methods used to induce the people
to resign their territory which they so dearly
prize, and remove west of the Mississippi;
to these are added the threats of their white
neighbours, who covet greatly their land.
The Indians, it is well known, have now no
power to resist a measure so fraught with
destruction, other than by appeals to the Unit-
ed States for justice and mercy ; and, should
no effectual aid be afforded them, in the gen-
eral sympathy and interference of our citi-
zens, they must ere long relinquish all their
dear-bought acquisitions, and depart to the
Western wilderness. Mr Winton's remarks
on this subject, in the House of Representa-
tives, are highly honourable to his feeling and
penetration: –
“If we press the Indians over the Missis-
sippi, without giving them any choice, it is a
policy of death and desolation ; it is a system
ANEcDoTEs, &c. 263
of cruelty, fraud, and outrage, which has no
parallel; and they who force this upon the
Indians, ought to pause before they proceed
further. Gentlemen tell us that the Indians
cannot be civilized in the neighbourhood of
the whites; that man cannot be civilized in
the vicinity of civilized men.” Mr Vinton
contended, “We have not tested this asser-
tion. We have done no act of legislation to
incorporate them into the family of civiliza-
tion.”
Mr Woods, in an eloquent and impressive
manner, exposed the inhumanity and want of
political foresight in those who advocated the
removal of the Indians. “In my opinion,
(says this gentleman,) nothing more is ne-
cessary to make them prosperous and happy,
than to extend to them the rights of a free
people. Make them a portion of the great
American family. I am, sir, in favour of the
policy, proposed and pursued by the late sec-
retary of war, (Mr Calhoun.) But we are
told that the Indians are oppressed by the en-
croachments of the white population, which
surrounds them ; that they are trampled on
and oppressed by our citizens. This, sir, is
a poor encomium on our people—a wretch-


264 ILLUSTRATIONS,
ed compliment to the nation. While we are
talking about our justice, our generosity, our
feelings of humanity for the Indians – in the
same breath we say, that our citizens—that
the American People —with ruthless violence
and injustice are trampling the weak remnant
of these once powerful nations in the dust.
If we cannot protect them within the limits of
our State Governments, in sight of our Courts
of Justice, and within reach of the arm of the
laws, we cannot protect them when placed
beyond the limits of any organized civil gov-
ernment. Sir, this system, spun of wild
theories, is all a dream—it is an Utopian
scheme. If you cannot stay here the oppress-
ing hand of avarice, where will you remove
them to be beyond its grasp ' Where you
propose to plant them, will not our soldiers be
placed over them " Will not our people sur-
round them there " Those, who now prey
upon them like vultures, will follow them to
their new abode.”
“Before we carry the eighty thousand In-
dians, now on this side of the Mississippi, over
that river, I conjure you, gentlemen, to look at
the situation of the two hundred thousand
which are already there, I will not consent

ANECEOTEs, &c. 265
to drive the eighty thousand, now among us,
enjoying the comforts of their homes and na-
tive land, into the country where they can
meet nothing but death, either by the hand of
their enemies, or by the lingering sufferings of
famine. Sir, I draw no imaginary picture —
I cannot portray, in language sufficiently
strong, the wretchedness of those people now
West of the Mississippi, where we promise
their brethren a ‘last home, where they may
flourish in peace and happiness I will read
an extract of a letter from Governor Clark,
superintendant of the Indians West of the
Mississippi. He says, “the situation of the
Indians here is the most pitiable that can be
imagined. During several seasons in every
year, they are distressed by famine, of which
many die, and during which the living child
is often buried with the dead mother, because
none can spare it as much food as will sustain
it through its helpless infancy.’”
Mr Winton referred to two or three cases,
which had occurred. “A treaty was made
with the Florida Indians, while living in hap-
piness and prosperity in the heart of the coun-
try. We sent out commissioners to ask them
to leave this country for one of sand and ste-
23

266 ILLUSTRATIONS,
rility. They refused to go. They were told
they must—they should go. They then
threw themselves on the mercy of the com-
missioners, and the organ of that nation told
us, in the most powerful language, that death
must be the inevitable consequence of the
policy of the commissioners. This language
was prophetic of the tragedy which followed.
It was afterward established here, that fifteen
hundred of these poor Indians perished of
starvation in the swamps to which they were
removed. We then voted twenty thousand
dollars for their relief, and made a provision in
the bill which extended their territory of good
land. Yet we are now told, by the gentle-
man from Florida, that the condition of these
Indians is now such, that they are obliged to
prey upon his constituents.”
“In prosecuting this merciless scheme of
removing the Indians,” Mr Woods affirmed,
“ the expense would amount to more than ten
millions of dollars, as a commencement, with-
out including contingences, and the whole
expense of supporting the government to be
created in this new territory, and the army to
be sustained for its defence.”
I have here given only a brief extract of the

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 267
speeches of Mr Woods, of Ohio, and Mr Vin-
ton, who so ably and honourably stood forth
in defence of the oppressed Indians; but I
ardently hope they will be handed down to
posterity without diminution, to vindicate in
some degree the character of our country, and
show that all who have been appointed to
guide and guard it, are not alike sordid and
base, and unmindful of the trust reposed in
them.
Caroline. It appears scarcely possible that
our Government should act in a manner,
which would have disgraced a nation in the
most dark and barbarous ages, and that so
little opposition should be made by the
people.
Elizabeth. We might assuredly expect,
that the ministers of our benign religion,
would advocate the cause of the oppressed
Indians, and call to remembrance their vir-
tues, and our obligations to succour and save
them.
Mother. The influence of a class of men
so highly respectable, would unquestionably
produce a strong sensation in their favour, and
I have never been able to account for their
apparent indifference to the unhappy fate of

268 ILLUSTRATIONS,
our natives. Surely no remains of super-
stition can at this day operate on the minds
of our enlightened and liberal clergy, which
can sanction the cruel treatment they have
experienced. I hailed with joy the auspicious
period when the religion of Jesus was pārified
and separated from those discordant elements
and bigoted dogmas, which have so long ob-
scured its lustre, and retarded its efficacy ;
and I am cheered with the hope, that, ere
long, all impure and sanguinary examples,
which in any way sanction the destruction of
those of our brethren whose faith varies from
our own, will be altogether eradicated from
the glorious system which proclaims peace
and good-will to the whole human race. I
have, indeed, found many clergymen, who
commiserated the sufferings of the Indians,
and were not insensible to their wrongs; but
in one instance only have I been gratified in
hearing from the preacher sympathetic ex-
pressions of sorrow for their unhappy fate,
and impassioned eloquence in displaying their
primitive and lofty virtues. Rev. Mr Upham,
in his late Thanksgiving Discourse, ascribes
the corruptions of Christianity to its admix-
ture with the theology and rites of the
heathens.

ANECDoTEs, &c. 269
He says, “ In examining the condition of
the nations of Modern Europe, or of their in-
stitutions, how small a part of their whole
religious system is the simple gospel of Naza-
reth found to constitute We see, in large
and corrupting admixture with it, a great deal
of the superstition of heathen Rome; of the
heathen nations whom Rome subdued ; and
of those bold and barbarous races, who finally
subdued christian Rome; who spread them-
selves in one wide wave over the face of Eu-
rope, and, while they hurled kings from their
thrones, and broke their sceptres in their
wrath, bowed in reverence to the established
local Priesthood, and lavished the spoils of
their victories over christian armies, in adorn-
ing and multiplying christian Cathedrals.
So monstrous, indeed, is the mixture of in-
gredients in the religious systems of the Older
Nations, that the imagination can hardly con-
ceive of the possibility of introducing the
Gospel in its pure simplicity among them.
“But very different indeed are the auspices
which attended the introduction of christiani-
ty into this new world. Whatever errors our
fathers attempted to establish they did not
find them here – for here were none of the
23*

270 ILLUSTRATIONS,
institutions from which they sprung. The
unenlightened worshippers of the wilderness
did not, as in all other instances has been the
case, revenge themselves upon their christian
conquerors, by introducing new corruptions,
new institutions, or additional false doctrines
into their religion. These sons of the forest
carried all their household gods away with
them, as they slowly and reluctantly departed
on their long and dismal journey toward the
setting sun. And, even if they had imparted
to their christian successors, a portion of their
own religious faith, it would not perhaps have
been an injury. There was a purity and
sublimity, in the religion of the untaught
Indian, which could not but have exerted a
corrective and restraining influence upon the
complicated and gloomy doctrines, towards
which christians were then inclined. Of all
the races of men, unenlightened by revelation,
the original inhabitants of America were
possessed of the purest, the simplest, the best
religious belief.”
“We are permitted to live where no civi-
lized people have dwelt before us. Our pre-
decessors, the original inhabitants of Amer-
ica, instead of mingling and becoming one

ANEcdotºs, &c. 271
with us, have retired before our progress, and
disappeared from our path, leaving none of
their blood, their institutions, or their customs
behind. For this we have cause to be grate-
ful, however much we may feel for that pecu-
liar, and in many respects, noble race of our
fellow men, who once dwelt undisturbed in
these pleasant places; however much we may
mourn over their sad fortunes, the wrongs
they may have suffered, and their entire dis-
appearance from these wide regions. And
that every amiable and christian heart does
feel for them, and lament their fate, there
cannot be a doubt. Their romantic and ca-
lamitous fortunes, the striking and extraordi-
nary features of their character, the wonderful
degree of perfection to which they carried the
noble and magnanimous virtues, will be re-
membered, and honoured so long as man has
a soul of sensibility, or a genius to compre-
hend the moral sublime. But, putting their
wrongs, their fortunes, and their characters
out of sight, for with these we have here no
concern any further than to strive to do every
thing that justice, humanity, or religion may
dictate for the welfare and happiness of the
remnant still lingering upon the earth, my
present purpose is,” &c.

272 ILLUSTRATIONs,
Caroline. I remember well this discourse
of Mr Upham's ; it was said to be a beautiful,
and highly-finished composition.
Mother. True, it was much and justly ap-
plauded, it was Mr Upham's design to show
the advantages we possess over all other na-
tions for preserving, uncontaminated, our re-
ligion and our civil institutions. Men of
genius and integrity, are strongly imprest with
the lofty characteristics which, in a peculiar
sense, belong to the natives of this land ;
of this we have a noble specimen in the elo-
quent Centennial Discourse of Judge Story :
“There is, indeed, (says the writer) in the
fate of these unfortunate beings, much to awak-
en our sympathy, and much to disturb the so-
briety of our judgment ; much which may be
urged to excuse their own atrocities; much
in their characters which betrays us into an
involuntary admiration. What can be more
melancholy than their history. Every where
at approach of the white men they fade away.
We hear the rustling of their footsteps, like
that of the withered leaves of autumn, and
they are gone for ever. They pass mournfully
by us, and they return no more. Two cen-
turies ago, the smoke of their wigwams and

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 273
the fires of their councils rose in every valley
from Hudson's Bay to the farthest Florida,
from the ocean to the Mississippi and the
lakes. The shouts of victory and the war-
dance rung through the mountains and the
glades. The thick arrows and the deadly
tomahawk whistled through the forest ; and
the hunter's trace, and the dark encampment
startled the wild beasts in their lairs. The
warriors stood forth in their glory. The
young listened to the songs of other days.
The mothers played with their infants, and
gazed on the scene with warm hopes of the
future. The aged sat down ; but they wept
not. They should soon be at rest in fairer
regions, where the Great Spirit dwelt, in a
home prepared for brave men beyond the wes-
tern skies. Braver men never lived; truer
men never drew the bow. They had courage,
and fortitude, and sagacity, and perseverance,
beyond most of the human race. They
shrunk from no dangers, and they feared no
hardships.”
“If they had the vices of savage life, they
had the virtues also. They were true to their
country, their friends, and their homes. If
they forgave not injury, neither did they for-

274 ILLUSTRATIONS,
get kindness. If their vengeance was terri-
ble, their fidelity and generosity were uncon-
querable also. Their love, like their hate,
stopped not on this side of the grave. But
where are they Where are the villages,
and warriors, and youth The sachems, and
the tribes The hunters and their families 7
They have perished—they are consumed.
The wasting pestilence has not alone done
the mighty work. No, nor famine, nor war.
There has been a mightier power, a moral
canker, which hath eaten into their hearts-
core— a plague, which the touch of the white
men communicated—a poison, which betray-
ed them into lingering ruin. The winds of
the Atlantic fan not a single region which
they may now call their own. Already the
last feeble remnants of the race are preparing
for their journey beyond the Mississippi. I
see them leave their homes, the aged, the
helpless, the women, and the warriors, few
and faint, yet fearless still. The ashes are
cold on their native hearths. The smoke no
longer curls round their lowly cabins. They
move on with a slow but unsteady step. The
white man is upon their heels, for terror or
despatch ; but they heed him not. They

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 275
turn to take a last look at their deserted vil-
lages. They cast a last glance upon the
graves of their fathers. They shed no tears :
they utter no cries; they heave no groans.
There is something in their hearts which
passes speech. There is something in their
looks, not of vengeance or submission; but of
hard necessity, which stifles both, which
chokes all utterance, which has no aim or
method. It is courage absorbed in despair.
They linger but for a moment. Their look
is onward. They have passed the fatal
stream. It shall never be repassed by them,
— no, never. Yet there lies not between
us and them an impassable gulph. They
know, and feel, that there is for them still one
remove farther, not distant nor unseen. It
is to the general burial-ground of their race.”
“ Reason as we may, it is impossible not to
read in such a fate, much that we know not
how to interpret ; much of provocation to
cruel deed, and deep resentment ; much of
apology for wrong and perfidy; much of pity
mingling with indignation; much of doubt
and misgiving as to the past; much of painful
recollection ; much of dark foreboding.”
Judge Story, after summoning up the spe-

276 1LLUSTRATIONS,
cious reasons which have been brought for-
ward to palliate the treatment our Indians
have received, and to prove that they cannot
assimilate with civilized men, thus proceeds :
“It may be so; perhaps in the wisdom of pro-
vidence, it must be so. I pretend not to com-
prehend, or solve, such weighty difficulties.
But neither philosophy nor policy can shut
out the feelings of nature. Humanity must
continue to sigh at the constant sacrifices of
this bold, but wasting race. And Religion,
if she may not blush at the deed, must, as
she sees the successive victims depart, cling
to the altar with a drooping heart, and mourn
over a destiny without hope, and without
example.”
This sublime and beautiful description of
Indian character, with the bold and touching
outline of their former power and glory, con-
trasted with their present mournful decline, is
truly admirable, and will remain a monument
of the genius, taste, and moral sensibility of
its author.
Elizabeth. The impressive manner in
which the characters and sorrows of the In-
dians are exhibited, will, one would be per-
suaded, interest the public in their favour.

ANEcootes, &c. 277
Already we find more attention is given to this
subject than formerly. -
Mother. It is natural assuredly to hope for
this result, and to expect that, before we lavish
our charities on foreigners, we shall fulfil our
prior and more sacred obligations to the gen-
erous people who owe to us their ruin–
whom we have nearly stripped of their posses-
sions, and are now in the enjoyment of all
that was once exclusively theirs. We must
be just, before we can be generous. Let us
not bring upon ourselves the scoffs of the
world by exclaiming against Mahometan cru-
elty and oppression, whilst our own cruelty
and oppression far exceeds theirs. Had the
Mahometans been as merciless, as we who
bear the name of Christians have shown our-
selves to be, the Greeks would not have had
sufficient strength to rise against their oppres-
sors, and attempt to wrest the sceptre from
their hands. Our Indians have found no
munificent benefactor, or benefactress, who,
like the Turkish Sultana, would protect their
rights, and allow them to gather strength and
influence.* If we are influenced by benevo-
* The prosperous condition of the Greeks, who inhabited
the beautiful Isle of Scio when under the protection of the
Sultana, is well attested.
24

278 ILLUSTRATIONS,
Hence to send abroad hosts of missionaries
to impart to the heathen the pure light
of the gospel, why have we neglected to imbue
the minds of our own people with its heavenly
truths? That this is the only method by
which Christianity can be propagated, reason,
revelation, and experience, all combine to
prove. Will the heathen, whom we are so
anxious to convert, be convinced of the power
and efficacy of our religion, or have confi-
dence in our sincerity, whilst we so grossly
violate its precepts How will the Gospel
have its free course, and be glorified, while
we thus walk in a vain show ! The vast
sums expended in vain and nearly useless en-
deavours to gain proselytes in foreign and far
distant lands, would, if rightly improved, be
of incalculable benefit at home. Missionaries
and teachers might be sent to instruct the
barbarous inhabitants on our borders to prac-
tise the virtues of justice and humanity, as es-
sential to the Christian character ; and to as-
sure them that massacre and plunder are
wholly opposed to its essence and spirit. Our
Indians then would be interested in their pre-
servation. Our poor would be supplied, and
encouraged to perform every good work, and

ANEcDoTEs, &e. 279
our seminaries of learning richly endowed.
All this might be accomplished without wring-
ing from the hard hand of labour, the pittance
which would afford relief in sickness and mis-
fortune; as it is demonstrable that this prac-
tice, instead of increasing the amount of char-
ities, only swells the number of those who
require it.
The high privileges we possess, and the fa-
cilities we enjoy of doing good, should incite
our citizens to make the most advantageous
use of the means they can command.
When we consider the great amount ex-
pended in voyages across the Pacific and At-
lantic oceans; and the cost of maintaining
missionaries with their families in a distant
land, (who, we gather from the Journal of
Mrs Judson, live in a style very superior to our
respectable clergy at home,) and, moreover,
that six years are requisite to obtain such a
knowledge of the language as will enable
them to begin their ministry ; it cannot be
doubted that, by confining our charities to
promoting the welfare of our own people,
where so few difficulties intervene, the sum
of good produced would be a thousand fold.
Shall we, then, suffer our Indians miserably

280 ILLUSTRATIONS,
to perish, and our people to remain ignorant
of their duties, whilst we squander the gifts
committed to our charge, and pertinaciously
persist in sending aid to a people, who are the
subjects of a nation abundantly able and will-
ing to afford them instructions, and declare,
that they desire not our interference.
The admiration, excited by the noble efforts
of Rammohun Roy, to reclaim his own coun-
trymen from idolatry and superstition,and teach
them the path of duty, affords an important
and striking lesson to others, to follow the ex-
ample of this inestimable individual, whose
magnanimous efforts have conferred infinitely
greater benefits on the people of India, than
all the missionaries who have ever visited its
shores.
Caroline. The success of Rammohun
Roy, is unquestionably to be attributed to his
knowledge of the language, manners, and
prejudices of the Hindoos; in addition to his
great qualities, and devotion to his country.
Mother. This knowledge is all-important;
and highly-gifted individuals, who are deter-
mined to ‘persevere in well doing, undismay-
ed by difficulties or opposition, may achieve
what common minds would deem impossible,

ANEcDoTEs, &c. 281
It is, in my opinion, decidedly wrong, to
speak of the removal, or extinction of the In-
dians as inevitable; it surely implies that the
people of these states have not sufficient vir-
tue or magnanimity to redeem their past of.
fences, by affording the sad remnant, which
still exist, succour and protection. I devout-
ly trust, that our Government will not again
pusillanimously compromise with the sordid
avaricious Georgians, and bargain their hon-
our and integrity for being allowed to compel,
in their own way, the unfortunate Indians to
abandon their country, which had been most
solemnly guarantied to them and their poster-
ity. The remarks of the Editor of the New-
York Observer on this subject, are calculated
to impress on the minds of our citizens their
high responsibility: — -
“We do not think it possible, that millions
of friends of humanity throughout the Union,
with the chart of civil and religious liberty in
their hands, will keep silence and see oppres-
sion progress, and the Cherokees sacrificed to
the cupidity of the State of Georgia.”
Elizabeth. How greatly it is to be regret-
led, that among ourselves, no one will be rous-
ed to active exertion in a cause, on which the
24*

282 IILUsTRATIONs, &c.
existence of a multitude of our Red brethren
depends, and in which is involved the honour
and humanity of our country.
Mother. This crisis admits of no delay;
if the Seminoles be not speedily relieved, they
must perish in the swamps to which they
have been driven, in the presence of a civiliz-
ed christian people, who have solemnly pledg-
ed themselves to be their guardians and pro-
tectors; whilst the citizens of the United
States, are exhausting their wealth and chari-
ties in sending aid to other lands, where none
but the most trivial results are produced.
To what purpose is “the multitude of our
sacrifices, and vain oblations,” our sabbaths,
and calling of assemblies, and solemn meet-
ings, whilst we omit to “do justice and show
mercy” to the oppressed, whose relief has
become to us a most sacred duty.

Notz. Page 201.
Caonabo, the husband of Anacaona, was the first native
prince who attempted to expel the Spaniards by force of
arms. He is represented as a warlike Chief, who early
perceived from the conduct of the strangers, that his
countrymen would inevitably fall under their dominion,
except they were repelled by force,

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CORTEZ, or the CONQUEST OF MEXICO; as related
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PIZARRO, or the CONQUEST OF PERU; as related
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( 2 )
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