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THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY

OF CALIFORNIA

DAVIS

GIFT OF

MELVTN NEVILLE

THE GREAT
REPUBLIC

BY THE

MASTER HISTORIANS

The complete History of the United States and the North
American continent, comprising carefully chosen ex
tracts from the pens of those who were active
participants, or whose study best fitted
them to write of the subjects treated.

EDITED BY

CHARLES SMITH MORRIS, A.M., LL.D.

OF THE PHILADELPHIA ACADEMY
OI THE NATUHAL SCIENCES

Profusely illustrated with beautiful plates which depict important

events from the period preceding Columbus

down to the present time.

SYNDICATE PUBLISHING COMPANY

NEW YORK LONDON

By J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY.

BY R. S. BELCHER.

BY THE GREAT REPUBLIC PUBLISHING CO-

BY FRANK E. WRIGHT

PREFACE.

The telling of a country's history is as noble an under
taking as either genius or painstaking talent need aspire
to. The distinction sought to be drawn between the two
gifts is of small importance from the practical standpoint.
The ideal edifice must have its well-laid foundation and
must rise in accordance with scientific laws, as well as
indulge in graceful ornament and an inspiring sky-line.
Fortunate is the historian who combines the matter-of-
fact and the poetical or graphic styles. The reader of
history in our day is somewhat of a spoiled child. So
varied is the fare set before him during the latter years,
in which writers have multiplied and writing has risen to a
high level of artistic excellence, that his taste has grown
more and more exacting and his critical acumen is sharp
ened to the finest point. The student, whose end is to mas
ter his subject, has not the difficulty which so often besets
the dilettante reader, to whom the ponderous volume has
its unattractive as well as its fascinating features. The
student is comparatively indifferent to style for its own
sake, if only he has the comprehensive narrative. Yet
even he gains new light and delight when he comes upon
a passage that throbs and glows by force of its realization
of some immortal scene or character. The general reader
turns impatiently the cold chronicle-pages that separate the
ever-fresh portrayals of great events, and in his heart wishes

iii

iv PREFACE.

that his library of history could be made of the same stuff
of which the great masters of the pen wrought their word-
panoramas. The truth is, we are all readers for pleasure,
whether students or teachers, and it is not only a legitimate
but a laudable desire to command ready access to the best
examples of the world's greatest authors.

The aim of the compilers of this work has been to put
the reader in possession of carefully chosen extracts from
a wide field of authors. The selections are taken from
works, small as well as large, unfamiliar and familiar, be
cause many of the most admirable examples of historical,
as of other, writings are hidden in books known mainly by
those devoted to research. Not a few of the specimen ex
tracts are rescued from antique tomes, externally uninvit
ing to the passer-by. Some of these works are noted for
brilliancy of style, others for conscientiousness in research,
others as being written by participants in the events de
scribed, while to still others quaintness of manner or an
tiquity of dates gives a certain value.

For the convenience of the reader and as imparting
reference value to the work, the selections are given in
chronological order, divided into historical periods, with
a running series of short narratives treating the interme
diate events. This insures a unity of purpose and work.
The outcome is this connected history of our country from
the beginnings of national life to its present development.
The reader has the advantage of listening to a brilliant
succession of historians, who take up the narrative where
the next memorable scene comes into view. Each brings
into play his special gift in describing that which has been
his chosen theme or field of investigation.

The selections relate to the greater events in our na
tional life. The early settlements and colonies are de
scribed with intent to excite deeper interest in a phase

PREFACE. v

of history peculiarly rich in all the essentials of dramatic
scenes and romantic adventures. Thus, along the two hun
dred years of unexampled progress, the principal features
have been selected for adequate treatment, and minor
events — though equally requiring full notice in an ordinary
history — are here condensed according to their lesser gen
eral interest. A work thus arranged may be compared to
a landscape, over whose dead levels the eye ranges with a
rapid glance, while constrained to rest with attention upon
its elevations or features of special attractiveness. Where
it has proved impracticable to find in the standard works
satisfactory condensations of certain subjects which could
not be omitted, the editors have made extended narratives,
on impartial lines.

The volume dealing with recent events, especially with
the war with Spain and the results ensuing, has been care
fully compiled from the most authoritative and interesting
sources. The aim has been to convey, graphically and
comprehensively, a panoramic view of the stirring scenes
in this latest chapter of our history, and by impartial data
to enable sound judgment to be formed. In this, as in
the former sections, much of the descriptive and critical
work is from the pens of those who were active participants
in the events they treat. Many of the articles were for
merly published in the exhaustive work entitled " The
World's Library of Literature, History and Travel," (The
J. B. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia).

Acknowledgments are gratefully made to the eminent
authors whose coyprighted works have been quoted, by
permission. Equally cordial thanks are tendered to the
following publishers for like favors, and if any are omitted,
through inadvertence, our apologies are offered until the
omission can be supplied: Harper & Brothers; D. Apple-
ton & Co. ; G. P. Putnam's Sons ; Charles Scribner's Sons ;

vf PREFACE.

Dodd, Mead & Co.; Dick & Fitzgerald; A. S. Barnes &
Co., of New York; Ticknor & Co.; Houghton, Mifflin &
Co., of Boston; Porter & Coates; J. B. Lippincott Co., of
Philadelphia; American Publishing Co.; O. D. Case & Co.,
of Hartford; Robert Clarke & Co., of Cincinnati; the
Massachusetts Historical Society ; A. C. McClurg & Co. ;
Callaghan & Co., E. R. Dumont, of Chicago; Saalfield
Publishing Co., the Werner Publishing Co., Akron, O.

CONTENTS.

SUBJECT.

AUTHOR.

PAGE.

On the Origin of the Americans .

HUBERT H. BANCROFT

The Kingdom of Fusang

S. WELLS WILLIAMS .

. 18

Discovery of America by the North-

ARTHUR J. WEISE

• 22

The Aborigines of America

CHARLES MORRIS

. 28

Columbus in Europe ....

WILLIAM ROBERTSON .

. 40

The Discovery of America by Colum

bus

WASHINGTON IRVING .

. 49

The Discovery of the Pacific by Bal

boa

THOMAS F. GORDON .

. 61

Retreat of Cortes from the City of

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT

Hernando de Soto

N. D'ANVERS

• wy

. 80

The Discovery of the St. Lawrence

JOHN MCMULLEN

. 89

The Massacre of the French Protes

tants

WALTER BESANT

• 97

The Colonies of Sir Walter Raleigh

MARY HOWITT . . .

. 105

John Smith and the Jamestown

CHARLES CAMPBELL . .

. 116

The Indian Massacre in Virginia .

ROBERT R. HOWISON .

. 130

The Settlement of Maryland .

J. THOMAS SCHARF

. 138

The Landing of the Pilgrims . . .

JOHN GORHAM PALFREY

• 145

Religious Dissensions In New England .

WILLIAM ROBERTSON .

. IS4

The Pequot War

G. H. HOLLISTER

. 162

Champlain and the Iroquois .

FRANCIS PARKMAN

. 172

The Settlement of New York

E. B. O'CALLAGHAN .

. 182

8 CONTENTS.

SUBJECT. AUTHOR. PAGE.

The Quaker Colony JOHN STOUGHTON . . .193

The " Grand Model " Government . HUGH WILLIAMSON . . . 203

Louisiana and the Natchez LE PAGE Du PRATZ . . . 208

The Persecution of the Quakers . . JAMES GRAHAME . . . .217

The Death of King Philip . . . BENJAMIN CHURCH . . .225

The Salem Witchcraft .... GEORGE BANCROFT . . .233

The Tyrant of New England . . BENJAMIN TRUMBULL . . 243

The Leisler Revolt in New York . WILLIAM SMITH . . . .251

The Bacon Rebellion .... CHARLES CAMPBELL . . . 260

Colonial Hostilities FRANCIS X. GARNEAU . . 273

The Spanish Invasion of Georgia . . WILLIAM BACON STEVENS . . 284

The Negro Plot in New York . . MARY L. BOOTH . . . .292

Introductory Remarks 301

The Opening of the War ... JARED SPARKS .... 304

Braddock's Defeat JOHN FROST 313

The Battle at Lake George . . . FRANCIS PARKMAN . . . 322

The Expulsion of the Acadians . . JAMES HANNAY .... 333

Three Years of Warfare . . . ABIEL HOLMES .... 344

Wolfe and Montcalm at Quebec . . WASHINGTON IRVING . . .355

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

ENGLISH PURITANS ESCAPING TO AMERICA . . . Frontispiece
LEIF ERIC DISCOVERS THE SHORES OF VINLAND, A. D. 1000 . . 24

THE OLD NORSE TOWER AT NEWPORT, R. 1 32

COLUMBUS BEFORE THE COUNCIL OF SALAMANCA .... 48

LANDING OF COLUMBUS 56

CAPTURE OF THE CITY OF MEXICO BY CORTEZ 72

COLUMBUS RETURNED TO SPAIN IN CHAINS ABOARD THE GORDA 80

BURIAL OF DE SOTO IN THE MISSISSIPPI 96

OLD SPANISH FORT, NEAR ST. AUGUSTINE 104

ELLIOT, THE FIRST MISSIONARY AMONG THE INDIANS . . .112

THE RUINS OF JAMESTOWN 128

POCAHONTAS SAVES THE LlFE OF CAPTAIN SMITH . . . .144

THE FIRST LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS, 1620 152

WILLIAM PENN MANSION, FAIRMOUNT PARK . . . .192

THE CHARTER OAK, HARTFORD 240

THE OLD NORTH CHURCH, BOSTON 248

THE OLD STATE HOUSE, PHILADELPHIA 264

BENEDICT ARNOLD MANSION 296

GEORGE WASHINGTON 312

SHORES OF LAKE GEORGE 328

CAPTURE OF FORT GEORGE 344

THE ASSAULT ON QUEBEC 352

DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE 360

THE GREAT REPUBLIC

BY THE

MASTER HISTORIANS.

THE PERIOD BEFORE COLUMBUS.

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS.

HUBERT H. BANCROFT.

[The written history of America begins with the year 1492, the
date of the first voyage of Columbus to its previously-unknown
shores. Yet there pertains to the preceding period a considerable
variety of interesting material of a semi-historical character,—
in part traditional, legendary, and speculative, in part based on
researches into the languages, race-characteristics, customs, and
antiquities of the American aborigines. Some attention to the
abundant literature relating to this earlier epoch seems desirable
as a preface to the recent history of America. This literature is
in no proper sense American history, yet it is all we know of the
existence of man upon this continent during the ages preceding
the close of the fifteenth century. It is far too voluminous, and,
as a rule, too speculative, to be dealt with otherwise than very
briefly, yet it cannot properly be ignored in any work on the his
tory of the American continent. The more speculative portion of
this literature has been fully and ably treated by Hubert H. Ban
croft, in his " Native Races of the Pacific States," from which we

10 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

make our opening Half-Hour selection, lack of space, however,
forbidding us from giving more than some brief extracts from his
extended treatise on the subject.]

WHEN it first became known to Europe that a new
continent had been discovered, the wise men, philosophers,
and especially the learned ecclesiastics, were sorely per
plexed to account for such a discovery. A problem was
placed before them, the s©lution of which was not to be
found in the records of the ancients. On the contrary, it
seemed that old-time traditions must give way, the infal
libility of revealed knowledge must be called in question,
even the Holy Scriptures must be interpreted anew.
Another world, upheaved, as it were, from the depths of
the sea of darkness, was suddenly placed before them.
Strange races, speaking strange tongues, peopled the new
land; curious plants covered its surface; animals unknown
to science roamed through its immense forests; vast seas
separated it from the known world; its boundaries were
undefined; its whole character veiled in obscurity. Such
was the mystery that, without rule or precedent, they were
now required to fathom. . . .

When, therefore, the questions arose, whence were these
new lands peopled? how came these strange animals and
plants to exist on a continent cut off by vast oceans from
the rest of the world? the wise men of the time unhesi
tatingly turned to the Sacred Scriptures for an answer.
These left them no course but to believe that all mankind
were descended from one pair. This was a premise that
must by no means be disputed. The original home of the
first pair was generally supposed to -have been situated in
Asia Minor; the ancestors of the people found in the New
World must consequently have originally come from -the
Old World, though at what time and by what route was
an open question, an answer to which was diligently sought

BANCROFT] ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS. H

for both in the sacred prophesies and in the historical
writings of antiquity. . . .

Noah's ark, says Ulloa, gave rise to a number of such
constructions, and the experience gained during the patri
arch's aimless voyage emboldened his descendants to seek
strange lands in the same manner. Driven to America
and the neighboring islands by winds and currents, they
found it difficult to return, and so remained and peopled
the land. He thinks the custom of eating raw fish at the
present day among some American tribes was acquired
during these long sea-voyages. That they came by sea is
evident, for the north — if indeed the continent be con
nected with the Old World — must be impassable by rea
son of extreme cold. Ulloa, though he would not for a
moment allow that there could have been more than one
general creation, does not attempt to account for the pres
ence of strange animals and plants in America; and I may
observe here that this difficulty is similarly avoided by all
writers of his class. Lescarbot cannot see why " Noah
should have experienced any difficulty in reaching America
by sea, when Solomon's ships made voyages lasting three
years." Villagutierre, on the contrary, thinks it more
probable that Noah's sons came to America by land; an
opinion also held by Thompson, who believes, however,
that the continents were not disconnected until some time
after the flood, by which time America was peopled from
the Old World.

[Many other writers have advocated this theory, basing their be
lief on the numerous deluge-myths which exist among the traditions
of the American tribes, and which bear a certain resemblance to the
Biblical story of the deluge, even in some cases describing the sub
sequent building of a tower of refuge, and the disconcertion of the
builders in their impious act by the gods, or by the Great Spirit.
Yet most modern writers consider these myths to have been of
local origin.]

12 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

Let us now turn from these wild speculations, with
which volumes might be filled, but which are practically
worthless, to the special theories of origin, which are, how
ever, for the most part, scarcely more satisfactory.

Beginning with eastern Asia, we find that the Ameri
cans, or in some instances their civilization only, are sup
posed to have come originally from China, Japan, India,
Tartary, Polynesia. Three principal routes are proposed
by which they may have come, — namely, Bering Strait,
the Aleutian Islands, and Polynesia. The route taken by
no means depends upon the original habitat of the immi
grants : thus, the people of India may have immigrated to
the noun of Asia, and crossed Bering Strait, or the Chi
nese may have passed from one to the other of the Aleu
tian Islands until they reached the western- continent.
Bering Strait is, however, the most widely advocated, and
perhaps most probable, line of communication. The nar
row strait would hardly hinder any migration either east
or west, especially as it is frequently frozen over in winter.
At all events, it is certain that from time immemorial con
stant intercourse has been kept up between the natives
on either side of the strait; indeed, there can be no doubt
that they are one and the same people. Several writers,
however, favor the Aleutian route. . . .

The theory that America was peopled, or at least partly
peopled, from eastern Asia, is certainly more widely ad
vocated than any other, and, in my opinion, is moreover
based upon a more reasonable and logical foundation than-
any other. It is true, the Old World may have been
originally peopled from the New, and it is also true that
the Americans may have had an autochthonic origin; but,
if we must suppose that they have originated on another
continent, then it is to Asia that we must first look for
proofs of such an origin, at least so far as the people of

BANCROFT] ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS. 13

northwestern America are concerned. " It appears most
evident to me," says the learned Humboldt, " that the
monuments, methods of computing time, systems of cos
mogony, and many myths of America, offer striking anal
ogies with the ideas of eastern Asia, — analogies which in
dicate an ancient communication, and are not simply the
result of that uniform condition in which all nations are
found in the dawn of civilization."

[Closely similar opinions are expressed by Prescott, Dr. Wilson,
Colonel Smith, Dupaix, Tschudi, Gallatin, and other writers. In
addition to the theory of a Chinese settlement in the fifth century,
which we shall consider subsequently, there are theories of Mongol
and Japanese settlement.]

In the thirteenth century the Mongol emperor Kublai
Khan sent a formidable armament against Japan. The
expedition failed, and the fleet was scattered by a violent
tempest. Some of the ships, it is said, were cast upon
the coast of Peru, and their crews are supposed to have
founded the mighty empire of the Incas, conquered three
centuries later by Pizarro. Mr. John Ranking, who leads
the van of theorists in this direction, has written a goodly
volume upon this subject, which certainly, if read by
itself, ought to convince the reader as satisfactorily that
America was settled by Mongols, as Kingsborough's work
that it was reached by the Jews, or Jones's argument that
the Tyrians had a hand in its civilization. That a Mongol
fleet was sent against Japan, and that it was dispersed by
a storm, is matter of history; but that any of the dis
tressed ships were driven upon the coast of Peru can be
but mere conjecture, since no news of such an arrival ever
reached Asia. . . .

A Japanese origin, or at least a strong infusion of Jap
anese blood, has been attributed to the tribes of the north
west coast. There is nothing improbable in this; indeed,

14 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

there is every reason to believe that on various occasions
small parties of Japanese have reached the American con
tinent, have married the women of the country, and neces
sarily left the impress of their ideas and physical pecu
liarities upon their descendants. Probably these visits
were all, without exception, accidental ; but that they have
occurred in great numbers is certain. There have been
a great many instances of Japanese junks drifting upon
the American coast, many of them after having floated
helplessly about for many months. Mr. Brooks gives
forty-one particular instances of such wrecks, beginning
in 1782, twenty-eight of which date since 1850. Only
twelve of the whole number were deserted. In a majority
of cases the survivors remained permanently at the place
where the waves had brought them. There is no record
in existence of a Japanese woman having been saved from
a wreck. The reasons for the presence of Japanese and
the absence of Chinese junks are simple. There is a
current of cold water setting from the Arctic Ocean south
along the east coast of Asia, which drives all the Chinese
wrecks south. The Kuro Siwo, or " black stream," com
monly known as the Japan current, runs northward past
the eastern coast of the Japan Islands, then curves round
to the east and south, sweeping the whole west coast of
North America, a branch, or eddy, moving towards the
Sandwich Islands. A drifting wreck would be carried
towards the American coast at an average rate of ten miles
a day by this current. . . .

We may now consider that theory which supposes the
civilized peoples of America to be of Egyptian origin,
or, at least, to have derived their arts and culture from
Egypt. This supposition is based mainly on certain anal
ogies which have been thought to exist between the ar
chitecture, hieroglyphics, methods of computing time, and,

BANCROFT] ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS. 15

to a less extent, customs of the two countries. Few of
these analogies will, however, bear close investigation, and,
even where they will, they can hardly be said to prove
anything. . . .

Turning now to western Asia, we find the honor of first
settling America given to the adventurous Phoenicians.
The sailors of Carthage are also supposed by some writers
to have first reached the New World; but, as the exploits
of colony and mother-country are spoken of by most
writers in the same breath, it will be the simplest plan
to combine the two theories here. They are based on the
fame of these people as colonizing navigators more than
upon any actual resemblances that have been found to
exist between them and the Americans. It is argued
that their ships sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules to
the Canary Islands, and that such adventurous explorers
having reached that point would be sure to seek farther.
The records of their voyages and certain passages in the
works of several of the writers of antiquity are supposed
to show that the ancients knew of a land lying in the far
west. . . .

Diodorus Siculus relates that the Phoenicians discov
ered a large island in the Atlantic Ocean, beyond the Pil
lars of Hercules, several days' journey from the coast of
Africa. This island abounded in all manner of riches.
The soil was exceedingly fertile; the scenery was diver
sified by rivers, mountains, and forests. It was the cus
tom of the inhabitants to retire during the summer to
magnificent country-houses, which stood in the midst of
beautiful gardens. Fish and game were found in- great
abundance. The climate was delicious, and the trees
bore fruit at all seasons of the year. The Phoenicians
discovered this fortunate island by accident, being driven
upon its coast by contrary winds. On their return, they

16 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

gave glowing accounts of its beauty and fertility, and
the Tyrians, who were also noted sailors, desired to col
onize it. ...

[Several authors have believed these " Fortunate Islands " to be
America, but in all probability they were the Canary Islands.]

The theory that the Americans are of Jewish descent
has been discussed more minutely and at greater length
than any other. Its advocates, or at least those of them
who have made original researches, are comparatively
few; but the extent of their investigations, and the multi
tude of parallelisms they adduce in support of their hy
pothesis, exceed by far any we have yet encountered.

Of the earlier writers on this subject, Garcia is the most
voluminous. Of modern theorists, Lord Kingsborough
stands pre-eminently first, as far as bulky volumes are
concerned; though Adair, who devotes half of a thick
quarto to the subject, is by no means second to him in
enthusiasm — or rather fanaticism — and wild speculation.

[The idea advanced is that America was settled by the ten lost
tribes of Israel, in support of which a multitude of similarities be
tween American and Jewish customs and characteristics are adduced,
yet none of them sufficient to influence any cool-headed critic,]

We now come to the theory that the Americans, or
at least part of them, are of Celtic origin. In the old
Welsh annals there is an account of a voyage made in the
latter half of the twelfth century by one Madoc, a son of
Owen Gwynedd, prince of North Wales. The story goes,
that after the death of Gwynedd his sons contended vio
lently for the sovereignty. ' Madoc, who was the only
peaceable one among them, determined to leave his dis
turbed country and sail in search of some unknown land
where he might dwell in peace. He accordingly procured
an abundance of provisions and a few ships, and embarked

BANCROFT] ON THE ORIGIN OF THE AMERICANS. 17

with his friends and followers. For many months they
sailed westward without finding a resting-place; but at
length they came to a large and fertile country, where,
after sailing for some distance along the coast in search
of a convenient landing-place, they disembarked and per
manently settled. After a time Madoc, with part of his
company, returned to Wales, where he fitted out ten ships
with all manner of supplies, prevailed on a large number
of his countrymen to join him, and once more set sail for
the new colony, which, though we hear no more about
him or his settlement, he is supposed to have reached
safely. . . .

Claims have also been put in for an Irish discovery of
the New World. St. Patrick is said to have sent mission
aries to the " Isles of America," and early writers have
gravely discussed the probability of Quetzalcoatl [the
Mexican white deity] having been an Irishman. There
is no great improbability that the natives of Ireland may
have reached, by accident or otherwise, the northeastern
shores of the new continent in very early times, but there
is certainly no evidence to prove that they did.

[The evidences in favor of the several theories described by Mr.
Bancroft, as presented by the many writers upon these subjects, are
given by him in considerable detail, and their probability discussed,
with the final conclusion that none of the theorists have succeeded
in proving that the Americans were of Old- World origin, and that
" no one at the present day can tell the origin of the Americans:
they may have come from any one or from all the hypothetical
sources enumerated in the foregoing pages, and here the question
must rest until we have more light upon the subject."

A brief reference to the Atlantis theory, omitted in our extract
from Bancroft, is here in place. The story of a land that formerly
lay in or beyond the Atlantic, and was subsequently submerged, is
mentioned by several Greek writers, and is said by Plutarch to have
been communicated to Solon by the priests of several Egyptian
cities. According to Plato, these priests declared that the events

I — 2

18 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WILLIAMS

related to Solon had taken place nine thousand Egyptian years pre
viously. In the Platonic version the priestly story was to the effect
that beyond the Pillars of Hercules there was an island larger than
Asia Minor and Libya combined. From this island one could pass
to other islands, and thence to a continent which surrounded the
sea containing them. In the island of Atlantis reigned three power
ful kings, whose dominion extended to some of the other islands and
to part of the continent, and reached at one time into Africa and
Europe. Uniting their forces, they invaded eastern Europe, but
were defeated and their army destroyed by the Athenians, inde
pendence being gained by all the subject countries east of the Pil
lars of Hercules. Afterwards, in one day and night, earthquakes
and inundations overwhelmed Atlantis and sunk it beneath the sea,
which became impassable on account of the mud which the sunken
island left in its place.

The theory that there actually existed such an island, extending
to the vicinity of, or perhaps continuous with, the American conti
nent, has been held by several writers, principal among them being
the Abbe Brasseur de Bourbourg. The recent advocacy of the
theory is based on the fact that traditions and written records of
cataclysms similar to that described by the Egyptian priests have
been found among the American nations. Yet the story is in all
probability one of those fabulous statements of which many can be
found in the works of ancient writers.]

THE KINGDOM OF FU-SANG.

S. WELLS WILLIAMS.
(TRANSLATION.)

[In addition to the speculative theories above described are two
historical documents of considerably more value, one given in the
Chinese annals, and one in the Scandinavian literature, which ap
pear to point to discoveries of America centuries before the era
of Columbus, first by the Chinese, afterwards by the Northmen.

The argument of several writers, that the Chinese discovered
America early in the Christian era, is based upon a curious histori-

WILLIAMS] THE KINGDOM OF FU-SANG. 19

cal statement in the works of Ma Twan-lin, one of the most notable
of Chinese historians. It is professedly an extract from the official
records of China, embracing a traveller's tale told in the year 499
A.D. by a Buddhist priest named Hwui Shin, on his return from a
journey he had made to a country lying far to the east. This story
seems to have been considered of sufficient importance to be re
corded by the imperial historiographer, from whom Ma Twan-lin
copied it. It describes the people and natural conditions of a coun
try known as Fu-sang, and has given rise to considerable contro
versy, some writers asserting that Japan was the country visited,
others claiming this honor for America. The literature of the sub
ject is summed up in E. P. Vining's " An Inglorious Columbus,"
a recent work, in which the Chinese record is exhaustively re
viewed, and the balance of proof shown to incline towards the
American theory.

Of the various translations of the Chinese record we present that
of Professor S. Wells Williams, prefacing it with the statement of
Li-yan-tcheou, the original historian, that in order to reach this dis
tant country one must set out from the coast of the Chinese prov
ince of Leao-tong, to the north of Peking, reaching Japan after a
journey of twelve thousand li. Thence a voyage of seven thousand
li northward brings one to the country of Wen-shin. Five thousand
li eastward from this place lies the country of Ta-han. From the
latter place Fu-sang may be reached after a further voyage of
twenty thousand li. (The li is a variable measure, ordinarily given
as about one-third of a mile in length.)]

IN the first year of the reign Yung-yuen of the emperor
Tung Hwa"n-hau, of the Tsi dynasty (A.D. 499), a Shaman
priest named Hwui Shin arrived at King-chau from the
Kingdom of Fu-sang. He related as follows:

Fu-sang lies east of the Kingdom of Ta-han more than
twenty thousand li; it is also east of the Middle Kingdom
[China]. It produces many fu-sang trees, from which it
derives its name. The leaves of the fu-sang resemble
those of the tung tree. It sprouts forth like the bamboo,
and the people eat the shoots. Its fruit resembles the
pear, but is red; the bark is spun into cloth for dresses,
and woven into brocade. The houses are made of planks.

20 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WILLIAMS

There are no walled cities with gates. The (people) use
characters and writing, making paper from the bark of
the fu-sang. There are no mailed soldiers, for they do not
carry on war. The law of the land prescribes a southern
and a northern prison. Criminals convicted of light
crimes are put into the former, and those guilty of griev
ous offences into the latter. Criminals, when pardoned,
are let out of the southern prison; but those in the north
ern prison are not pardoned. Prisoners in the latter
marry. Their boys become bondmen when eight years
old, and the girls bondwomen when nine years old. Con
victed prisoners are not allowed to leave their prison
while alive. When a nobleman (or an official) has been
convicted of crime, the great assembly of the nation
meets and places the criminal in a hollow (or pit) ; they
set a feast, with wine, before him, and then take leave of
him, If the sentence is a capital one, at the time they
separate they surround (the body) with ashes. For
crimes of the first grade, the sentence involves only the
person of the culprit; for the second, it reaches the chil
dren and grandchildren; while the third extends to the
seventh generation.

The king of this country is termed yueh-ki; the highest
rank of nobles is called tui-li; the next, little tui-li; and
the lowest, no-cha-sha. When the king goes abroad he is
preceded and followed by drummers and trumpeters. The
color of his robes varies with the years in the cycle
containing the ten stems. It is azure in the first two
years; in the second two years it is red; it is yellow in
the third; white in the fourth; and black in the last two
years. There are oxen with long horns, so long that
they will hold things, — the biggest as much as five pecks.
Vehicles are drawn by oxen, horses, and deer; for the
people of that land rear deer just as the Chinese rear

WILLIAMS] THE KINGDOM OF FU-SANG. 21

cattle, and make cream of their milk. They have red
pears, which will keep a year without spoiling; water-
rushes and peaches are common. Iron is not found in
the ground, though copper is; they do not prize gold or
silver, and trade is conducted without rent, duty, or fixed
prices.

In matters of marriage it is the law that the [intend
ing] son-in-law must erect a hut before the door of the
girl's house, and must sprinkle and sweep the place morn
ing and evening for a whole year. If she then does not
like him, she bids him depart; but if she is pleased with
him they are married. The bridal ceremonies are for the
most part like those of China. A fast of seven days is
observed for parents at their death; five for grandparents;
and three days for brothers, sisters, uncles, or aunts.
Images to represent their spirits are set up, before which
they worship and pour out libations morning and evening;
but they wear no mourning or fillets. The successor of
the king does not attend personally to government affairs
for the first three years. In olden times they knew
nothing of the Buddhist religion, but during the reign
Ta-ming of the emperor Hiao Wu-ti of the Lung dynasty
(A.D. 458), from Ki-piu five beggar priests went there.
They travelled over the kingdom, everywhere making
known the laws, canons, and images of that faith. Priests
of regular ordination were set apart among the natives,
and the customs of the country became reformed.

[In addition to this statement, the Chinese annals contain an ac
count of the " Kingdom of Women," of the " Great Han country,"
and of the " Land of Marked (or Tattooed) Bodies," all related in
situation to Fu-sang. That given, however, is the most matter-of-
fact of these several narratives, and appears to describe an actual
country, though its details do not tally very closely with the known
conditions of either Japan or Mexico, which latter country is be-

22 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WEISE

lieved by Mr. Vining to be the true Fu-sang. In his view the ma
guey represents the fu-sang tree, and he brings many analogies to
bear in favor of his theory, though the actual location of Fu-sang,
like those of Atlantis, the Fortunate Islands, and Vinland, must al
ways remain a matter of doubt and controversy.]

DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY THE NORTHMEN.

ARTHUR J. WEISE.
(TRANSLATION.)

[In considering the reputed discovery of America by the North
men we stand upon much firmer ground, and the story, though it
has not been without dispute, is accepted by many writers as de
scribing an actual event. In fact, it is of high probability on its
face, since the daring navigators who successively sailed to and
colonized Iceland and Greenland might very easily have made a
farther voyage to the American continent.

The Scandinavian vikings, in their single-masted, many-oared
galleys, often ventured far out on the waters of the Atlantic, and in
the year 860, Naddoddr, one of these Norse pirates, was blown by
an adverse wind upon the coast of Iceland. In 876 another navi
gator, driven beyond Iceland by a storm, saw in the distance the
coast of an unknown land. About the year 981, Eric the Red, an
Icelandic outlaw, sailed in search of this land, and discovered a new
country, which he named Greenland as an inducement to immi
grants.

The sagas or written legends of Iceland, which describe these
events, relate that subsequent to the discovery of Greenland the
vikings made frequent voyages to the south, to a land which had
been discovered there by one Bjarni, and which received the name
of Vinland. Some writers consider these stories as too vague and
mythical to be of any value, while others accept them as containing
definite and trustworthy information concerning the eastern coast
of America at that date. This new land is said to have been first
discovered by Bjarni in 985, during a voyage from Iceland to Green
land. We select from " The Discoveries of America to the year

WEISE] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY NORTHMEN. 23

1525," by Arthur James Weise, a translation of some of the more
significant portions of these sagas.]

As soon as they had fitted for the voyage, they intrusted
themselves to the ocean, and made sail three days, until
the land passed out of their sight from the water. But
then the bearing breezes ceased to blow, and northern
breezes and a fog succeeded. Then they were drifted
about for many days and nights, not knowing whither
they tended. After this the light of the sun was seen,
and they were able to survey the regions of the sky.
Now they carried sail, and steered this day before they
beheld land. . . . [They] soon saw that the country was
not mountainous, but covered with trees and diversified
with little hills. . . . Then they sailed two days before
they saw another land (or region). . . . They then ap
proached it, and saw that it was level and covered with
trees. Then, the favorable wind having ceased blowing,
the sailors said that it seemed to them that it would be
well to land there, but Bjarni was unwilling to do so. ...
He bade them make sail, which was done. They turned
the prow from the land, and sailed out into the open sea,
where for three days they had a favorable south-south
west wind. They saw a third land (or region), but it
was high and mountainous and covered with glaciers. . . .
They did not lower sail, but holding their course along
the shore they found it to be an island. Again they
turned the stern against the land, and made sail for the
high sea, having the same wind, which gradually increas
ing, Bjarni ordered the sails to be shortened, forbidding
the use of more canvas than the ship and her outfit could
conveniently bear. Thus they sailed for four days, when
they saw a fourth land [which proved to be Greenland],

[The second voyage to this newly-discovered region was made

24: THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WEISE

by Leif, the son of Eric the Red, about the year 1000. He first
reached a land of icy mountains, with a plain between the moun
tains and the sea covered with flat stones. This region Leif named
Helluland. Afterwards he reached a level country covered with
trees, which he named MarklandJ

[Leaving Markland] they sailed on the high sea, hav
ing a northeast wind, and were two days at sea before
they saw land. They steered towards it, and touched the
island lying before the north part of the land. When
they went on land they surveyed it, for by good fortune
the weather was serene. They found the grass sprinkled
with dew, and it happened by chance that they touched
the dew with their hands and carried them to their
mouths and perceived that it had a sweet taste which they
had not before noticed. Then they returned to the ship
and sailed through a bay lying between the island and
a tongue of land running towards the north. Steering
a course to the west shore, they passed the tongue of land.
Here when the tide ebbed there were very narrow shoals.
When the ship got aground there were shallows of great
extent between the vessel and the receded sea. So great
was the desire of the men to go on land that they were
unwilling to stay on board until the returning tide floated
the ship. They went ashore at a place where a river
flowed out from a lake. When the tide floated the ship
they took the boat and rowed to the vessel and brought
her into the river and then into the lake. Here they
anchored, carried the luggage from the ship, and built
dwellings. Afterwards they held a consultation and re
solved to remain at this place during the winter. They
erected large buildings. There were not only many
salmon in the river, but also in the lake, and of a larger
size than they had before seen. So great was the fertil
ity of the soil that they were led to believe that cattle

WEISE] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY NORTHMEN. 25

would not be in want of food during winter, or that
wintry coldness would prevail, or the grass wither much.

[During the winter one of the men, named Tyrker, exploring the
country, discovered wine- wood and wine-berries (vinvid ok vinber).
On the approach of spring they spent some time in gathering wine-
berries and loading the ship with wood, after which they set sail for
Greenland, Leif naming the region Vinland (Wine-land), from its
productions.

In the spring of 1007 an expedition comprising three ships sailed
for this new land. In two days they reached Helluland, and in two
more Markland. Departing from Markland, they continued their
voyage.]

They then sailed far to the southward along the coast,
and came to a promontory. The land lay on the right,
and had a long sandy beach. They rowed to it, and
found on a tongue of land the keel of a ship. They
called this point Kjlarnes (Keel Cape), and the beach
Furdustrandir (Long Strand), for it took a long time to
sail by it. Then the coast became sinuous. They then
steered the ship into an inlet. King Olaf Tryggvason had
given Leif two Scotch people, a man named Haki and a
woman named Hekja. They were swifter than animals.
. . . When they had sailed past Furdustrandir they put
these Scots ashore and ordered them to run to the south
of the country and explore it and return within three
days. ... They were absent the designated time. When
they returned, one brought a bunch of wine-berries, the
other an ear of wheat. When they were taken on board
the ship sailed farther. They came into a bay where
there was an island around which flowed rapid currents
that suggested the name which they gave it, Straumey
(Stream Island). There were so many eider ducks on
the island that one could hardly walk about without
stepping on their eggs. They took the cargo from the

26 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WEISE

ship and made preparations to stay there. They had with

them different kinds of cattle.

##*#***#**

It is now to be told of Karlsefne that he, with Snorro
and Bjarni and their people, sailed southward along the
coast. They sailed a long time, till they came to a river
which ran out from the land and through a lake into
the sea. The river was quite shallow, and no ship could
enter it without high water. Karlsefne sailed with his
people into its mouth, and called the place Hop. He
found fields of wild wheat where the ground was low,
and wine-wood where it was higher. There was a great
number of all kinds of wild animals in the woods. They
remained at this place a half month, and enjoyed them
selves, but did not find anything novel. They had their
cattle with them. Early one morning, when they were
viewing the country, they saw a great number of skin
boats on the sea. . . . The people in them rowed nearer
and with curiosity gazed at them. . . . These people were
swart and ugly, and had coarse hair, large eyes, and
broad cheeks. They remained a short time and watched
Karlsefne's people. They then rowed away to the south
ward beyond the cape.

[In the spring the natives returned and trafficked with the North
men.]

The people preferred red cloth, and for this they gave
skins and all kinds of furs. They also wanted to pur
chase swords and spears, but Karlsefne and Snorro would
not sell them any weapons. For a whole skin the Skrae-
lings took a piece of red cloth a span long, and bound it
around their heads. In this way they bartered for a time.
Then the cloth began to diminish, and Karlsefne and his
men cut it into small strips not wider than one's finger,

WEISE] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY NORTHMEN. 27

and still the Skraelings gave as much for these as they
had for the larger pieces, and often more. It happened
that a bull, which Karlsefne had with him, ran out from
the wood and bellowed loudly. This frightened the Skrae
lings so much that they rushed to their boats and rowed
away to the southward around the coast.

[Three weeks afterwards a large number of Skraelings returned
in their boats, uttering loud cries.]

Karlsefne's men took a red shield and held it towards
them. The Skraelings leaped from their boats and at
tacked them. Many missiles fell among them, for the
Skraelings used slings. Karlsefne's men saw that they
had raised on a pole something resembling an air-filled
bag of a blue color. They hurled this at Karlsefne's party,
and when it fell to the ground it exploded with a loud noise.
This frightened Karlsefne and his men so much that they
ran and fell back to the river, for it seemed to them that
the Skraelings were enclosing them on all sides. They
did not stop till they reached a rocky place, where they
stoutly resisted their assailants.

[The Skraelings were finally frightened off by the valiant be
havior of Freydis, the wife of Thorvard.]

Karlsefne and his men now perceived that, notwith
standing the country was fruitful, they would be exposed
to many dangerous incursions of its inhabitants if they
should remain in it. They therefore determined to de
part and return to their own land.

[Many subsequent visits were made by the Northmen to Vin-
land, these continuing as late as the fourteenth century. But they
seem to have made no effort to colonize this region as they had
done in the cases of Iceland and Greenland. Just where Vinland
was situated is one of those geographical problems that will prob-

28 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

ably never be settled. Some writers place it as far south as the
coast of Rhode Island. Others conceive it to be no farther south
than Labrador, or possibly south Greenland. The description of
the Skraelings is considered to apply more closely to the Esqui
maux than to the North American Indians. Whether the so-called
wine-berries were actually grapes is questionable. In fact, no posi
tive proof exists that the Northmen discovered the continent of
America. The balance of probabilities is that they did so, though
how far south their excursions extended can never be definitely
decided.]

THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA.

CHARLES MORRIS.

[The preceding pages have been devoted to the history of the re
lations between the inhabitants of the Eastern and Western Conti
nents-, and to the various statements that indicate a possible knowl
edge of, and voyages to, America in the era before Columbus. To
complete this preliminary survey a brief account of what is known
of the American aborigines in this early era is necessary. In rela
tion to this period of American history there exists an abundance of
literary material, comprising researches into the languages, race-
conditions, customs, antiquities, traditions, and manuscript annals
of the tribes and nations of the aborigines. None of this material
is historical in the full sense of the term, though much of it may be
considered as indirectly so. The editor of this work, however, has
been unable to meet with any general statement in a form suffi
ciently condensed to yield a brief yet comprehensive review of the
whole subject. He has, therefore, himself prepared a paper which
may serve imperfectly to fill this vacancy, and to complete the ex
amination of the history of America prior to Columbus.]

ON the discovery and exploration of America it was
found to be everywhere inhabited, from the north polar
region to the extreme south, by peoples differing in de
gree of culture from abject savagery to a low stage of

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 29

civilization. Though at first all these peoples were looked
upon as members of a single race, later research has ren
dered this questionable, marked diversities in ethnological
character having been perceived. In language a greater
unity appears, philologists generally holding that the
American languages all belong to one family of human
speech, though the dialects differ widely in character and
in degree of development. The American languages ap
proach in type those of northern Asia, though not very
closely. The same may be said of the American features.
Yet if the Americans and Mongolians were originally of
the same race, as seems not improbable, their separation
must have taken place at a remote period, to judge from
the diversities which now exist between them.

The aboriginal inhabitants of the United States, when
first discovered, differed very considerably in political and
social condition. Those of the north were in a state
of savagery or low barbarism. The southern Indians
were much more advanced politically, while the Natchez
people of the lower Mississippi possessed a well-organized
despotic monarchy, widely different in character from the
institutions of the free tribes of the north. In Mexico
existed a powerful civilized empire, despotic in character,
possessed of many historical traditions, and having an
extensive literature, which was nearly all destroyed by
the Spanish conquerors. In this region were two distinct
linguistic races, the Nahuas of Mexico and the Mayas of
the more southern region. To the latter are due the re
markable architectural remains of Yucatan and Guate
mala. In South America was also discovered an exten
sive civilized empire, of a highly-marked despotic type, —
the Inca empire of Peru. This rather low form of civili
zation extended far to the north and south in the dis
trict west of the Andes, while the remainder of South

30 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

America was occupied by savage tribes, some of them ex
ceedingly debased in condition.

Of late years it has been made evident, through diversi
fied archaeological discoveries, that at some epoch, perhaps
not very remote, the whole region of the Mississippi Valley
was the seat of a semi-civilized population, probably some
what closely approaching in customs and condition the
inhabitants of the Gulf States when first seen by the
Spanish and French explorers. This people had utterly
vanished from the region of the northern United States
at the earliest date of the advent of the whites, and per
haps many centuries before that era; yet the whole region
of their former residence is so abundantly covered with
their weapons, utensils, ornaments, and architectural re
mains, that we are not only positively assured of their
former existence, but are enabled also to form many con
jectures as to their probable history.

What are here spoken of as architectural remains con
sist principally of earth mounds, of considerable diversity
in character and appearance, and some of them of enor
mous dimensions. There is in this fact alone nothing of
peculiar interest. Earth mounds, generally sepulchral in
purpose, exist widely throughout the older continents.
But the American mounds are remarkable for their ex
cessive numbers, their peculiarities of construction, their
occasional great size, and the diversity of their probable
purpose. They are found abundantly over the whole re
gion from the Rocky Mountains to the Alleghanies, and
from the Great Lakes to the Gulf, and to some small
extent beyond these limits. In the State of Ohio alone
there are said to be more than ten thousand mounds, with
perhaps fifteen hundred defensive works and enclosures.
About five thousand of them are said to exist within a
radius of fifty miles from the mouth of the Illinois River,

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 31

in the State of Illinois. In the South they are equally
abundant. The Gulf States are full of them. From
Florida to Texas they everywhere exist, of the greatest
diversity in size and shape. Smaller examples occur be
yond the limits of the region above outlined, though in
much less abundance. These mounds are usually from
six to thirty feet high and forty to one hundred in diam
eter, though some are much larger. To the vanished race
to whose labors they are due has been given the name of
the " Mound-Builders."

Many of these structures were evidently erected for de
fensive purposes, and they constitute an extensive system
of earthworks on the hills and river-bluffs, indicating
a considerable population in the valleys below. Other
works are remarkably regular earthworks on the valley
levels, forming enclosures in various geometrical patterns,
which comprise circles, squares, and other figures. The
purpose of these peculiar enclosures is unknown, though
it was probably connected with religious observances.
Of the smaller mounds, some are supposed to have been
used as altars ; but the most numerous class are the burial-
mounds, in which skeletons have often been found. In
Wisconsin, and to some extent elsewhere, are found
mounds rudely imitating the shape of animals. But the
most extraordinary of these erections, from their great
size and the enormous degree of labor which they indicate,
are the so-called "temple mounds," of which the one at
Cahokia, Illinois, measures seven hundred by five hundred
feet at base and ninety feet in perpendicular height. It
was probably the seat of a temple. Many similar mounds,
though none so large as this, exist in the Gulf States.

The mounds contain very numerous relics of the arts
of their builders, these consisting of various articles of
pottery, stone pipes of highly-skilful construction, in imi-

32 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

tation of animal forms, stone implements in great variety,
ornaments of beaten copper, pearls, plates of mica, frag
ments of woven fabrics, and other articles, indicative of
much industry and a considerable advance in the simpler
arts.

Whether the semi-civilization of this people developed
in the region in which their remains are found, or is due
to the northward movement of a civilized people from the
south, cannot be decided. That they were a numerous
agricultural people, under the control of a despotic gov
ernment, and of strong religious superstitions, seems evi
dent from the vast labors which they performed and the
religious purpose of the greatest of these works. There
is abundant reason to believe that they were in hostile
relations with tribes of savages, perhaps the original
inhabitants of the country, to the northward and east
ward. Against the assaults of these the earthworks
were built. These assaults were finally successful. The
" Mound-Builders " were conquered, and either annihilated
or, more probably, driven south. It is highly improbable
that they constituted a single empire, or a series of exten
sive governments. We may more safely consider them
as a congeries of strong tribal organizations, probably to
some extent mutually hostile, who were weakened by in
testine wars and conquered piecemeal by their numerous
and persistent savage foes.

Before considering the political and other relations of
the northern Indians, some reference may be made to the
architectural remains of the other aborigines of America.
Remarkable ruins exist in the mountain-region of the
west, in parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Arizona,
and northern Mexico. Principal among these are the
Pueblo buildings, huge communistic structures, of sev
eral stories in height, and some of them capable of shelter-

THE OLD NORSE TOWER AT NEWPORT, R. I.
From a late photograph.

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 33

ing a whole tribe within their very numerous apartments.
Of these edifices some are of adobe, others of stone. They
are probably of considerable antiquity, and most of them
are in ruins, though several are still inhabited. Still more
remarkable are the "cliff dwellings," recently discovered
in the river-canons of this region. These exist at con
siderable heights, occasionally as much as six hundred to
eight hundred feet, in almost inaccessible situations in per
pendicular cliffs, in which they occupy clefts or natural
terraces. They were doubtless intended as places of refuge
from dangerous foes, though they occur in localities now
so barren that it is not easy to perceive how their in
habitants obtained subsistence.

The architectural remains of Mexico, Central America,
and Peru are far too numerous and important to be
described in the brief space at our command. Some of the
more imposing of those of Mexico are pyramidal mounds,
not unlike the temple mounds of the north, though occa
sionally much larger. Of these the most extensive is the
great pyramid of Cholula, which covers twice the area of
the great Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. The height is
variously estimated at one hundred and seventy-seven to
two hundred and five feet. This huge structure is built
of small sun-dried bricks, alternated with layers of clay.
It may have been moulded on a natural eminence, though
this is. doubtful. The temple of the deity Quetzalcoatl,
which once occupied its summit, was destroyed by the
Spanish invaders.

In Yucatan, Chiapas, Honduras, and Guatemala have
been found the ruins of enormous and profusely-sculptured
stone edifices, built on truncated pyramids, of which that
of Palenque measures two hundred and sixty by three
hundred and ten feet, and is forty feet high. Its sides
were originally faced with cut stone, while the building

34 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

displays a considerable advance in the arts of architecture
and sculpture. Numerous other such structures exist,
which display great boldness and skill in architecture. As
to who built these forest-buried edifices no positive knowl
edge exists, though there is some reason to believe that
they were still in use, and surrounded by cities, at the
epoch of the Spanish conquest.

With the ruins of Peruvian art we are less directly con
cerned. It will suffice to remark that they are not sur
passed in boldness of execution, in the great labor
indicated, and in practicality of purpose, by any similar
erections on the Eastern continent. Many of these works
are very ancient, having been built by a people who occu
pied that region anterior to the origin of the Inca empire.
In this respect they agree with the architectural monu
ments of Mexico, which were attributed by the Aztecs to
the Toltecs, a mythical race who preceded them. All this
indicates not only a very considerable antiquity in the
civilization of this continent, but a general overthrow of
the primary civilizations, the Mound-Builders being re
placed by the modern Indian tribes in the north, the
builders of the Mexican monuments by the more barbarous
Aztecs, and the architects of the early works of Peru by
the conquering Inca race.

The Indian tribes of the northern United States, at the
advent of the whites, were found in a state of savagery
in some particulars, though their political and social in
stitutions may be classed as barbarian. Though usually
considered as hunting tribes, they were in reality largely
agricultural, and not unlike the ancient Germans in or
ganization. They were communistic in habit, holding
their lands, and to some extent their houses, as common
property. The tribes were divided into smaller sections
on the basis of family affinity, and governed by two sets

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 35

of elected officers, — the war-chiefs, selected for their valor,
and the Sachems, or peace-officers, whose office was to a
considerable extent hereditary. In the election of these
officers the whole tribe took part, women as well as men
having a vote. The religion of these tribes was of a low
type, being a Shamanism of the same character as that of
the Mongolian tribes of northern Asia. Demon-exorcising
" medicine-men " were the priests of the tribes, and the
conception of a supreme " Great Spirit," which has been
attributed to them, was possibly derived from early inter
course with the whites, though it may have been an
inheritance from the Mound-Builders.

The Indians of the southern United States, comprising
the Creek confederacy and other tribes, were considerably
more advanced in institutions and ideas. With them
agriculture had attained an important development, and
the lands were divided into fields on a communistic basis,
they remaining the property of the tribe, though cultivated
by separate families. The government was in the hands
of a council of the principal chiefs, presided over by an
officer called the Mico, corresponding to the Sachem of the
north. His dignity was hereditary, and his power to some
extent despotic. Warlike matters were controlled by a
head chief, under whom were inferior chiefs. These chiefs
were elected to their positions, and composed the council
presided over by the Mico, whose authority was subject to
their control. One peculiar feature of the Creek organiza
tion was the possession of a public storehouse, in which
a portion of all products of the field and the chase had to
be stored, for general distribution in case of need. This
was under the sole control of the Mico.

The religious ideas were much superior to those of the
northern tribes. Shamanistic worship and the medicine
man existed, but in addition to this there was a well-

36 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

developed system of sun-worship, with its temples, priests,
and ceremonies. The sacred fire was preserved with the
greatest assiduity, and when extinguished at the close of
each year, to be rekindled with " new fire," serious calami
ties were feared. The Mico was looked upon as a high
dignitary in this worship, and as, in some sort, a representa
tive of the sun. The degree of despotism which he exer
cised was very probably in great measure due to this
religious dignity and the superstition of the people.

But the most remarkable of the Indians of the United
States was the small tribe of the Natchez, occupying a few
villages east of the Mississippi at the period of Spanish
and French discovery, and long since extinct. The lan
guage of this tribe is believed to have been quite unlike
those of the neighboring tribes. Its political organization
was a well-developed despotism, the ruler being a religious
autocrat whose authority was beyond question. This dig
nitary was known as the Sun, and was looked upon as a
direct and sacred descendant of the solar deity. All mem
bers of the royal caste were called Suns, and had special
privileges. Beneath them was a nobility, while the com
mon people were very submissive. The chiefs' dwellings
were on mounds, and the mounds were also the seat of
temples, in which the sacred fire was guarded with super
stitious care by the priesthood. La Salle, who visited the
Natchez in 1681-82, describes them as living in large adobe
dwellings. The temple of the sun was adorned with the
figures of three eagles, with their heads turned to the east.
The Natchez possessed a completely-organized system of
worship, with temples, idols, priests, keepers of sacred
things, religious festivals, and the like, while the people
were thoroughly under the control of their superstitions.
The ruler had the power of life and death over the people,
as also had his nearest female relative, who was known

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 3T

as the Woman Chief, and whose son succeeded to the
throne. The extinguishment of the sacred fire in the
temples was deemed the greatest calamity that could be
fall them. The death of the Sun cost the life of his guards
and many of his subjects, while few of the principal per
sons died without human sacrifices. Captives taken in war
were sacrificed to the sun, and their skulls displayed on
the temples.

The customs and religious ceremonies of this tribe are
of particular interest, as there is reason to believe that in
the Natchez we have the most direct descendants of the
Mound-Builders, and that in the despotism of their chief
and the superstition of the people there survived until
historical times the conditions under which the great works
of the Mississippi Valley were erected. The destruction
of the tribe by the early French colonists has been a
serious loss to archaeological science.

It is believed by some writers that the Mexican civiliza
tion was a direct development of that of the Mound-Build
ers. Among the peoples of Mexico and Central America
traditions of an original migration from the north were
common, while the affinity between the customs and re
ligious ideas of the Aztecs and the Indians of the southern
United States was so great that the civilization of the
former may with some assurance be considered an out
growth from the semi-civilization of the latter.

Land-communism was the general practice in Mexico,
and the Creek public storehouse, under the control of the
Mico, was imitated by the Aztec public stores, under the
control of the emperor, in which a fixed portion of all prod
uce had to be placed. The Creek council of chiefs and
elders was represented by a similar council in Mexico, by
whose decisions the emperor was controlled. Worship of
the sun was an early form of the Mexican religious ideas,

38 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [MORRIS

though it was afterwards replaced by worship of the god
of war. Human sacrifice had grown to enormous pro
portions, and the sacrifice of war-captives by the Natchez
had its Aztec counterpart in vast warlike raids for the pur
pose of obtaining victims for sacrifice to the terrible war-
god. The sacred fire was guarded with the utmost care,
and dire calamities were predicted if it should be ex
tinguished. It was voluntarily extinguished once every
fifty-two years, and rekindled after a week of lamentation
and mortal dread. The passage of the " new fire " through
the country was the occasion of universal joy and festivity.

We have already indicated the resemblance between the
temple mounds of the two regions, and other points of
affinity might be named, but the above will suffice to show
the great probability that the civilization of the Mississippi
Valley and that of Mexico and Central America were di
rectly connected and formed parts of one general growth
of American culture. As for the actual history of the
aborigines prior to the advent of the whites, very little is
known. Numerous legends and traditions exist, though
few of these can be considered of historical authenticity.
The Indians of the United States, indeed, possess no rec
ords that can be accepted as historical. What seem most
so are stories of migrations ; yet none of these can be taken
as representative of actual events, but are rather to be
viewed as vague remembrances of some of the many move
ments which must have taken place.

The only traditions that are to any extent historical
are those of the Nahuas and Mayas of Mexico and Cen
tral America. These describe the movements, during a
number of centuries preceding the Spanish conquest, of
several successive peoples, as the Toltecs, the Chichimecs,
and the Aztecs of Mexico, and a parallel series in the
Maya region. Extensive details of the history of these

MORRIS] THE ABORIGINES OF AMERICA. 39

and other tribes are given, much of which is undoubtedly
authentic, yet the actual is so mingled with the mythical
in these records that no trust can be placed in any but
their latest portions, and even these are not to be accepted
without question.

The traditions of migrations from the north and east are
so generally reiterated that they seem to indicate actual
events, and the same may be said of the very common
tradition of the coming of a great hero or deity from the
east, the Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs, the Votan of the
Mayas, and similar deities of other tribes. These are fabled
to have brought civilization and taught habits of industry
and lessons of political subordination to the previously
uncultured tribes. They may represent the actual advent
of civilized navigators from Europe or elsewhere, though
this is a problem that can never be solved.

Much might here be said concerning the historical rec
ords of the Nahuas and Mayas, had we space to review
them, yet a consideration of the whole leads to the con
clusion above avowed, that the American aborigines had
no records that can be considered absolutely of historical
value previous to the discovery of America by Columbus.
We may, therefore, look upon their trustworthy history
as beginning with that event, since in their earlier records
it is impossible to distinguish between the mythical and
the actual.

40 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

THE ERA OF DISCOVERY.

COLUMBUS IN EUROPE.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON.

[From the age of Phoenician enterprise to the fifteenth century of
the Christian era, covering a period of more than two thousand
years, maritime enterprise in Europe lagged, and the boldness of
the ancients was emulated by none of their successors. The Medi
terranean long continued the theatre of commerce. In later years,
in which the Atlantic coast became the seat of an active sea-going
trade, the only sailors who ventured far out of sight of land were
the half-barbarous Scandinavian pirates.

A bolder spirit appeared in the discovery of the Canary Islands by
Spanish navigators in 1334. No further step in discovery was made
until 1419, when the Portuguese discovered the Madeira Islands.
The Portuguese from this time developed a new spirit of enterprise,
and advanced point by point along the coast of Africa until 1486, in
which year Bartholomew Diaz discovered the Cape of Good Hope.
This event rendered it evident to the experienced sailors of Portu
gal that Africa could be circumnavigated and the East Indies
reached by this route. While preparations were being made for
the important voyage which should prove the truth of this theory,
a. yet more important event occurred, in the discovery of America
by Columbus. The steps leading to this great enterprise we may
give in the words of a noted historical work of the last century,
" The History of America," by William Robertson.]

AMONG the foreigners whom the fame of the discoveries
made by the Portuguese had allured into their service

ROBERTSON] COLUMBUS IN EUROPE. 41

was Christopher Colon or Columbus, a subject of the re
public of Genoa. Neither the time nor place of his birth
are known with certainty; but he was descended of an
honorable family, though reduced to indigence by various
misfortunes. His ancestors having betaken themselves
for subsistence to a seafaring life, Columbus discovered,
in his early youth, the peculiar character and talents
which mark out a man for that profession. His parents,
instead of thwarting this original propensity of his mind,
seem to have encouraged and confirmed it by the educa
tion which they gave him. After acquiring some knowl
edge of the Latin tongue, the only language in which
science was taught at that time, he was instructed In
geometry, cosmography, astronomy, and the art of draw
ing. To these he applied with such ardor and predilec
tion, on account of their connection with navigation, his
favorite object, that he advanced with rapid proficiency
in the study of them. Thus qualified, he went to sea at
the age of fourteen (1461), and began his career on that
element which conducted him to so much glory. His
early voyages were to those ports in the Mediterranean
which his countrymen the Genoese frequented. This
being a sphere too narrow for his active mind, he made
an excursion to the northern seas (1467), and visited the
coasts of Iceland, to which the English and other nations
had begun to resort on account of its fishery. As naviga
tion, in every direction, was now become enterprising, he
proceeded beyond that island, the Thule of the ancients,
and advanced several degrees within the polar circle.
Having satisfied his curiosity by a voyage which tended
more to enlarge his knowledge of naval affairs than to
improve his fortune, he entered into the service of a
famous sea-captain, of his own name and family. This
man commanded a small squadron, fitted out at his own

42 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

expense, and by cruising sometimes against the Mahom
etans, sometimes against the Venetians, the rivals of his
country in trade, had acquired both wealth and reputa
tion. With him Columbus continued for several years,
no less distinguished for his courage than for his experi
ence as a sailor. At length, in an obstinate engagement,
off the coast of Portugal, with some Venetian caravels
returning richly laden from the Low Countries, the ves
sel on board which he served took fire, together with one
of the enemy's ships, to which it was fast grappled. In this
dreadful extremity his intrepidity and presence of mind
did not forsake him. He threw himself into the sea, laid
hold of a floating oar, and by (the support of it, and his
dexterity in swimming, he reached the shore, though above
two leagues distant, and saved a life reserved for great
undertakings.

As soon as he recovered strength for the journey, he
repaired to Lisbon, where many of his countrymen were
settled. They soon conceived such a favorable opinion of
his merit, as well as talents, that they warmly solicited
him to remain in that kingdom, where his naval skill and
experience could not fail of rendering him conspicuous.
To every adventurer, animated either with curiosity to
visit new countries, or with ambition to distinguish him
self, the Portuguese service was at that time extremely
inviting. Columbus listened with a favorable ear to the
advice of his friends, and, having gained the esteem of a
Portuguese lady, whom he married, fixed his residence in
Lisbon. This alliance, instead of detaching him from a
seafaring life, contributed to enlarge the sphere of his
naval knowledge, and to excite a desire of extending it
still further. His wife was a daughter of Bartholomew
Perestrello, one of the captains employed by Prince
Henry in his early navigations, and who, under his pro-

ROBERTSON] COLUMBUS IN EUROPE. 43

tection, had discovered and planted the islands of Porto
Santo and Madeira. Columbus got possession of the jour
nals and charts of this experienced navigator, and from
them he learned the course which the Portuguese had held
in making their discoveries, as well as the various circum
stances which guided or encouraged them in their attempts.
The study of these soothed and inflamed his favorite pas
sion; and while he contemplated the maps, and read the
descriptions of the new countries which Perestrello had
seen, his impatience to visit them became irresistible. In
order to indulge it, he made a voyage to Madeira, and con
tinued during several years to trade with that island, with
the Canaries, the Azores, the settlements in Guinea, and
all the other places which the Portuguese had discovered
on the continent of Africa.

By the experience which Columbus acquired during such
a variey of voyages to almost every part of the globe
with which, at that time, any intercourse was carried on
by sea, he was now become one of the most skilful navi
gators in Europe. But, not satisfied with that praise, his
ambition aimed at something more. The successful prog
ress of the Portuguese navigators had awakened a spirit
of curiosity and emulation, which set every man of science
upon examining all the circumstances that led to the dis
coveries which they had made, or that afforded a prospect
of succeeding in any new and bolder undertaking. The
mind of Columbus, naturally inquisitive, capable of deep
reflection, and turned to speculations of this kind, was so
often employed in revolving the principles upon which the
Portuguese had founded their schemes of discovery, and
the mode in which they had carried them on, that he gradu
ally began to form an idea of improving upon their plan,
and of accomplishing discoveries which hitherto they had
attempted in vain.

44 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

To find out a passage by sea to the East Indies was the
great object in view at that period. From the time that
the Portuguese doubled Cape de Verd, this was the point
at which they aimed in all their navigations, and in com
parison with it all their discoveries in Africa appeared
inconsiderable. The fertility and riches of India had been
known for many ages; its spices and other valuable com
modities were in high request throughout Europe, and
the vast wealth of the Venetians, arising from their hav
ing engrossed this trade, had raised the envy of all nations.
But how intent soever the Portuguese were upon dis
covering a new route to those desirable regions, they
searched for it only by steering towards the south, in hopes
of arriving at India, by turning to the east, after they had
sailed round the farther extremity of Africa. This course
was still unknown, and, even if discovered, was of such
immense length that a voyage from Europe to India
must 'have appeared, at that period, an undertaking ex
tremely arduous and of very uncertain issue. More than
half a century had been employed in advancing from
Cape Non to the equator; a much longer space of time
might elapse before <the more extensive navigation from
that to India could be accomplished. These reflections
upon the uncertainty, the danger, and tediousness of the
course which the Portuguese were pursuing, naturally
led Columbus to consider whether a shorter and more
direct passage to the East Indies might not be found out.
After revolving long and seriously every circumstance
suggested by his superior knowledge in the theory as
well as practice of navigation, after comparing atten
tively the observations of modern pilots with the hints
and conjectures of ancient authors, he at last concluded
that by sailing directly towards the west, across the
Atlantic Ocean, new countries, which probably formed a

ROBERTSON] COLUMBUS IN EUROPE. 45

part of the great continent of India, must infallibly be dis
covered.

Principles and arguments of various kinds, and derived
from different sources, induced him to adopt this opinion,
seemingly as chimerical as it was new and extraordinary.
The spherical figure of the earth was known, and its mag
nitude ascertained with some degree of accuracy. From
this it was evident that the continents of Europe, Asia,
and Africa, as far as they were known at that time, formed
but a small portion of the terraqueous globe. It was suit
able to our ideas concerning the wisdom and beneficence
of the Author of Nature, to believe that the vast space
still unexplored was not covered entirely by a vast un
profitable ocean, but occupied by countries fit for the habi
tation of man. It appeared, likewise, extremely probable
that the continent on this side of the globe was balanced
by a proportional quantity of land in the other hemisphere.
These conclusions concerning the existence of another con
tinent, drawn from the figure and structure of the globe,
were confirmed by the observations, and conjectures of
modern navigators. A Portuguese pilot, having stretched
farther to the west than was usual at that time, took up
a piece of timber artificially carved, floating upon the
sea; and as it was driven towards him by a westerly wind,
he concluded that it came from some unknown land situ
ated in that quarter. Columbus's brother-in-law had found,
to the west of the Madeira Isles, a piece of timber fash
ioned in the same manner and brought by the same wind,
and had seen, likewise, canes of an enormous size float
ing upon the waves, which resembled those described by
Ptolemy as productions peculiar to the East Indies. After
a course of westerly winds, trees, torn up by the roots,
were often driven upon the coasts of the Azores, and
at one time the dead bodies of two men, with singular

46 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

features, resembling neither the inhabitants of Europe nor
of Africa, were cast ashore there.

[Columbus was of the opinion, from the statements of several an
cient writers, that India was a country of immense size, extending
far to the east, and that it might be most easily reached by sailing
westward around the spherical globe. He had no conception of its
actual distance, and no dream of an intervening continent.]

To a mind less capable of forming and of executing
great designs than that of Columbus, all those reasonings
and observations and authorities would have served only
as the foundation of some plausible and fruitless theory,
which might have furnished matter for ingenious dis
course or fanciful conjecture. But with his sanguine and
enterprising temper, speculation led directly to action.
Fully satisfied himself with respect to the truth of his
system, he was impatient to bring it to the test of ex
periment, and to set out upon a voyage of discovery. The
first step towards this was to secure the patronage of
some of the considerable powers in Europe capable of
undertaking such an enterprise. As long absence had
not extinguished the affection which he bore to his native
country, he wished that it should reap the fruits of his
labors and invention. With this view, he laid his scheme
before the senate of Genoa, and making his country the
first tender of his service, offered to sail under the ban
ners of the republic in quest of the new regions which he
expected to discover. But Columbus had resided for so
many years in foreign parts that his countrymen were
unacquainted with his abilities and character; and, though
a maritime people, were so little accustomed to distant
voyages that they could form no just idea of the princi
ples on which he founded his hopes of success. They
inconsiderately rejected his proposal, as the dream of a

ROBERTSON] COLUMBUS IN EUROPE. 47

chimerical projector, and lost forever the opportunity of
restoring their commonwealth to its ancient splendor.

[His next application was to John II. of Portugal, to whom his
abilities were known, and who listened graciously to his project.
But the parties to whom the monarch referred the scheme induced
him dishonorably to despatch a vessel, with strict secrecy, in the di
rection indicated by Columbus. The pilot chosen, however, re
turned after a short voyage, and declared the project dangerous and
impracticable. When Columbus learned of this treacherous proceed
ing, he indignantly left Portugal and proceeded to Spain, then under
the joint rule of Ferdinand and Isabella. Here he spent years in
seeking to enlist the monarchs in his favor, until finally, despairing
of success, he sent his brother to England and prepared to visit that
country in person.]

About that time Granada surrendered, and Ferdinand
and Isabella, in triumphal pomp, took possession of a city
(January 2, 1492) the reduction of which extirpated a
foreign power from the heart of their dominions and
rendered them masters of all the provinces extending
from the bottom of the Pyrenees to the frontiers of Por
tugal. As the flow of spirits which accompanies success
elevates the mind and renders it enterprising, Quinta-
nilla and Santangel, the vigilant and discerning patrons
of Columbus, took advantage of this favorable situation
in order to make one more effort in behalf of their
friend. They addressed themselves to Isabella, and, after
expressing some surprise that she, who had always been
the munificent patroness of generous undertakings, should
hesitate so long to countenance the most splendid scheme
that had ever been proposed to any monarch, they repre
sented to her that Columbus was a man of a sound under
standing and virtuous character, well qualified, by his
experience in navigation, as well as his knowledge of
geometry, to form just ideas with respect to the structure
of the globe and the situation of its various regions ; that

48 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

by offering to risk his own life and fortune in the execu
tion of his scheme he gave the most satisfying evidence
both of his integrity and hope of success; that the sum
required for equipping such an armament as he demanded
was inconsiderable, and the advantages which might ac
crue from his undertaking were immense; that he de
manded no recompense for his invention and labor but
what was to arise from the countries which he should
discover ; that, as it was worthy of her magnanimity to
make this noble attempt to extend the sphere of human
knowledge, and to open an intercourse with regions
hitherto unknown, so it would afford the highest satisfac
tion to her piety and zeal, after re-establishing the Chris
tian faith in those provinces of Spain from which it had
been long banished, to discover a new world, to which she
might communicate the light and blessings of divine truth ;
that if now she did not decide instantly, the opportunity
would be irretrievably lost ; that Columbus was on his way
to foreign countries, where some prince, more fortunate
and adventurous, would close with his proposals, and
Spain would forever bewail the fatal timidity which had
excluded her from the glory and advantages that she had
once in her power to have enjoyed.

These forcible arguments, urged by persons of such
authority and at a juncture so well chosen, produced the
desired effect. They dispelled all Isabella's doubts and
fears : she ordered Columbus to be instantly recalled, de
clared her resolution of employing him on 'his own terms,
and, regretting the low state of her finances, generously
offered to pledge her own jewels in order to raise as
much money as might be needed in making preparations
for the voyage. Santangel, in a transport of gratitude,
kissed the queen's hand, and, in order to save her from
having recourse to such a mortifying expedient for pro-

O -S

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 49

curing money, engaged to advance immediately the sum
that was requisite.

Columbus had proceeded some leagues on his journey
when the messenger from Isabella overtook him. Upon
receiving an account of the unexpected revolution in his
favor, he returned directly to Santa Fe, though some re
mainder of diffidence still mingled itself with his joy.
But the cordial reception which he met with from Isa
bella, together with the near prospect of setting out upon
that voyage which had so long been the object of his
thoughts and wishes, soon effaced the remembrance of
all that he had suffered in Spain during eight tedious
years of solicitation and suspense. The negotiation now
went forward with facility and despatch, and a treaty or
capitulation with Columbus was signed on the seven
teenth of April, one thousand four hundred and ninety-
two.

THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS.

WASHINGTON IRVING.

[It is a somewhat remarkable evidence of the rapid progress of
nations in modern times that after years of doubt and deliberation
the utmost provision which the kingdom of Spain could make for
the discovery of a new world was a fleet of three frail vessels which
would now be considered scarcely fit for a coasting voyage, and
which thousands of individuals might provide at an hour's notice.
Only one of these vessels was decked, and the boldness of igno
rance alone made so many men willing to dare the risk of crossing
an ocean in such crazy craft. One hundred and twenty persons in
all took part in the expedition, which set sail from the port of Palos
on the 3d of August, 1492. One of the vessels was in distress when
they were but three days from port, and the fleet was obliged to
I— 4

50 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

put in to the Canary Islands for repair. Here they lay for a month
before they were ready to set sail again. While there the admiral
learned that three Portuguese caravels were hovering about the
islands, and, fearing that the King of Portugal was seeking to stop
the expedition, he hastened to put to sea, to escape this first danger
to his long-cherished scheme. In continuation of the story of this
remarkable voyage we cannot do better than offer the following
selection from Irving's " Life and Voyages of Columbus."]

EARLY in the morning of the 6th of September, Colum
bus set sail from the island of Gomera, and now might be
said first to strike into the region of discovery, — taking
leave of these frontier islands of the Old World, and steer
ing westward for the unknown parts of the Atlantic.
For three days, however, a profound calm kept the ves
sels loitering, with flagging sails, within a short distance
of the land. This was a tantalizing delay to Columbus,
who was impatient to find himself far out of sight of
either land or sail, — which, in- the pure atmospheres of
these latitudes, may be descried at an immense distance.
On the following Sunday, the Qth of September, at day
break, he beheld Ferro, the last of the Canary Islands,
about nine leagues distant. This was the island whence
the Portuguese caravels had been seen; he was therefore
in the very neighborhood of danger. Fortunately, a
breeze sprang up with the sun, their sails were once more
filled, and in the course of the day the heights of Ferro
gradually faded from the horizon.

On losing sight of this last trace of land, the hearts
of the crews failed them. They seemed literally to have
taken leave of the world. Behind them was everything
dear to the heart of man, — country, family, friends, life
itself; before them everything was chaos, mystery, and
peril. In the perturbation of the moment, they despaired
of ever more seeing their homes. Many of the rugged

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 51

seamen shed tears, and some broke into loud lamenta
tions. The admiral tried in every way to soothe their
distress, and to inspire them with his own glorious antici
pations. He described to them the magnificent countries
to which he was about to conduct them : the islands of the
Indian seas teeming with gold and precious stones; the
regions of Mangi and Cathay, with their cities of unrivalled
wealth and splendor. He promised them land and riches,
and everything that could arouse their cupidity or inflame
their imaginations, nor were these promises made for pur
poses of mere deception; he certainly believed that he
should realize them all.

[Columbus now directed the commanders of the other vessels that
in the event of separation they should continue to sail due west
ward, but that after sailing seven hundred leagues they should lie by
from midnight to dawn, as he confidently expected to find land at
about that distance. That the crews might remain ignorant of the
real distance traversed, he kept two reckonings, a private and cor
rect one for himself, and a log-book for general inspection, in which
the actual distance sailed was decreased.]

On the 1 3th of September, in the evening, being about
two hundred leagues from the island of Ferro, Columbus,
for the first time, noticed the variation of the needle, —
a phenomenon which had never before been remarked.
He perceived, about nightfall, that the needle, instead of
pointing to the north star, varied about half a point, or
between five and six degrees, to the northwest, and still
more on the following morning. Struck with this circum
stance, he observed it attentively for three days, and found
that the variation increased as he advanced. He at first
made no mention of this phenomenon, knowing how ready
his people were to take alarm, but it soon attracted the
attention of the pilots, and filled them with consternation.
It seemed as if the very laws of nature were changing as

52 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

they advanced, and that they were entering another world,
subject to unknown influences. They apprehended that
the compass was about to lose its mysterious virtues, and,
without this guide, what was to become of them in a vast
and trackless ocean?

[Columbus succeeding in allaying their apprehensions by an in
genious though incorrect explanation of the cause of the variation
of the compass, a phenomenon which, in fact, remains yet unex
plained.]

On the I4th of September the voyagers were rejoiced
by the sight of what they considered harbingers of land.
A heron, and a tropical bird called the Rabo de Junco,
neither of which are supposed to venture far to sea,
hovered about the ships. On the following night they
were struck with awe at beholding a meteor, or, as Colum
bus calls it in his journal, a great flame of fire, which
seemed to fall from the sky into the sea, about four or five
leagues distant. These meteors, common in warm cli
mates, and especially under the tropics, are always seen in
the serene azure sky of those latitudes, falling as it were
from the heavens, but never beneath a cloud. In the trans
parent atmosphere of one of those beautiful nights, where
every star shines with the purest lustre, they often leave
a luminous train behind them which lasts for twelve or
fifteen seconds and may well be compared to a flame.

The wind had hitherto been favorable, with occasional,
though transient, clouds and showers. They had made
great progress each day, though Columbus, according to
his secret plan, contrived to suppress several leagues in
the daily reckoning left open to the crew.

They had now arrived within the influence of the trade-
wind, which, following the sun, blows steadily from east
to west between the tropics, and sweeps over a few adjoin
ing degrees of ocean. With this propitious breeze directly

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 53

aft, they were wafted gently but speedily over a tranquil
sea, so that for many days they did not shift a sail. Co
lumbus perpetually recurs to the bland and temperate
serenity of the weather, which in this tract of the ocean
is soft and refreshing without being cool. In his artless
and expressive language he compares the pure and balmy
mornings to those of April in Andalusia, and observes
that they wanted but the song of the nightingale to com
plete the illusion. " He had reason to say so," observes
the venerable Las Casas ; " for it is marvellous the suavity
which we experience when half-way towards these Indies ;
and the more the ships approach the lands, so much more
do they perceive the temperance and softness of the air,
the clearness of the sky, and the amenity and fragrance
sent forth from the groves and forests; much more cer
tainly than in April in Andalusia."

They now began to see large patches of herbs and weeds
drifting from the west, and increasing in quantity as they
advanced. Some of these weeds were such as grow about
rocks, others such as are produced in rivers; some were
yellow and withered, others so green as to have apparently
been recently washed from land. On one of these patches
was a live crab, which Columbus carefully preserved.
They saw also a white tropical bird, of a kind which never
sleeps upon the sea. Tunny-fish also played about the
ships, one of which was killed by the crew of the Nina.
Columbus now called to mind the account given by Aris
totle of certain ships of Cadiz, which, coasting the shores
outside of the straits of Gibraltar, were driven westward
by an impetuous east wind, until they reached a part of
the ocean covered with vast fields of weeds, resembling
sunken islands, among which they beheld many tunny-
fish. He supposed himself arrived in this weedy sea, as
it had been called, from which the ancient mariners had

54 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

turned back in dismay, but which he regarded with ani
mated hope, as indicating the vicinity of land. Not that
he had yet any idea of reaching the object of his search,
the eastern end of Asia ; for, according to his computation,
he had come but three hundred and sixty leagues since
leaving the Canary Islands, and he placed the main land
of India much farther on.

On the i8th of September the same weather continued ;
a soft steady breeze from the east filled every sail, while,
to use the words of Columbus, the sea was as calm as the
Guadalquivir at Seville. He fancied that the water of the
sea grew fresher as he advanced, and noticed this as proof
of the superior sweetness and purity of the air. . . .

Notwithstanding his precaution to keep the people
ignorant of the distance they had sailed, they were now
growing extremely uneasy at the length of the voyage.
They had advanced much farther west than ever man had
sailed before, and though already beyond the reach of suc
cor, still they continued daily leaving vast tracts of ocean
behind them, and pressing onward and onward into that
apparently boundless abyss. It is true they had been flat
tered by various indications of land, and still others were
occurring; but all mocked them with vain hopes: aftei
being hailed with a transient joy, they passed away, one
after another, and the same interminable expanse of sea
and sky continued to extend before them. Even the bland
and gentle breeze, uniformly aft, was now conjured by
their ingenious fears into a cause of alarm ; for they began
to imagine that the wind, in these seas, might always
prevail from the east, and, if so, would never permit their
return to Spain.

Columbus endeavored to dispel these gloomy presages,
sometimes by argument and expostulation, sometimes by
awakening fresh hopes and pointing out new signs of land.

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 55

On the 2oth of September the wind veered, with light
breezes from the southwest. These, though adverse to
their progress, had a cheering effect upon the people, as
they proved that the wind did not always prevail from the
east. Several birds also visited the ships ; three, of a small
kind which keep about groves and orchards, came singing
in the morning, and flew away again in the evening. Their
song cheered the hearts of the dismayed mariners, who
hailed it as the voice of land. The larger fowl, they ob
served, were strong of wing, and might venture far to sea ;
but such small birds were too feeble to fly far, and their
singing showed that they were not exhausted by their
flight.

On the following day there was either a profound calm,
or light winds from the southwest. The sea, as far as the
eye could reach, was covered with weeds, — a phenomenon
often observed in this part of the ocean, which has some
times the appearance of a vast inundated meadow. This
has been attributed to immense quantities of submarine
plants, which grow at the bottom of the sea until ripe,
when they are detached by the motion of the waves and
currents, and rise to the surface. These fields of weeds
were at first regarded with great satisfaction, but at length
they became, in many places, so dense and matted as in
some degree to impede the sailing of the ships, which must
have been under very little headway. The crews now
called to mind some tale about the frozen ocean, where
ships were said to be sometimes fixed immovable. They
endeavored, therefore, to avoid as much as possible these
floating masses, lest some disaster of the kind might hap
pen to themselves. Others considered these weeds as
proofs that the sea was growing shallower, and began to
talk of lurking rocks, and shoals, and treacherous quick
sands ; and of the danger of running aground, as it were,
in the midst of the ocean, where their vessels might rot

56 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

and fall to pieces, far out of the track of human aid, and
without any shore where the crews might take refuge.
They had evidently some confused notion of the ancient
story of the sunken island of Atlantis, and feared that they
were arriving at that part of the ocean where navigation
was said to be obstructed by drowned lands and the ruins
of an engulfed country.

To dispel these fears, the admiral had frequent recourse
to the lead; but, though he sounded with a deep-sea line,
he still found no bottom. The minds of the crews, how
ever, had gradually become diseased. They were full of
vague terrors and superstitious fancies; they construed
everything into a cause of alarm, and harassed their com
mander by incessant murmurs.

[The discontent of the crew rapidly augmented, until it rose to
the verge of mutiny. Indications which Columbus considered favor
able they viewed as questionable, and he was kept busy in efforts to
allay their fears. The cloud-forms in the distance frequently de
ceived them with the illusion of land, the people varying from the
excitement of joy to deep depression as these illusory hopes van
ished.]

For several days they continued on with the same pro
pitious breeze, tranquil sea, and mild, delightful weather.
The water was so calm that the sailors amused themselves
with swimming about the vessel. Dolphins began to
abound, and flying-fish, darting into the air, fell upon the
decks. The continued signs of land diverted the attention
of the crews, and insensibly beguiled them onward.

On the 1st of October, according to the reckoning of
the pilot of the admiral's ship, they had come five hun
dred and eighty leagues west since leaving the Canary
Islands. The reckoning which Columbus showed the
crew was five hundred and eighty-four, but the reckon
ing which he kept privately was seven hundred and seven.

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 57

On the following day the weeds floated from east to west;
and on the third day no birds were to be seen.

The crews now began to fear that they had passed be
tween islands, from one to the other of which the birds
had been flying. Columbus had also some doubts of the
kind, but refused to alter his westward course. The peo
ple again uttered murmurs and menaces; but on the fol
lowing day they were visited by such flights of birds, and
the various indications of land became so numerous, that
from a state of despondency they passed to one of confi
dent expectation.

Eager to obtain the promised pension, the seamen were
continually giving the cry of land, on the least appearance
of the kind. To put a stop to these false alarms, which
produced continual disappointments, Columbus declared
that should any one give such notice, and land not be dis
covered, within three days afterwards, he should thence
forth forfeit all claim to the reward.

[On the 7th of October land was again proclaimed, but with the
same result as before. There were now seen, however, " great
flights of small field-birds going towards the southwest," and Colum
bus concluded to sail in that direction, from the fact that the Por
tuguese had discovered the most of their islands by following the
flight of birds.]

For three days they stood in this direction, and the far
ther they went the more frequent and encouraging were
the signs of land. Flights of small birds of various colors,
some of them such as sing in the fields, came flying about
the ships, and then continued towards the southwest, and
others were heard also flying by in the night. Tunny-fish
played about the smooth sea, and a heron, a pelican, and
a duck were seen, all bound in the same direction. The
herbage which floated by was fresh and green, as if re
cently from land, and the air, Columbus observes, was
sweet and fragrant as April breezes in Seville.

58 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

All these, however, were regarded by the crews as so
many delusions beguiling them on to destruction; and wheii
on the evening of the third day they beheld the sun go
down upon a shoreless ocean, they broke forth into turbu
lent clamor. They exclaimed against this obstinacy in
tempting fate by continuing on into a boundless sea. They
insisted upon turning homeward and abandoning the voy
age as hopeless. Columbus endeavored to pacify them
by gentle words and promises of large rewards; but, find
ing that they only increased in clamor, he assumed a de
cided tone. He told them it was useless to murmur; the
expedition had been sent by the sovereigns to seek the
Indies, and, happen what might, he was determined to per
severe until, by the blessing of God, he should accomplish
the enterprise.

Columbus was now at open defiance with his crew, and
his situation became desperate. Fortunately, the mani
festations of the vicinity of land were such on the follow
ing day as no longer to admit of a doubt. Beside a quan
tity of fresh weeds, such as grow in rivers, they saw a
green fish of a kind which keeps about rocks; then a branch
of thorn with berries on it, and recently separated from
the tree, floated by them; then, they picked up a reed, a
small board, and, above all, a staff artificially carved. All
gloom and mutiny now gave way to sanguine expectation;
and throughout the day every one was eagerly on the watch,
in hopes of being the first to discover the long-sought-for
land. . . .

The breeze had been fresh all day, with more sea than
usual, and they had made great progress. At sunset they
had stood again to the west, and were ploughing the
waves at a rapid rate, the Pinta keeping the lead, from
her superior sailing. The greatest animation prevailed
throughout the ships; not an eye was closed that night.

IRVING] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 59

As the evening darkened, Columbus took his station on
the top of the castle or cabin on the high poop of his ves
sel, ranging his eye along the dusky horizon, and main
taining an intense and unremitting watch. About ten
o'clock he thought he beheld a light glimmering at a great
distance. Fearing his eager hopes might deceive him, he
called to Pedro Gutierrez, gentleman of the king's bed
chamber, and inquired whether he saw such a light; the
latter replied in the affirmative. Doubtful whether it might
not yet be some delusion of the fancy, Columbus called
Rodrigo Sanchez of Segovia, and made the same inquiry.
By the time the latter had ascended the roundhouse, the
light had disappeared. They saw it once or twice after
wards in sudden and passing gleams, as if it were a torch
in the bark of a fisherman, rising and sinking with the
waves, or in the hand of some person on shore, borne up
and down as he walked from house to house. So transient
and uncertain were these gleams that few attached any im
portance to them; Columbus, however, considered them
as certain signs of land, and, moreover, that the land was
inhabited.

They continued their course until two in the morning,
when a gun from the Pinta gave the joyful signal of land.
It was first descried by a mariner named Rodrigo de Triana;
but the reward was afterwards adjudged to the admiral,
for having previously perceived the light. The land was
now clearly seen about two leagues distant, whereupon they
took in sail, and laid to, waiting impatiently for the
dawn.

The thoughts and feelings of Columbus in this little space
of time must have been tumultuous and intense. At length,
in spite of every difficulty and danger, he had accomplished
his object. The great mystery of the ocean was revealed;
his theory, which had been the scoff of sages, was trium-

60 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

phantly established; he had secured to himself a glory
durable as the world itself.

It is difficult to conceive the feelings of such a man at
such a moment, or the conjectures which must have
thronged upon his mind, as to the land before him, covered
with darkness. That it was fruitful, was evident from the
vegetables which floated from its shores. He thought, too,
that he perceived the fragrance of aromatic groves. The
moving light he had beheld proved it the residence of
man. But what were its inhabitants? Were they like
those of the other parts of the globe? or were they some
strange and monstrous race, such as the imagination was
prone in those times to give to all remote and unknown
regions? Had he come upon some wild island far in the
Indian sea? or was this the famed Cipango itself, the
object of his golden fancies? A thousand speculations of
the kind must have swarmed upon him, as, with his anx
ious crews, he waited for the night to pass away, won
dering whether the morning light would reveal a savage
wilderness, or dawn upon spicy groves, and glittering
fanes, and gilded cities, and all the splendor of Oriental
civilization.

It was on Friday morning, the I2th of October, that
Columbus first beheld the New World. As the day dawned
he saw before him a level island, several leagues in extent,
and covered with trees like a continual orchard. Though
apparently uncultivated, it was populous, for the inhab
itants were seen issuing from all parts of the woods and
running to the shore. They were perfectly naked, and,
as they stood gazing at the ships, appeared by their atti
tudes and gestures to be lost in astonishment. Columbus
made signal for the ships to cast anchor, and the boats to
be manned and armed. He entered his own boat, richly
attired in scarlet, and holding the royal standard; whilst

GORDON] DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA. 61

Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and Vincent Janez his brother, put
off in company in their boats, each with a banner of the
enterprise emblazoned with a green cross, having on either
side the letters F. and Y., the initials of the Castilian
monarchs Fernando and Ysabel, surmounted by crowns.

As he approached the shore, Columbus, who was dis
posed for all 'kinds of agreeable impressions, was delighted
with the purity and suavity of the atmosphere, the crys
tal transparency of the sea, and the extraordinary beauty
of the vegetation. He beheld, also, fruits of an unknown
kind upon the trees which overhung the shores. On land
ing, he threw himself on his knees, kissed the earth, and
returned thanks to God with tears of joy. His example
was followed by the rest, whose hearts indeed overflowed
with the same feelings of gratitude. Columbus then rising
drew his sword, displayed the royal standard, and assem
bling around him the two captains, with Rodrigo de Esco-
bedo, notary of the armament, Rodrigo Sanchez, and the
rest who had landed, he took solemn possession in the
name of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the
name of San Salvador. Having complied with the requi
site forms and ceremonies, he called upon all present to
take the oath of obedience to him, as admiral and viceroy,
representing the persons of the sovereigns.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA.

THOMAS F. GORDON.

[The discovery made by Columbus was followed up by the Span
iards with an activity in marked contrast to the supineness dis
played by other nations in exploring and settling the American con
tinent. Within twenty years from 1492 the four largest islands x>f

Q2 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GORDON

the West Indies were the seats of active colonies, while more than a
century passed ere any other nation founded a permanent colony on
the American shores, with the exception of the small settlements of
the Portuguese in Brazil. This was rapidly followed by the con
quest of the two great empires of Mexico and Peru, and the explo
ration of the region of the southern United States, while yet other
pations were contenting themselves with occasional voyages of dis
covery along the coasts of the new continent. The great fertility of
the islands first settled by the Spaniards, the* mildness of their cli
mates, and, above all, the frequent discovery of gold, pearls, and
other rich prizes, were the main causes of the Spanish activity, and
served as inducements to repeated exploring expeditions.

Columbus made four voyages in all to the New World, discover
ing the South American continent near the mouth of the Orinoco
in the third, and reaching Honduras and the coast to the south of
this region in the fourth. To the day of his death he continued
under the delusion that the land he had reached was the eastern ex
tremity of Asia. Other voyagers quickly followed. Ojeda, who had
already visited Hispaniola with Columbus, sailed on his own ac
count and explored four hundred leagues of the coast of South
America in the region already discovered by Columbus. He was
accompanied by Amerigo Vespucci, who made three subsequent
voyages to America and wrote the first account of it that was pub
lished. This was in a Latin work printed in 1507 and prepared by
a German scholar, Martin Waldseemuller, who proposed the name
of America for the new continent. The suggestion was universally
accepted, and Columbus lost the honor of giving his name to the
New World.

Other voyagers were Pedro Alonzo Nigno, who sailed to the
same region of South America and passed from the Gulf of Paria
to the shores of the present republic of Colombia, and Vincent
Yanez Pinzon, who had commanded one of the vessels of Colum
bus on his first voyage, and who was the first Spaniard to cross the
equinoctial line. He discovered the mouth of the Amazon River,
and from there sailed north to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of
Mexico. About the same time (1499) Diego Lope reached the coast
of South America at Capd St. Augustine, which he doubled and
sailed to the southwest for a considerable distance. In 1500, Rod-
rigo Bastides touched South America at Cape Vela, and coasted to
the present seaport of Nombre de Dios, a point which Columbus
had reached in sailing south from Honduras.
At a subsequent period the settled islands of the West Indies be-

GORDON] DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA. 63

came centres of exploration for the reckless or disappointed spirits
who had failed to find there the fortunes they sought. Among
others, Ojeda, under a grant from the King of Spain, founded the
settlement of San Sebastian, in the Gulf of Uraba. With him had
engaged to sail Francisco Pizarro and Hernando Cortes. The lat
ter was detained by illness, but the former thus made the first step
in his famous career. The colony left by Ojeda was forced by the
Indians to abandon the settlement. One vessel foundered. The
other, commanded by Pizarro, reached Carthagena, where was
found Enciso, a lawyer of San Domingo, who was conveying men
and provisions to the colony. With him was Vasco Nunez de Bal
boa, an adventurer whose debts made him fly the town, and who
managed to smuggle himself on board the ship in what purported
to be a cask of provisions. On leaving shore he emerged from his
cask, fell on his knees to Enciso, and begged pardon for his trick
and permission to accompany the expedition. The colony having
been deserted, Balboa proposed that they should sail for Darien,
which coast he had already visited with Bastides. This proposal
was accepted, and a new town established, which was named Santa
Maria de la Antigua del Darien. 'Troubles ensued among the colo
nists, which ended in the imprisonment of Enciso, and the establish
ment of Balboa as alcalde of the colony. The subsequent story of
this able adventurer is told in detail in " The History of the Span
ish Discoveries in America," by Thomas F. Gordon, from which we
make the following selection.]

IN the mean time the natives of Darien, weary of their
unbidden guests, and calculating that the same passions
which, brought them to their shores would tempt them
to remove, represented that the neighboring district of
Coyba was richer than that of Santa Maria, both in pro
visions and gold. Balboa sent Pizarro, with six men only,
to explore the country. Whilst ascending the river, they
were surrounded by four hundred Indians, commanded
by the cacique Zemaco, with whom the Spaniards unhesi
tatingly engaged, and in a very short time slew one hun
dred and fifty, and wounded many others. All the Span
iards were severely hurt, and one, dangerously wounded,

64 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GORDON

was left on the field. The others retreated to Santa Maria.
But Balboa, conceiving it to be a stain on his reputation
that a living man should be thus abandoned, compelled
Pizarro, with another party, to bring him off.

[Balboa soon after conquered Coyba, and formed a league with
its cacique, who became a useful ally.]

Adjacent to Coyba, at the foot of a range of high moun
tains, lay the district of Comagre, governed by a cacique
of the same name, who, struck with admiration of the
Spaniards, invited them into his territories, treated them
with much hospitality, and displayed greater civilization
than they had yet seen in the New World. His palace,
one hundred and fifty paces in length and eighty in
breadth, was enclosed by a wall of timber of ingenious
workmanship, and divided into convenient apartments,
stored with abundance of provisions. One of these cham
bers was the receptacle of the dried and embalmed bodies
of his ancestors of many generations, which, clothed in
mantles of cotton, embroidered with gold, pearls, and
precious stones, were suspended from the walls.

The eldest son of the cacique presented his guest with
a rich offering of gold, valued at four thousand pesos, and
seventy slaves. A fifth of the metal was set apart for the
king; but in the division of the remainder a strife arose
among the Christians, which surprised and provoked the
young Indian. " If," said he, addressing the Spaniards,
and indignantly striking over the balance, " if you are so
fond of gold as for its sake to desert your own country
and disturb the peace of others, I will lead you to a prov
ince where your utmost desires may be gratified, — where
gold is more abundant than iron in Spain, and is used in
the fabric of ordinary domestic utensils. But to conquer
this country you must provide a larger force than you

GORDON] DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA. 65

have here, since you will have to contend with mighty
chieftains, who will vigorously defend their possessions.
When you shall have passed these mountains," continued
he, pointing to a range in the southwest, " you will behold
another ocean, on which are vessels inferior only to those
which brought you hither, equipped with sails and oars,
but navigated by a people naked like ourselves." It is
supposed that the young chief alluded to the people of
Peru.

Balboa received with rapturous delight this first certain
intimation of the existence of another ocean. He exulted
in the hope of discovering the East Indies, which had been
so dearly cherished by Columbus, and conjectured that
the country now described to him formed a part of that
vast and opulent region. He immediately set about prepa
ration for this great enterprise, cultivating the good will
of Comagre and other chieftains, and administering to the
former and his sons the rite of Christian baptism.

[He sent the gold intended for the royal treasury to St. Do
mingo, and occupied himself in subduing the neighboring tribes
while waiting to obtain the sanction of the king to his government
of the colony. So much gold was obtained, and such extravagant
accounts of the riches of the country were carried to Spain, that
the region received the name of Golden Castile (Castilla del Oro),
and Balboa was sent the commission of captain-general by Passa-
monte, the king's treasurer at St. Domingo.]

But the pleasure of Nunez, on this occasion, was not
unmixed. Enciso had carried his complaints to the foot
of the throne, and Balboa was commanded to repair his
losses, to proceed immediately to court, and submit him
self to the king's pleasure. He might, therefore, hourly
expect a successor, to deprive him of the fame and wealth
he anticipated from his intended enterprise. To prevent
a calamity greatly deprecated by his ambitious spirit, he

66 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GORDON

determined to effect the passage to the South Sea with the
force then under his command.

The Isthmus of Darien is not above sixty miles in
breadth, but a chain of lofty mountains, a continuation of
the Andes, covered with almost impenetrable forests, runs
through its whole extent. Its valleys, divided by large and
impetuous rivers, and inundated by rains which prevail
near two-thirds of the year, are marshy and unhealthy.
Its inhabitants, advanced but a few degrees in civilization,
had done nothing to remove or alleviate the difficulties of
the passage from sea to sea; nor after a lapse of three hun
dred years has it become more facile or commodious.

The attempt of Balboa may justly be considered the
boldest which had been made by the Spaniards in the
New World; but he was in all respects fitted to insure its
success. The quality of courage he possessed, only, in
common with the meanest of his army; but his prudence,
generosity, and affability, and those nameless popular
talents which inspire confidence and secure attachment,
were peculiarly his own. In battle his post was that of
the greatest danger, and in every labor that of the greatest
fatigue; whilst his regard for the ease of his troops was
ever active and anxious. He desired for his undertaking
a force of one thousand soldiers, but he commenced it
with one hundred and ninety only, and some fierce blood
hounds, which were efficient auxiliaries. A thousand In
dians, who accompanied him, were chiefly useful in the
transportation of the baggage.

Balboa set forth on the ist of September (1513), after
the rainy season had passed. He proceeded by sea to the
district of Coyba, and thence marched into that of the
cacique Ponca. At his approach, that chieftain fled to
the deepest recesses of his mountains; but, attracted by
promises of favor, and a liberal donation of Spanish im-

GORDON] DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC BY BALBOA. 67

plements and toys, he returned to his village, and gave
the Spaniards a small quantity of gold, some provisions,
and guides. Further progress was sternly opposed by a
warlike tribe, armed with bows and arrows, and a species
of sling, by which they threw staves hardened in the fire
with such force as to pass through the body of a naked
adversary. But the novel and terrific effect of the firelock,
the keen edge of the sword, and the ferocity of the blood
hounds, scattered them in dismay, with the loss of their
cacique and six hundred of inferior note. Among the
prisoners were the brother of the cacique, and several
chiefs, who were clothed in tunics of white cotton; and,
being accused of unnatural crimes by their enemies, they
were torn to pieces by the dogs, at the command of the
Spaniards.

This defeat made the neighboring tribes fearful of pro
voking hostility, and disposed them to render such assist
ance as the Christians required. But great labor and
patience were necessary to overcome the natural difficul
ties of the way. Disease and fatigue broke down some of
the hardy veterans, and they were left behind to recruit
their health. A journey estimated by the Indians to be
of six days only had already occupied twenty-five days,
when Nunez approached the summit of a mountain from
which he was informed the great ocean might be seen.
He commanded the army to halt, and advanced alone to
the apex, whence he beheld the great South Sea opened
before him, in boundless extent. Casting himself on his
knees, he poured forth his grateful thanks to heaven for
conducting him in safety to this glorious object. The
army, beholding his transports, rushed forward, and
joined in his admiration, his exultation, and his grati
tude. Then, with formal ceremony, he took possession of
land and sea, making a record thereof, carefully attested,

68 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GORDON

erecting crosses and mounds of stone, and cutting the
king's name on trees. In his descent to the coast he was
compelled to combat with a cacique called Chiapes, whom
he converted by his magnanimity into an active and zeal
ous friend. . . .

[A practicable passage to the sea being discovered,]
Nunez, leaving a great part of his men at the village of
Chiapes, proceeded with eighty Spaniards and a number
of Indians, conducted by their friendly chief, towards the
coast, and arrived on the borders of one of the vast bays
which indent it, and to which he gave the name of St.
Michael, it being discovered on that saint's day. When
he reached the shore he rushed into the ocean with his
sword drawn, an3 called upon the witnesses to observe
that he had taken possession of it in the name of the king,
his master.

[The succeeding career of Balboa may be epitomized. Receiving
from the Indians a fuller, description of the great and wealthy em
pire to the south, and having too few men to attempt its conquest,
he returned to Darien by another route, carrying with him a treas
ure valued at nearly half a million of dollars, the greatest collected up
to that time by any adventurer in America. He at once sent mes
sengers to Spain, but before these arrived Don Pedrarias Davila
had been sent out to supersede him in his command. Somewhat
later letters arrived from the king appointing Balboa Adelantado,or
admiral. He then resolved to accomplish his project of exploring
the newly-discovered ocean. With enormous labor, ship-building
materials were conveyed across the isthmus, and two brigantines
were constructed. Embarking in these, the adventurers took pos
session of the Pearl Islands, and only adverse weather prevented
them from reaching the coast of Peru. Balboa's career was checked
by the jealousy of Pedrarias, who recalled him to Darien. Balboa
obeyed, having no suspicion of treachery. He was immediately
seized, imprisoned, tried, and condemned to death, Pedrarias forc
ing the judge to impose this sentence. The sentence was carried
into execution in the public square of Acla, in 1517, to the great
grief of all the inhabitants, who had vainly interceded for his par-

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF CORT&S. 69

don. The design of the conquest of Peru, which he was thus
prevented from accomplishing, was finally carried out by Pizarro,
as able a man as Balboa, and a much more unscrupulous one. Three
years after the death of Balboa, a Spanish fleet, under Magellan,
entered the South Sea after sailing around the southern extremity
of the continent. This great ocean, which Magellan named the
Pacific, from the pleasant weather with which he was steadily
favored, was crossed by his ships to the islands of the Indian archi
pelago. Laden with spices, the fleet returned to Europe by way of
the Cape of Good Hope, having thus completed the circumnaviga
tion of the globe.]

RETREAT OF CORTf S FROM THE CITY OF MEXICO.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT.

[The first step towards the discovery of Mexico was made by
Francisco Fernandez de Cordova, who, in 1517, explored the north
ern coast of Yucatan. Instead of finding naked savages, as in
former explorations, he was surprised to discover well-clad people
and large stone edifices. The natives were so bold and warlike as
to drive off the Spaniards, killing many of them, and mortally
wounding Cordova. In the following year, Juan de Grijalva ex
plored a portion of the southern coast of Mexico, and obtained
much treasure by traffic with the inhabitants. Velasquez, governor
of Cuba, who had fitted out this expedition, now determined to at
tempt the conquest of the wealthy country that had been discovered,
and prepared an expedition of ten vessels, manned by six hundred
and seventeen men, which he placed under the command of Her-
nando Cortes, an adventurous cavalier who had already shown
much military ability. He landed in Mexico on March 4, 1519,
where his ships, his horses, and his artillery filled the natives with
wonder and terror and caused them to regard the Spaniards as
divine beings. After several victories over the natives, who were
repulsed with great slaughter, Cortes founded the city of Vera Cruz,
burned his vessels to cut off all thought of retreat from the minds
of his soldiers, and commenced his march towards the Mexican
capital. He was opposed by the people of Tlascala, enemies of the

70 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PRESCOTT

Aztecs, but he conquered this warlike republic and converted its in
habitants into useful auxiliaries. In the city of Cholula, where an
ambuscade had been laid for him, he defeated his enemies with ter
rible slaughter. He finally reached the city of Mexico, which was
situated on an island in a lake and connected by causeways with the
mainland. Here he took Montezuma, the Aztec emperor, prisoner, and
converted one of his palaces into a fortress. Velasquez had, mean
while, sent an expedition under Narvaez to deprive Cortes of his
command. Leaving two hundred men in the city, he marched
against Narvaez, defeated him, and enlisted his men under his own
banner. During his absence the Mexicans attacked the Spanish gar
rison. Their attacks were continued after the return of Cortes with
such fury that Montezuma was mortally wounded by his own sub
jects, and many of the Spaniards were slain. So persistent and
threatening became the Mexican assaults that the invaders found
themselves in imminent peril of being entirely destroyed, and their
leader was forced to order a retreat. There is nothing more excit
ing in fiction than the story of this terrible night march, the " noche
triste" of Spanish historians. We give it in Presco.tt's eloquent
description from his " Conquest of Mexico."]

THE general's first care was to provide for the safe trans
portation of the treasure. Many of the common soldiers
had converted their share of the prize, as we have seen,
into gold chains, collars, or other ornaments, which they
easily carried about their persons. But the royal fifth,
together with that of Cortes himself, and much of the
rich booty of the principal cavaliers, had been converted
into bars and wedges of solid gold and deposited in one
of the strong apartments of the palace. Cortes delivered
the share belonging to the crown to the royal officers, as
signing them one of the strongest horses, and a guard of
Castilian soldiers, to transport it. Still, much of the treas
ure, belonging both to the crown and to individuals, was
necessarily abandoned, from the want of adequate means
of conveyance. The metal lay scattered in shining heaps
along the floor, exciting the cupidity of the soldiers.
" Take what you will of it," said Cortes to his men.

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF CORT&S. 71

" Better you should have it, than these Mexican hounds.
But be careful not to overload yourselves. He travels
safest in the dark night who travels lightest." His own
more wary followers took heed to his counsel, helping
themselves to a few articles of least bulk, though, it might
be, of greatest value. But the troops of Narvaez, pining
for riches of which they had heard so much and hitherto
seen so little, showed no such discretion. To them it
seemed as if the very mines of Mexico were turned up
before them, and, rushing on the treacherous spoil, they
greedily loaded themselves with as much of it, not merely
as they could accommodate about their persons, but as
they could stow away in wallets, boxes, or any other
means of conveyance at their disposal.

Cortes next arranged the order of march. The van,
composed of two hundred Spanish foot, he placed under
the command of the valiant Gonzalo de Sandoval, sup
ported by Diego de Ordaz, Francisco de Lujo, and about
twenty other cavaliers. The rear-guard, constituting the
strength of the infantry, was intrusted to Pedro de Alva-
rado and Velasquez de Leon. The general himself took
charge of the " battle," or centre, in which went the bag
gage, some of the heavy guns, — most of which, however,
remained in the rear, — the treasure, and the prisoners.
These consisted of a son and two daughters of Monte-
zuma, Cacama, the deposed lord of Tezcuco, and several
other nobles, whom Cortes retained as important pledges
in his future negotiations with the enemy. The Tlascalans
were distributed pretty equally among the three divisions ;
and Cortes had under his immediate command a hundred
picked soldiers, his own veterans most attached to his
service, who, with Cristoval de Olid, Francisco de Morla,
Alonso de Avila, and two or three other cavaliers, formed
a select corps, to act wherever occasion might require.

72 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PRESCOTT

The general had already superintended the construction
of a portable bridge to be laid over the open canals in the
causeway. This was given in charge to an officer named
Magarino, with forty soldiers under his orders, all pledged
to defend the passage to the last extremity. The bridge
was to be taken up when the entire army had crossed one
of the breaches, and transported to the next. There were
three of these openings in the causeway, and most fortu
nate would it have been for the expedition if the fore
sight of the commander had provided the same number of
bridges. But the labor would have been great, and time
was short.

At midnight the troops were under arms, in readiness
for the march. Mass was performed by Father Olmedo,
who invoked the protection of the Almighty through
the awful perils of the night. The gates were thrown
open, and on the 1st of July, 1520, the Spaniards for the
last time sallied forth from the walls of the ancient for
tress, the scene of so much suffering and such indomitable
courage.

The night was cloudy, and a drizzling rain, which fell
without intermission, added to the obscurity. The great
square before the palace was deserted, as, indeed, it had
been since the fall of Montezuma. Steadily, and as noise
lessly as possible, the Spaniards held their way along the
great street of Tlacopan, which so lately had resounded
with the tumult of battle. All was now hushed in silence ;
and they were only reminded of the past by the occasional
presence of some solitary corpse, or a dark heap of the
slain, which too plainly told where the strife had been hot
test. As they passed along the lanes and alleys which
opened into the great street, or looked down the canals,
whose polished surface gleamed with a sort of ebon lustre
through the obscurity of night, they easily fancied that

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF CORTES. 73

they discerned the shadowy forms of their foe lurking in
ambush and ready to spring on them. But it was only
fancy; and the city slept undisturbed even by the pro
longed echoes of the tramp of the horses and the hoarse
rumbling of the artillery and baggage-trains. At length
a lighter space beyond the dusky line of buildings showed
the van of the army that it was emerging on the open
causeway. They might well have congratulated them
selves on having thus escaped the dangers of an assault
in the city itself, and that a brief time would place them
in comparative safety on the opposite shore. But the
Mexicans were not all asleep.

As the Spaniards drew near the spot where the street
opened on the causeway, and were preparing to lay the
portable bridge across the uncovered breach, which now
met their eyes, several Indian sentinels, who had been
stationed at this, as at the other approaches to the city,
took the alarm and fled, rousing their countrymen by
their cries. The priests, keeping their night-watch on
the summit of the teocallis, instantly caught the tidings
and sounded their shells, while the huge drum in the
desolate temple of the war-god sent forth those solemn
tones which, heard only in seasons of calamity, vibrated
through every corner of the capital. The Spaniards saw
that no time was to be lost. The bridge was brought
forward and fitted with all possible expedition. Sandoval
was the first to try its strength, and, riding across, was
followed by his little body of chivalry, his infantry, and
Tlascalan allies, who formed the first division of the
army. Then came Cortes and his squadrons, with the
baggage, ammunition-wagons, and a part of the artillery.
But before they had time to defile across the narrow pas
sage, a gathering sound was heard, like that of a mighty
forest agitated by the winds. It grew louder and loud#*i »

74 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PRESCOTT

while on the dark waters of the lake was heard a plash
ing noise, as of many oars. Then came a few stones and
arrows striking at random among the hurrying troops.
They fell every moment faster and more furious, till they
thickened into a terrible tempest, while the very heavens
were rent with the yells and war-cries of myriads of com
batants, who seemed all at once to be swarming over land
and lake!

The Spaniards pushed steadily on through this arrowy
sleet, though the barbarians, dashing their canoes against
the sides of the causeway, clambered up and broke in
upon their ranks. But the Christians, anxious only to
make their escape, declined all combat except for self-
preservation. The cavaliers, spurring forward their steeds,
shook off their assailants and rode over their prostrate
bodies, while the men on foot with their good swords or
the butts of their pieces drove them headlong again down
the sides of the dike.

But the advance of several thousand men, marching,
probably, on a front of not more than fifteen or twenty
abreast, necessarily required much time, and the leading
files had already reached the second breach in the cause
way before those in the rear had entirely traversed the
first. Here they halted, as they had no means of effect
ing a passage, smarting all the while under unintermit-
ting volleys from the enemy, who were clustered thick
on the waters around this second opening. Sorely dis
tressed, the vanguard sent repeated messages to the rear
to demand the portable bridge. At length the last of the
army had crossed, and Magarino and his sturdy followers
endeavored to raise the ponderous framework. But it
stuck fast in the sides of the dike. In vain they strained
every nerve. The weight of so many men and horses, and
above all of the heavy artillery, had wedged the timbers

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF CORTES. 75

so firmly in the stones and earth that it was beyond their
power to dislodge them. Still they labored amidst a tor
rent of missiles, until, many of them slain, and all wounded,
they were obliged to abandon the attempt.

The tidings soon spread from man to man, and no
sooner was their dreadful import comprehended than a
cry of despair arose, which for a moment drowned all
the noise of conflict. All means of retreat were cut off.
Scarcely hope was left. The only hope was in such desper
ate exertions as each could make for himself. Order and
subordination were at an end. Intense danger produced
intense selfishness. Each thought only of his own life.
Pressing forward, he trampled down the weak and the
wounded, heedless whether it were friend or foe. The
leading files, urged on by the rear, were crowded on the
brink of the gulf. Sandoval, Ordaz, and the other cavaliers
dashed into the water. Some succeeded in swimming
their horses across. Others failed, and some, who reached
the opposite bank, being overturned in the ascent, rolled
headlong with their steeds into the lake. The infantry
followed pell-mell, heaped promiscuously on one another,
frequently pierced by the shafts or struck down by the
war-clubs of the Aztecs ; while many an unfortunate vic
tim was dragged half stunned on board their canoes, to
be reserved for a protracted but more dreadful death.

The carnage raged fearfully along the length of the
causeway Its shadowy bulk presented a mark of suf
ficient distinctness for the enemy's missiles, which often
prostrated their own countrymen in the blind fury of the
tempest. Those nearest the dike, running their canoes
alongside with a force that shattered them to pieces,
leaped on the land, and grappled with the Christians,
until both came rolling down the side of the causeway
together. But the Aztec fell among his friends, while

76 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PRESCOTT

his antagonist was borne away in triumph to the sacrifice.
The struggle was long and deadly. The Mexicans were
recognized by their white cotton tunics, which showed
faint through the darkness. Above the combatants rose
a wild and discordant clamor, in which horrid shouts of
vengeance were mingled with groans of agony, with invo
cations of the saints and the blessed Virgin, and with the
screams of women; for there were several women, both
natives and Spaniards, who had accompanied the Chris
tian camp. Among these, one named Maria de Estrada
is particularly noticed for the courage she displayed, bat
tling with broadsword and target like the stancbest of the
warriors.

The opening in the causeway, meanwhile, was filled up
with the wreck of matter which had been forced into it, —
ammunition-wagons, heavy guns, bales of rich stuffs scat
tered over the waters, chests of solid ingots, and bodies
of men and horses, till over this dismal ruin a passage
was gradually formed, by which those in the rear were
enabled to clamber to the other side. Cortes, it is said,
found a place that was fordable, where, halting, with the
water up to his saddle-girths, he endeavored to check the
confusion and lead his followers by a safer path to the
opposite bank. But his voice was lost in the wild uproar,
and finally, hurrying on with the tide, he pressed for
ward with a few trusty cavaliers, who remained near his
person, to the van; but not before he had seen his favorite
page, Juan de Salazar, struck down, a corpse, by his side.
Here He found Sandoval and his companions, halting be
fore the third and last breach, endeavoring to cheer on
their followers to surmount it. But their resolution fal
tered. It was wide and deep; though the passage was
not so closely beset by the enemy as the preceding ones.
The cavaliers again set the example by plunging into

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF CORT&S. 77

the water. Horse and foot followed as they could, some
swimming, others with dying grasp clinging to the manes
and tails of the struggling animals. Those fared best, as
the general had predicted, who travelled lightest; and
many were the unfortunate wretches who, weighed down
by the fatal gold which they loved so well, were buried
with it in the salt floods of the lake. Cortes, with his
gallant comrades, Olid, Morla, Sandbval, and some few
others, still kept in the advance, leading his broken rem
nant off the fatal causeway. The din of battle lessened
in the distance; when the rumor reached them that the
rear-guard would be wholly overwhelmed without speedy
relief. It seemed almost an act of desperation; but the
generous hearts of the Spanish cavaliers did not stop to
calculate danger when the cry for succor reached them.
Turning their horses' bridles, they galloped back to the
theatre of action, worked their way through the press,
swam the canal, and placed themselves in the thick of the
melee on the opposite bank.

The first gray of the morning was now coming over the
waters. It showed the hideous confusion of the scene
which had been shrouded in the obscurity of night. The
dark masses of combatants, stretching along the dike,
were seen struggling for mastery, until the very cause
way on which they stood appeared to tremble and reel to
and fro, as if shaken by an earthquake, while the bosom
of the lake, as far as the eye could reach, was darkened
by canoes crowded with warriors, whose spears and blud
geons, armed with blades of " volcanic glass," gleamed in
the morning light.

The cavaliers found Alvarado unhorsed, and defending
himself with a poor handful of followers against an over
whelming tide of the enemy. His good steed, which had
borne him through many a hard fight, had fallen

78 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PRESCOTT

him. He was himself wounded in several places, and was
striving in vain to rally his scattered column, which was
driven to the verge of the canal by the fury of the enemy,
then in possession of the whole rear of the causeway,
where they were reinforced every hour by fresh com
batants from the city. The artillery in the earlier part
of the engagement had not been idle, and its iron shower,
sweeping along the dike, had mowed down the assailants
by hundreds. But nothing could resist their impetuosity.
The front ranks, pushed on by those behind, were at length
forced up to the pieces, and, pouring over them like a tor
rent, overthrew men and guns in one general ruin. The
resolute charge of the Spanish cavaliers, who had now
arrived, created a temporary check, and gave time for
their countrymen to make a feeble rally. But they were
speedily borne down by the returning flood. Cortes and
his companions were compelled to plunge again into the
lake, — though all did not escape. Alvarado stood on the
brink for a moment hesitating what to do. Unhorsed as
he was, to throw himself into the water in the face of
the hostile canoes that now swarmed around the opening
afforded but a desperate chance of safety. He had but a
second for thought. He was a man of powerful frame,
and despair gave him unnatural energy. Setting his long
lance firmly on the wreck which strewed the bottom of
the lake, he sprung forward with all his might, and cleared
the wide gap at a leap ! Aztecs and Tlascalans gazed in
stupid amazement, exclaiming, as they beheld the incredi
ble feat, "This is truly the Tonatiuh, — the child of the
Sun ! " The breadth of the opening is not given. But it
was so great that the valorous captain, Diaz, who well re
membered the place, says the leap was impossible to any
man. Other contemporaries, however, do not discredit
the story. It was, beyond doubt, matter of popular be-

PRESCOTT] RETREAT OF GORTES. 79

lief at the time ; it is to this day familiarly known to
every inhabitant of the capital ; and the name of the Salto
de Alvarado, "Alvarado's Leap," given to the spot, still
commemorates an exploit which rivalled those of the
demi-gods of Grecian fable.

Cortes and his companions now rode forward to the
front, where the troops, in a loose, disorderly manner,
were marching off the fatal causeway. A few only of the
enemy hung on their rear, or annoyed them by occasional
flights of arrows from the lake. The attention of the
Aztecs was diverted by the rich spoil that strewed the
battle-ground; fortunately for the Spaniards, who, had
their enemy pursued with the same ferocity with which
he had fought, would, in their crippled condition, have
been cut off, probably, to a man. But little molested,
therefore, they were allowed to defile through the adja
cent village, or suburbs, it might be called, of Popotla.

The Spanish commander there dismounted from his
jaded steed, and, sitting down on the steps of an Indian
temple, gazed mournfully on the broken files as they
passed before him. What a spectacle did they present !
The cavalry, most of them dismounted, were mingled with
the infantry, who dragged their feeble limbs along with
difficulty ; their shattered mail and tattered garments drip
ping with the salt ooze, showing through their rents many
a bruise and ghastly wound; their bright arms soiled,
their proud crests and banners gone, the baggage, artil
lery, all, in short, that constitutes the pride and panoply
of glorious war, forever lost. Cortes, as he looked wist
fully on their thin and disordered ranks, sought in vain
for many a familiar face, and missed more than one
dear companion who had stood side by side with him
through all the perils of the Conquest. Though accus
tomed to control his emotions, or, at least, to conceal

&0 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [D'ANVERS

them, the sight was too much for him. He covered his
face with his hands, and the tears which trickled down
revealed too plainly the anguish of his soul.

[The story of the conquest of Mexico may be briefly concluded.
Cortes, in his retreat, found himself opposed by a vastly outnumber
ing army, filling a valley through which he was forced to pass. A
desperate conflict ensued, in which the Spaniards were in imminent
danger of annihilation, when Cortes, followed by his bravest cava
liers, spurred to the point where the great Aztec standard rose in
the centre of the army, cut down the general, and seized the impe
rial banner. On seeing their standard fall, the army at once broke
into a panic and fled in all directions, leaving free passage to the
remnant of the Spanish force. Cortes proceeded to the coast,
where he received reinforcements, and returned to besiege the city.
It was defended with desperate determination, and yielded only
after a siege of several months, when the city was nearly levelled
with the ground, and after the inhabitants had endured the extremi
ties of famine. The submission of the city was that of the empire,
and the Aztecs experienced the fate which had been visited upon
the natives in the other Spanish colonies.]

HERNANDO DE SOTO.

N. D'ANVERS.

[The activity of the Spanish adventurers in their search for gold
was unceasing, and this eager desire for riches led to a far more
rapid exploration of the American continent than could have been
j accomplished under any other incitement. It was this that led Bal
boa in his perilous journey across the Isthmus, and that was the in-
j citing cause of the remarkable achievements of Cortes and Pizarro.
The same wild thirst for wealth led a succession of bold adventurers
northward, and gave rise to an extended exploration of the terri
tory of the southern United States. The earliest of these was Juan
Ponce de Leon, who in 1512 discovered a country which he named
Florida, either because he first saw it on Easter Sunday (Pascua

D'ANVERS] HERNANDO DE SOTO. 81

florida), or on account of its beautiful appearance. He made sev
eral efforts to land, but was driven off by the warlike natives.

In the words of Robertson, " It was not merely the passion of
searching for new countries that prompted Ponce de Leon to under
take this voyage; he was influenced by one of those visionary ideas
which at that time often mingled with the spirit of discovery and
rendered it more active. A tradition prevailed among the natives of
Puerto Rico, that in the isle of Bimini, one of the Lucayos, there
was a fountain of such wonderful virtue as to renew the youth and
recall the vigor of every person who bathed in its salutary waters.
In hopes of finding this grand restorative, Ponce de Leon and his
followers ranged through the islands, searching, with fruitless solici
tude and labor, for the fountain which was the chief object of their
expedition. That a tale so fabulous should gain credit among simple
uninstructed Indians is not surprising. That it should make any
impression upon an enlightened people appears, in the present age,
altogether incredible. The fact, however, is certain; and the most
authentic Spanish historians mention this extravagant sally of their
credulous countrymen. The Spaniards, at that period, were en
gaged in a career of activity which gave a romantic turn to their
imagination and daily presented to them strange and marvellous
objects. A new world was opened to their view. They visited
islands and continents of whose existence mankind in former ages
had no conception. In those delightful countries nature seemed
to assume another form; every tree and plant and animal was dif
ferent from those of the ancient hemisphere. They seemed to be
transported into enchanted ground; and, after the wonders which
they had seen, nothing, in the warmth and novelty of their imagi
nation, appeared to them so extraordinary as to be beyond belief.
If the rapid succession of new and striking scenes made such im
pression upon the sound understanding of Columbus that he boasted
of having found the seat of Paradise, it will not appear strange that
Ponce de Leon should dream of discovering the fountain of youth."

Ponce de Leon was killed by the Indians in a second visit to
Florida in 1521. In 1518 Francisco Garay cruised along the whole
Gulf coast, passing the mouth of the Mississippi, — the Miche Sepe,
or Father of Waters, of the Indians. In 1520, Lucas Vasquez de
Ayllon sailed from Cuba in quest of a land called Chicora, north
of Florida, said to possess a sacred stream whose waters had the
miraculous virtue of those of the Fountain of Youth. He carried
1-6

82 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [D'ANVERS

off some of the Indians, in reprisal for which he was attacked in
a second expedition and many of his men killed, perhaps himself
among the number. In 1528, Pamphilo de Narvaez made an effort
to take possession of this land in the name of Charles V. of Ger
many. He met, however, with such determined opposition from the
Indians that after months of fruitless wandering he reached the
shores of the Gulf, bringing with him but a miserable remnant of his
six hundred followers. Here five crazy boats were built, and the
reckless adventurers sought to follow the line of the coast to the
Mexican settlements. Four of the boats were lost in a storm, and
the survivors, landing, sought to cross the continent to the prov
ince of Sonora, already colonized by Spaniards. Four of the party,
after being held for years in captivity by the Indians, succeeded in
this enterprise, among them Cabec.a de Vaca, treasurer of the ex
pedition. Their appearance at the mining settlement on the shores
of the Gulf of California caused the greatest astonishment, and on
reaching Europe, nine years after the starting of the original expe
dition, they were received with the utmost enthusiasm. We give
the story of De Soto in an extract from " Heroes of American Dis
covery," by N. D'Anvers.]

THE excitement caused' by the wonderful tales of their
captivity, told by Cabega and his comrades, was, as may
be imagined, intense. Far from damping the ardor of
others for exploration and colonization, the pictures called
up by their narrative of hair-breadth escapes, of the magic
influence exercised on whole tribes of dusky warriors by
a single white man, of the weird growths of the tropical
forests, and of the wild beauty of the Indian maidens,
created a passion for adventure amongst the youth of
Spain. When, therefore, the renowned Hernando De
Soto, who had been in close attendance on Pizarro
throughout his romantic career in Peru, asked for and
obtained permission from Ferdinand of Spain to take pos
session of Florida in his name, hundreds of volunteers of
every rank flocked to his standard. Narvaez had failed
for want of knowledge as to how to deal with the natives ;
doubtless the land of gold could yet be found by those who

D'ANVERS] HERNANDO DE SOTO. 83

knew how to wrest the secret of its position- from the
sons of the soil ; and so once more a gallant company set
forth from Spain to measure their strength against the
craft of the poor Indians of Florida.

De Soto, who was in the first place appointed governor
of Cuba that he might turn to account the resources of
that wealthy island, sailed from Havana with a fleet of
nine vessels and a force of some six or seven hundred men
on the i8th May, 1539, and cast anchor in Tampa Bay on
the 3Oth of the same month. Landing his forces at once,
the leader gave orders that they should start for the
interior immediately, by the same route as that taken by
his unfortunate predecessor; and the men were eagerly
ploughing their way through the sandy, marshy districts
immediately beyond the beach, driving the natives who
opposed their progress before them, when one of those
romantic incidents occurred in which the early history of
the New World is so remarkably rich.

A white man on horseback rode forward from amongst
the dusky savages, who hailed the approach of the troops
with wild gestures of delight, and turned out to be a
Spaniard named Juan Ortiz, who had belonged to the
Narvaez expedition and had been unable to effect his
escape with his comrades. In his captivity amongst the
Indians he had acquired a thorough knowledge of their
language, and his services alike as a mediator and a guide
were soon found to be invaluable.

[The story told by Ortiz of his adventures in captivity may be
briefly given. It had been decided by his captors to burn him alive
by a slow fire, as a sacrifice to the Evil Spirit. He was accordingly
bound hand and foot and laid on a wooden stage, with a fire kindled
beneath it. At that moment of frightful peril the daughter of the
chieftain begged for his life from her father, and succeeded in win
ning a change of sentence from 4eath to slavery. Three years later

84 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [D'ANVERS

he was again condemned to be burned, and again saved by the
chieftain's daughter, who warned him of his danger, and led him to
the camp of another chief. Here he remained until the arrival of
the Spaniards. As for the maiden, Ortiz says nothing further con
cerning her.

Led by Ortiz, the exploring army wandered through the unknown
land of Florida until the ensuing spring, when the march was re
sumed under the guidance of a native who said he would take the
white men to a distant country, governed by a woman, and abound
ing in a yellow metal, which the Spaniards naturally took to be
gold, but which proved to be copper. After wandering to the
southern slope of the Appalachian range, marking their course by
pillage and bloodshed, and finding the land of gold ever receding
before them, they reached the dominions of an Indian queen, who
hastened to welcome them, perhaps with the desire of conciliating
her dreaded visitors.]

Very touching is the account given by the old chroni
clers of the meeting between the poor cacica and De Soto.
Alighting from the litter in which she had travelled, car
ried by four of her subjects, the dusky princess came
forward with gestures expressive of pleasure at the arrival
of her guest, and taking from her own neck a heavy dou
ble string of pearls, she hung it on that of the Spaniard.
Bowing with courtly grace, De Soto accepted the gift, and
for a short time he kept up the semblance of friendship;
but having obtained from the queen all the information he
wanted, he made her his prisoner, and robbed her and her
people of all the valuables they possessed, including large
numbers of pearls, found chiefly in the graves of natives
of distinction. We are glad to be able to add that the
poor queen effected her escape from her guards, taking
with her a box of pearls which she had managed to regain
and on which De Soto had set especial store.

The home of the cacica appears to have been situated
close to the Atlantic seaboard, and to have been amongst
the villages visited by De Ayllon twenty years previ
ously, the natives having in their possession a dagger and

D'ANVERS] HERNANDO DE SOTO. 85

a string of beads, probably a rosary, which they said had
belonged to the white men. Unwilling to go over old
ground, the Spaniards now determined to alter their
course, and, taking a northwesterly direction, they
reached, in the course of a few months, the first spurs of
the lofty Appalachian range, the formidable aspect ot
which so damped their courage that they turned back
and wandered into the lowlands of what is now Alabama,
ignorant that in the very mountains they so much dreaded
were hidden large quantities of that yellow metal they
had sought so long and so vainly.

The autumn of 1540 found the party, their numbers
greatly diminished, at a large village called Mavilla, close
to the site of the modern Mobile, where the natives were
gathered in considerable force; and it soon became evi
dent that an attempt would be made to exact vengeance
for the long course of oppression of which the white in
truders had been guilty in their two years' wanderings.

Intending to take possession of Mavilla in his usual
high-handed manner, De Soto and a few of his men en
tered the palisades forming its defences, accompanied by
the cacique, who, meek enough until he was within reach
of his warriors, then turned upon his guests with some
insulting speech and disappeared in a neighboring house.
A dispute then ensued between a minor chief and one of
the Spaniards. The latter enforced his view of the mat
ter at issue by a blow with his cutlass, and in an instant
the town was in a commotion. From every house poured
showers of arrows, and in a few minutes nearly all the
Christians were slain. De Soto and a few others escaped,
and, calling his forces together, the Spanish governor
quickly invested the town.

A terrible conflict, lasting nine hours, ensued, in which,
as was almost inevitable, the white men were finally vie-

86 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [D'ANVERS

torious, though not until they had lost many valuable
lives and nearly all their property. Mavilla was burnt to
ashes ; and when the battle was over, the Spaniards found
themselves in an awful situation, — at a distance from their
ships, without food or medicines, and surrounded on all
sides by enemies rendered desperate by defeat. The
common soldiers, too, had by this time had enough of ex
ploration, and were eager to return to the coast, there to
await the return of the vessels which had been sent to
Cuba for supplies. Evading the poor fellows' questions
as to his plans, however, De Soto, who had received secret
intelligence that his fleet was even now awaiting him in
the Bay of Pensacola, but six days' journey from Mavilla,
determined to make one more effort to redeem his honor
by a discovery of importance. With this end in view he
led his disheartened forces northward, and in December
reached a small village, belonging to Chickasaw Indians,
in the State of Mississippi, supposed to have been situated
about N. lat. 32° 53', W. long 90° 23'.

In spite of constant petty hostilities with the Indians,
the winter, which was severe enough for snow to fall,
passed over peaceably; but with the beginning of spring
the usual arbitrary proceedings were resorted to by De
Soto for procuring porters to carry his baggage in his
next trip, and this led to a second terrible fight, in which
the Spaniards were worsted and narrowly escaped exter
mination. Had the Indians followed up their victory, not
a white man would have escaped to tell the tale ; but they
seem to have been frightened at their own success, and to
have drawn back just as they had their persecutors at
their feet.

Rallying the remnant of his forces, and supplying the
place of the uniforms which had been carried off by
the enemy with skins and mats of ivy leaves, De Soto

D'ANVERS] HERNANDO DE SOTO. 87

now led his strangely-transformed followers in a north
westerly direction, and, completely crossing the modern
State of Mississippi, arrived in May on the banks of the
mighty river from which it takes its name, in about N.
lat. 35°.

Thus took place the discovery of the great Father of
Waters, rolling by in unconscious majesty on its way from
its distanct birthplace in Minnesota to its final home in
the Gulf of Mexico. To De Soto, however, it was no geo
graphical phenomenon, inviting him to trace its course
and solve the secret of its origin, but a sheet of water,
" half a league over," impeding his progress, and his first
care was to obtain boats to get to the other side.

[His succeeding movements may be epitomized. Building barges
capable of carrying their horses, the Spaniards crossed the stream,
and immediately opened hostilities with the Indians on the other
side. They proceeded northward, constantly harassed by the natives,
until they reached the region of the present State of Missouri, whose
inhabitants took them for children of the Sun and brought out
their blind to be restored to sight. After some missionary labors
with these Indians, De Soto proceeded westward, and encamped for
the winter about the site of Little Rock, in Arkansas, after having
reached the highlands of southwest Missouri, near the White River.]

But on resuming his researches in the ensuing spring,
though worn out by continual wanderings and warfare,
and deprived by death of his chief helper, Juan Ortiz, the
indomitable explorer now endeavored to win over the In
dians by claiming supernatural powers and declaring him
self immortal; but it was too late to inaugurate a new
policy. The spot chosen for encampment turned out to
be unhealthy; the white men began to succumb to disease;
scouts sent out to explore the neighborhood for a more
favorable situation brought back rumors of howling wil
dernesses, impenetrable woods, and, worst of all, of stealthy

88 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [D'ANVERS

bands of Indians creeping up from every side to hem in
and destroy the little knot of white men.

Thus driven to bay, De Soto, who was now himself
either attacked by disease or broken down by all he had
undergone, determined at least to die like a man, and, call
ing the survivors of his once gallant company about him,
he asked pardon for the evils he had brought upon those
who had trusted in him, and named Luis Moscoso de Alva-
redo as his successor.

On the following day, May 21, 1542, the unfortunate
hero breathed his last, and was almost immediately buried
secretly without the gates of the camp, Alvaredo fearing
an immediate onslaught from the natives should the death
of the hero who had claimed immortality be discovered.
The newly-made grave, however, excited suspicion, and,
finding it impossible to prevent it from being rifled by the
inquisitive savages, Alvaredo had the corpse of his prede
cessor removed from it in the night, wrapped in cloths
made heavy with sand, and dropped from a boat into the
Mississippi.

The midnight funeral over, all further queries from the
natives, as to what had become of the Child of the Sun,
were answered by an assurance that he had gone to heaven
for a time, but would soon return. Then, whilst the ex
pected return was still waited for, the camp was broken
up as quietly as possible, and Alvaredo led his people west
ward, hoping, as Cabec,a had done before him, to reach the
Pacific coast.

But, long montks of wandering in pathless prairies
bringing him apparently no nearer to the sea, and dread
ing to be overtaken in the wilderness by the winter, he
turned back and retraced his steps to the Mississippi,
where he once more pitched his camp, and spent six
months in building boats, in which he hoped to go down

MCMULLEN] DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 89

the river to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico. In this bold
scheme he was successful. The embarkation into seven
roughly-constructed brigantines took place on the 2d July,
1543, and a voyage of seventeen days between banks lined
with hostile Indians, who plied them unceasingly with their
poisoned arrows, brought a few haggard, half-naked sur
vivors to the longed-for gulf. Fifty days later, after a
weary cruise along the rugged coasts of what is now Lou
isiana and Texas, a party, still further reduced, landed at
the Spanish settlement of Panuco, in Mexico, where they
were received as men risen from the dead.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.

JOHN MCMULLEN.

[The voyages of discovery to the northern coast of North America
began with the expedition of John Cabot, in 1497, under the auspices
of Henry VII. of England. His object was to seek not alone for new
lands, but also for that northwest passage to the coast of Asia which
gave rise to so many subsequent voyages to the Arctic seas. On the
26th of June, Cabot discovered land, most probably the island of
Newfoundland. Continuing his course, he reached the coast of Lab
rador on the 3d of July. He was, therefore, the first of modern
navigators to discover the continent of America, which was not
reached by Columbus till some thirteen months afterwards. He ex
plored the coast for nine hundred miles to the southward, and re
turned to England. In the following year his son Sebastian made
a voyage to the same region, with similar instructions to search
for a northwest passage. The same object was sought, in 1527, by
a fleet sent out by Henry VIII.

The Portuguese also made early voyages in search of this illusory
northwest passage. Caspar Cortereal,in 1500, reached the American
coast at fifty degrees of north latitude. On a second voyage his
ship was lost, and his brother Miguel, who went in search of him,
failed also to return.

90 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [McMuLLEN

In 1524, Francis I. of France resolved to have his share in these
discoveries, and in the benefits which might result from them.
"What!" said he to his courtiers, "shall the kings of Spain and
Portugal divide all America between them, without suffering me to
take a share as their brother? I would fain see the article in Adam's
will that bequeaths that vast inheritance to them." Already some
fishing captains had partly explored the coast. The fishermen of
Breton have left their record of discovery in the name of Cape
Breton. John Denys explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence as early
as 1506. These hardy fishermen formed useful crews for succeeding
voyages of discovery. Francis prepared a squadron of four ships,
which he placed under command of Giovanni Verrazano, an experi
enced Italian navigator, who explored the American coast from
Carolina northward, probably visiting New York and Narragansett
Bays. He also was in search of a passage to India, and became
convinced that no such passage existed, and that the continent was
continuous from the Straits of Magellan to Labrador. An account
of the succeeding French expedition, that of Cartier, we extract
from " The History of Canada," by John McMullen.]

IN 1534 the French king fitted out a second expedition,
the conduct of which he intrusted to Jacques Cartier, a
fearless and skilful mariner, who had previously been en
gaged for several years in the fisheries on the Banks of
Newfoundland, which even as early as 1517 already gave
employment to some fifty English, French, Spanish, and
Portuguese vessels. This expedition, v consisting of two
vessels of sixty tons each, sailed from St. Malo on the
2oth of April, and on the loth of May arrived at New
foundland, where it remained ten days. Proceeding north
ward, Cartier passed through the Straits of Belleisle, en
tered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and landed at Gaspe,
where, on the 24th of July, he erected a cross, surmounted
by a fleur-de-lys, to commemorate his advent on the coast.
A friendly intercourse with the natives enabled him to
kidnap two men, with whom he sailed for France, where,
on his arrival, he was well received by his sovereign.

In the following year Cartier obtained a new commis-

MCMULLENJ DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 91

sion from Francis, and sailed with three vessels direct for
the Gulf of St. Lawrence, with instructions to explore its
shores carefully, to establish a settlement, if at all practi
cable, and to open a traffic for gold with the inhabitants.
In the month of August, on the festival day of the martyr
Lawrence, this navigator entered the great father of the
northern waters, which he called after the saint. Pro
ceeding up its course, he found himself, in a few days,
opposite the Indian village of Stadacona, then occupy
ing a portion of the ground on which the city of Quebec
now stands. As the vessels came to an anchor the ter
rified natives fled to the forest, whence they gazed, with
mingled feelings of awe and wonder, on the " winged
canoes " which had borne the pale-faced strangers to their
shores. These feelings were, however, much less.intense
than they must have otherwise been, owing to the rumors
which from time to time had preceded Cartier's approach,
and to the fact that they were well acquainted with the
circumstance of his visit to Gaspe the previous year, and
the outrage he had there perpetrated on their countrymen.
This knowledge led the inhabitants of Stadacona to re
solve on a wary intercourse with the strangers. Their
chief, Donacona, approached the vessels with a fleet of
twelve canoes, filled with his armed followers. Ten of
these canoes he directed to remain at a short distance,
while he proceeded with the other two to ascertain the
purport of the visit, — whether it was for peace or war.
With this object in view, he commenced an oration. Car-
tier heard the chief patiently, and with the aid of the
two Gaspe Indians, now tolerably proficient in the French
language, he was enabled to open a conversation with him,
and to allay his apprehensions. An amicable understand
ing having thus been established, Cartier moored his
vessels safely in the river St. Charles, where, shortly

92 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [McMuixEN

afterwards, he received a second visit from Donacona, who
this time came accompanied by five hundred warriors of
his tribe.

Having thoroughly rested and refreshed himself and his
men, Cartier determined to explore the river to Hoche-
laga, another Indian town, which he learned was situated
several days' journey up its course. With the view of
impressing the Indians with the superiority of the white
man, he caused, prior to his departure, several cannon-
shots to be discharged, which produced the desired result.
Like their countrymen of the south on the arrival of Co
lumbus, the red men of the St. Lawrence were alarmed by
the firing of artillery; and as its thunders reverberated
among the surrounding hills, a feeling of mingled terror
and astonishment took complete possession of their minds.

Leaving his other ships safely at anchor, Cartier, on
the iQth of September, proceeded up the river with the
Hermerillon (which, owing to the shallowness of the water,
he had to leave in Lake St. Peter) and two boats, and
frequently came into contact with small parties of the
natives, who treated him in the most friendly manner.
Bold, and loving adventure for its own sake, and at the
same time strongly imbued with religious enthusiasm, Car-
tier watched the shifting landscape hour after hour, as
he ascended the river, with feelings of the deepest grati
fication, which were heightened by the reflection that he
was the pioneer of civilization and Christianity in that
unknown clime. Nature presented itself in all its primi
tive grandeur to his view. The noble river on whose broad
bosom he floated onwards day after day, disturbing vast
flocks of water-fowl; the primeval forests of the north,
which here and there presented, amid the luxuriance of
their foliage, the parasitical vine loaded with ripe clusters
of luscious grapes, and from whence the strange notes of

MCMULLEN] DISCOVERY OF THE S*T. LAWRENCE. 93

the whippoorwill, and other birds of varied tone and
plumage, such as he had never before seen, were heard
at intervals; the bright sunshine of a Canadian autumn;
the unclouded moonlight of its calm and pleasant nights,
with the other novel accessories of the occasion, made a
sublime and profound impression upon the mind of the
adventurer.

Delighted with his journey, Cartier arrived, on the 2d
of October, opposite the Huron village of Hochelaga, the
inhabitants of which lined the shore on his approach, and
made the most friendly signs for him to land. Supplies
of fish and maize were freely tendered by the Indians, in
return for which they received knives and beads. Despite
this friendly conduct, however, Cartier and his compan
ions deemed it most prudent to pass the night on board
their boats. On the following day, headed by their leader
dressed in the most imposing costume at his command,
the exploring party went in procession to the village.
At a short distance from its environs they were met by
the sachem, who received them with that solemn cour
tesy peculiar to the aborigines of America. Cartier made
him several presents: among these was a cross, which
he hung round his neck and directed him to kiss.
Patches of ripe corn encircled the village, which consisted
of fifty substantially-built huts, secured from attack by
three lines of stout palisades. Like the natives of Mexico
and Peru, the Hochelagians regarded the white men as a
superior race of beings, who came among them as friends
and benefactors. Impressed with this idea, they conducted
them in state to their council lodge and brought their
sick to be healed. Cartier was at once too completely
in their power and too politic to undeceive them. It
is recorded that he did everything he could to soothe their
minds; that he even prayed with these idolaters, and dis-

94 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [McMuLLEN

tributcd crosses and other symbols of the Catholic faith
among them.

The introductory ceremony concluded, Cartier ascended
the mountain behind Hochelaga, to which he gave the
name of Mont Royal, subsequently corrupted into Mon
treal. From a point near its summit a noble prospect
met his view. Interminable forests stretched on every
side, their deep gloom broken at harmonious intervals by
hills and rivers and island-studded lakes. Simple as were
the natives of Hochelaga, they appeared to have some
knowledge of the geography of their country. From
them Cartier learned that it would take three months to
sail in their canoes up the course of the majestic river
which flowed beneath them, and that it ran through sev
eral great lakes, the farthest one of which was like a vast
sea. Beyond this lake was another large river (the Mis
sissippi), which pursued a southerly course through a re
gion free from ice and snow. With the precious metals
they appeared but very partially acquainted. Of copper
they had a better knowledge, and stated that it was found
at the Saguenay.

Favorably as Cartier had been received, the lateness
of the season compelled his immediate return to Stada-
cona. The Indians expressed their regret at the short
ness of the visit, and accompanied the French to their
boats, which they followed for some time, making signs of
farewell. The expedition did not, however, find all the
natives equally friendly. While bivouacking one night on
the bank of the river, they would probably have all been
massacred, but for a timely retreat to their boats. Car-
tier had a narrow escape, and owed his life to the intre
pidity of his boatswain, an Englishman.

The adventurers wintered in the St. Charles River, and
continued to be treated with apparent kindness and hos-

MCMULLEN] DISCOVERY OF THE ST. LAWRENCE. 95

pitality by the Stadaconians, who had, fortunately, laid
up abundant stores of provisions. Unaccustomed, how
ever, to the rigor of a Canadian winter, and scantily sup
plied with warm clothing, Cartier and his companions suf
fered severely from the cold. To add to their other mis
fortunes, scurvy, the terror of the seaman in those days,
made its appearance, and, in conjunction with a disease
produced by a licentious intercourse with the natives,
speedily carried off twenty-five of their number. To a
decoction from the bark of the spruce-fir, taken on the
recommendation of the Indians, the remainder ascribed
their restoration to health.

The long winter at length drew to a close ; the ice broke
up, and, although the voyage had led to no gold-discov
eries or profitable returns in a mercantile point of view,
the expedition prepared to return home. Like other ad
venturers of that age, they requited the kindness and hos
pitality of the aborigines with the basest ingratitude.
They compelled Donacona, with two other chiefs and eight
warriors, to bear them company to France, where the
greater part of these unfortunate men died soon after
their arrival.

[Cartier made a second visit to the St. Lawrence in 1540, in com
mand of a fleet fitted out by De Roberval, a rich nobleman of
France. As he failed to bring back their chief, the inhabitants of
Stadacona received him with indications of hostility.]

Finding his position with the inhabitants of Stadacona
becoming daily more and more unpleasant, Cartier moved
higher up the river to Cape Rouge, where he laid up three
of his vessels, and sent the other two back to France, with
letters to the king and Roberval, stating the success of
his voyage and asking for supplies. His next proceeding
was to erect a fort, which he called Charlesbourg. Here,

96 THE GREAT REPUBLIC [McMuixEN

after an unsuccessful attempt to navigate the rapids above
Hochelaga, he passed a most uncomfortable winter. Dur
ing the ensuing summer he occupied himself in examin
ing the country in every direction, and in searching for
gold, but of which he only procured a few trifling speci
mens in the beds of some dried rivulets. A few small
diamonds were discovered in a headland near Stadacona,
which was therefore called Cape Diamond, a name it still
retains.

The promised supplies not having arrived, another se
vere winter completely disheartened Cartier, and he ac
cordingly resolved to return home. Putting into the har
bor of St. John, Newfoundland, he encountered Roberval,
who was now on his way to Canada, with a new company
of adventurers and an abundance of stores and provisions.
The viceroy endeavored to persuade Cartier to return
with him, but without effect. He and his companions were
alike disheartened with the extreme cold and prolonged
duration of a Canadian winter, and this circumstance, in
connection with the other hardships to which they had
been exposed, caused them to long earnestly to return
to their own sunny France. To avoid further importu
nity, a possible quarrel, and forcible detention, Cartier
caused his sailors to weigh anchor during the night. After
a tolerably quick passage, he arrived safely in his native
country, where he died shortly after his return, having,
like many others, sacrificed health and fortune to a passion
for discovery and a desire to acquire gx>ld.

[Roberval returned to France, after spending the winter in
Canada. He subsequently started with another expedition for the
same region. This fleet was never heard of again, and probably
foundered at sea. The results of these efforts so discouraged the
French that no similar attempt was made for many years after
wards.]

BESANT] MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 97

THE MASSACRE OF THE FRENCH PROTESTANTS.

WALTER BESANT.

[The first earnest effort to establish a French colony in America
was made in the interest of the French Protestants at the instigation
of the celebrated Admiral Coligny. His primary effort in this
direction was made in Brazil. The northern shores of that country,
as we have already stated, had been discovered by Pinzon in 1499.
In 1500 a Portuguese fleet under Pedro Alvarez Cabral, on a voyage
to the East Indies by way of the Cape of Good Hope, sailed so far
westward as to touch the coast of southern Brazil. A fort was built,
in which a few men were left, and gradually, during the succeeding
years, small Portuguese settlements spread along the coast. From
time to time this coast was visited by the French, mainly on pirati
cal enterprises, and a state of war existed for years between the
French and Portuguese in the waters of Brazil. In 1555, Coligny
sent a colony to this region under Villegagnon, a French adven
turer. It was established on an island in the Bay of Rio Janeiro.
But the place proved so unsuitable, the colony was made up of
such disreputable and vicious elements, and the leader proved so
worthless and treacherous, that the settlement, after languishing for
four years, yielded to an attack from the Portuguese, and was
swept out of existence.

In 1562, Coligny made a second effort to establish a refuge for
French Protestants in America. An expedition was sent to Florida
under command of John Ribaut. He reached the coast in May, and
discovered a stream which he called the River of May (now St.
John's River). Proceeding thence to Port Royal, near the southern
border of Carolina, he erected a fort, and left twenty-six men,
returning to France for emigrants and supplies. The promised re
inforcement not arriving, the colonists abandoned the fort and em
barked for home in a brigantine of their own construction. Like
the Brazilian colonists, they had not taken the trouble to cultivate
the soil, and were driven by famine from America to encounter a
worse famine at sea. They were saved from death by an English
vessel which they fortunately met off the coast of England.

In 1564 another expedition was sent out by Coligny, and a colony
established on the St. John's River under Laudonniere, one of

93 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BISANT

Ribaut's original company. It was managed with the same improvi
dence as the former ones, and to escape starvation a party of the
emigrants embarked for France. But instead of returning they
commenced a career of piracy against the Spaniards. The remain
der were on the point of leaving the country, when Ribaut ap
peared, with seven vessels and about six hundred emigrants.
Meanwhile, news had arrived in Spain that a party of French
heretics had settled in Florida, which was claimed as Spanish terri
tory. Menendez, who had already established a reputation for
brutality in America, was sent out to extirpate them. Up to this
point the conflicts of Europeans upon American soil had been with
the natives, with the exception of the piratical proceedings above
adverted to. Now the wars of Europeans with one another were
about to be inaugurated in a brutal massacre, the story of which we
give in the graphic account of Walter Besant, selected from his
" Gaspard de Coligny."]

THE expedition under Menendez consisted of an army
of two thousand six hundred soldiers and officers. He
sailed straight for Florida, intending to attack Fort Caro
line with no delay. In fact, he sighted the mouth of the
port two months after starting; but, considering the posi
tion occupied by the French ships, he judged it prudent
to defer the attack, and make it, if possible, from the
land.

A council of war was held in Fort Caroline, presided
over by Ribaut. Laudonniere proposed that, while Ribaut
held the fort with the ships, he, with his old soldiers, who
knew the country well, aided by the Floridans as auxil
iaries, should engage the Spaniards in the woods and
harass them by perpetual combats in labyrinths to which
they were wholly unaccustomed. The advice was good,
but it was not followed. Ribaut proposed to follow the
Spanish fleet with his own, — lighter and more easily han
dled, — fall on the enemy when the soldiers were all dis
embarked, and, after taking and burning the ships, to
attack the army.

BESANT] MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 99

In the face of remonstrances from all the officers he
persisted in this project. Disaster followed the attempt.
A violent gale arose. The French ships were wrecked
upon the Floridan coast; the men lost their arms, their
powder, and their clothes; they escaped with their bare
lives. There was no longer the question of conquering
the Spaniards, but of saving themselves. The garrison
of Caroline consisted of one hundred and fifty soldiers, of
whom forty were sick. The rest of the colony was com
posed of sick and wounded, Protestant ministers, work
men, " royal commissioners," and so forth. Laudonniere
was in command. They awaited the attack for several
days, yet the Spaniards came not. They were wading
miserably through the marshes in the forests, under tropi
cal rains, discouraged, and out of heart. Had Laudon-
niere's project been carried out, not one single Spaniard
would have returned to the fleet to tell the tale. Day
after day the soldiers toiled, sometimes breast-high,
through these endless marshes, under the rain which
never ceased. The provisions were exhausted. Many of
the soldiers remained behind, or returned to St. Augus
tine, pretending to have lost their way. The officers
asked each other loudly whether they were all to be killed
in a bog through the ignorance of an Asturian, who knew
no more about war than a horse. Menendez pretended
not to hear, and they plodded on, mutinous and discon
tented, till their leader suddenly pointed out, through the
branches of the trees, the earthworks and cannon of Fort
Caroline. He invited his officers to make up their minds
to an immediate attack or a retreat. Seven of them pro
posed a retreat: they would live on palmistes and roots
on the way. But the majority declared for advance, and
the attack was resolved upon.

For some reason unexplained, the French sentinels

100 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BESANT

chose this fatal moment to leave their posts. There was
actually no watch on the ramparts. Three companies of
Spaniards simultaneously rushed from the forest and at
tacked the fortress on the south, the west, and the south
west. There was but little resistance from the surprised
garrison. There was hardly time to grasp a sword. About
twenty escaped by flight, including the captain, Laudon-
niere; the rest were every one massacred. None were
spared except women and children under fifteen; and,
in the first rage of the onslaught, even these were mur
dered with the rest.

There still lay in the port three ships, commanded by
Jacques Ribaut, brother of the unfortunate governor. One
of these was quickly sent to the bottom by the cannon
of the fort; the other two cut their cables and slipped
out of reach into the roadstead, where they lay, waiting
for a favorable wind, for three days. They picked up the
fugitives who had been wandering half starved in the
woods, and then set sail from this unlucky land.

[Meanwhile, Ribaut's shipwrecked crew were wandering along
the shore of Florida, fifty miles from Fort Caroline. They were
ignorant of the loss of the fort, and made their way with difficulty
through the woods, until, to their despair, they saw the Spanish
flag flying over its ramparts.]

There was nothing for it but to retreat again. The
unfortunate Frenchmen began miserably to retrace their
steps through the wet and gloomy forest, eating leaves,
herbs, and roots. Their last misfortune was that they
knew nothing of the new Spanish settlement [of St. Au
gustine, established by Menendez], and so directed their
course as exactly to arrive at it.

Menendez saw from a distance the arrival of the first
band of two hundred. They were like a crowd of ship
wrecked sailors, destitute of the power of resistance, feeble

BESANT] MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 101

from long fasting, fatigued with their long march. He
had with him a troop of forty men. A river ran between
the French and the Spaniards. A Basque swam across the
stream, and asked for a safe-conduct for Ribaut, who had
not yet arrived, and four gentlemen. Menendez would
accord, he said, an audience to an officer. One Vasseur,
accompanied by two or three soldiers, crossed over the
river and was brought to the Spanish commander. Me
nendez began by apprising him of the capture of Caroline
and the massacre of the garrison. He confirmed the truth
of his story by causing two prisoners, spared as Catholics,
to relate it themselves. He coldly told Vasseur that all
those who were Protestants should suffer the same fate,
or at least that he would not promise otherwise.

There was but one alternative. The French could trust
to the possible clemency of Menendez, or they could take
to the woods. In the latter case they would certainly
starve; in the former, they might escape with their lives.
It seemed incredible that a man should, in cold blood,
resolve to massacre two hundred unarmed men. They laid
down their arms. They were brought across the river in
small companies, and their hands tied behind their backs.

On landing, they were asked if they were Catholics.
Eight out of the two hundred professed allegiance to that
religion; the rest were all Protestants. Menendez traced
out a line on the ground with his cane. The prisoners
were marched up one by one to the line; on reaching it,
they were stabbed.

The next day Ribaut arrived with the rest of the army.

The same pourparlers began. But this time a blacker
treachery was adopted. Menendez did not himself receive
the officer sent to treat. He deputed a certain Valle-
monde. This creature received the French deputy with
unexpected civility. His captain, he said, was a man of

102 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BESANT

extraordinary clemency. It was true that Caroline had
fallen, but the garrison, women, and children were all put
on board ship, with provisions, and were now on their
way to France. Finally, if the French laid down their
arms, he, Vallemonde, would pledge his word of honor on
the sacred cross, which he kissed devoutly, that all their
lives should be spared.

It is not clear how many of the French accepted the
conditions. A certain number refused them, and escaped
into the woods. What is certain is that Ribaut, with
nearly all his men, were tied back to back, four together.
Those who said they were Catholics were set on one side;
the rest were all massacred as they stood. A rage for
slaughter — the blood-thirst — seized the Spanish soldiers.
They fell upon their victims, and stabbed and hacked
both the living and the dead. The air was horrible with
their oaths and cries The work of murder was soon
over. In a very few moments there was not a cry, nor
a sound, nor a movement, among the whole four hun
dred prisoners now lying upon the ground, the maddened
soldiers still stabbing their lifeless bodies. Outside the
circle of the slaughtered and the slaughterers stood the
priest, Mendoza, encouraging, approving, exhorting tHe
butchers. With him, calm, serene, and joyful, with a
prayer of thanksgiving on his lips, stood the murderer,
Menendez.

The slaughter completed, they set up enormous piles of
wood and burned the bodies on them. On the trees near
the scene of the massacre Menendez caused to be in
scribed, " Slaughtered not as Frenchmen, but as Luther
ans." As for the corpse of Ribaut, he had it flayed, and
sent the skin to Europe, with cuttings from the beard, as
gifts to his friends.

[Those who had escaped to the woods built a small fort, defended

BESANT] MASSACRE OF FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 103

themselves, were offered terms of surrender, and were all sent to
the galleys. The reception of this news in France raised a storm of
indignation. As the court made no movement of reprisal, the Fre»eh
sailors took revenge into their own hands. Fast-sailing privateers
were sent out, which captured the rich Spanish galleons and in
flicted enormous losses. English buccaneers followed the example,
and Spain paid dearly in treasure for the bloody act of Menendez.
One soldier, Dominique de Gourgues, who had been in the Spanish
galleys and hated the Spaniards vehemently, resolved on a more
direct revenge. With difficulty he equipped three small ships
which he manned with one hundred and eighty men. The purpose
of his expedition was kept secret; only the captains of his ships
knew of it. It was in the early part of 1568 that he appeared off the
coast of Florida. He landed his men, gained the alliance of the
natives, who bitterly hated the Spaniards, and began a painful and
d:fficult march overland, attended by thousands of Indian warriors.]

The Spaniards were extending their fortifications out
side Caroline itself. At one place the lines had only been
drawn, and the works as yet were only just commenced.
Here the attack was to take place.

The story reads almost exactly like that of the Span
iards when they took the fort by surprise. Entirely with
out suspicion, the garrison were taking their dinner. Sud
denly, a musket-shot, and the cry of "The French! the
French!" There were sixty men in this, the outwork.
They were all killed. But there remained the second fort.
De Gourgues turned the cannon on it, and a lively artillery
fight began. The Floridans at this moment emerged from
the woods. A detachment of French attacked the fort in
the rear. The Spaniards, ignorant of the number of the
enemy, lost their heads. The second fort was taken with
a rush, and all the Spaniards killed except fifteen, whom
De Gourgues ordered to be bound and kept in safety for
the moment. There yet remained Fort Caroline itself.
Here there were three hundred combatant men. De

104 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BESANT

Gourgues surrounded the fort with his Indians, and pre
vented any spy from coming out, so that the besieged had
no notion of the numbers of their assailants. The com
mandant, in surprise and indecision, allowed two days to
pass before doing anything. Then he sent out a spy dis
guised as an Indian. He was caught, and, being brought
before De Gourgues, he had the imprudence to confess that
the garrison was horribly discouraged, believing the
French to be two thousand strong. Thereupon De
Gourgues resolved upon an immediate attack.

The Spaniards thought that his little army, all of which
was now in sight, was only an advance-guard. The
French, thinking the moment inopportune, retired into
the wood again to watch. The Spaniards sent out a body
of sixty, with a view of drawing them out into the open.
De Gourgues detached twenty of his own men to place
themselves in ambush between the fort and the sortie, so
as to cut off their retreat. Then, before the Spaniards had
time to form themselves, he poured a murderous fire into
their ranks, and rushed upon them, sword in hand. They
turned to fly, and were met by the ambuscade. Not one
returned to the fort. The rest of the French rushed tumul-
tuously out of the wood, and all together, headed by De
Gourgues, they crowded into the citadel.

A panic seized the Spaniards. They allowed themselves
to be cut down almost without resistance. Out of the
whole force of three hundred, De Gourgues only managed
to save sixty.

He would have saved more, to make his revenge more
complete. As it was, he wrote an inscription, which he
placed so that all could see, — " I do this not to Spaniards,
but to traitors, thieves, and murderers."

Then he hanged them up, every one, the Floridans
looking on aghast. This done, he destroyed the fort and

HOWITT] COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 105

returned to France. He was received with enthusiasm at
Rochelle, an entirely Protestant town.

THE COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

MARY HOWITT.

[The sixteenth century may justly be called the century of dis
covery. The bold push of Columbus across the ocean to America
and of Vasco da Gama around Africa to the East Indies broke the
chains of timidity with which the world had hitherto been bound.
They were followed by a succession of daring and reckless naviga
tors, who quickly made the world their home, and sought new lands
with an avidity and enthusiasm with which the thirst for fame and
the spirit of adventure had as much to do as the love of gold. The
English were somewhat late, in following the lead of the Spanish,
Portuguese, and French discoverers, but prosecuted their researches
with vigor after they had once commenced. One of their adven
turers, Sir John Hawkins, engaged in the slave-trade, which had
been early instituted by the Spaniards, and carried cargoes of
negroes to the West Indies in 1562 and 1564. In 1567 he was in the
Gulf of Mexico, in conflict with the Spaniards at San Juan de Ulloa,
in which expedition he was accompanied by the celebrated Sir
Francis Drake. In 1570, Drake started on a privateering excursion
against the Spaniards, and for years he did them immense dam
age. In 1573 he crossed the Isthmus and attacked the Spanish
settlements on the Pacific shores. In 1577 he sailed southward
along the Brazilian coast, entered the Rio de la Plata (which had
been discovered in 1526 by Sebastian Cabot), and passed through
the Straits of Magellan. Thence he followed the coasts of Chili and
Peru, attacking the Spanish ships and settlements as he advanced,
and explored the shores of western America as far north as 48° N.
lat., in the hope of discovering a passage to the Atlantic. He re
turned home by way of the Cape of Good Hope, accomplishing the
first circumnavigation of the globe by an Englishman. Attempts
were made in the same period to discover a northwestern passage
from the Atlantic to the Pacific by Willoughby and Chancellor,
Frobisher, Henry Hudson, and others. But the only efforts during

106 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Howirr

this century to found an English colony on the shores of the New
World were those made by Sir Walter Raleigh. These we may
describe in detail in a selection chosen from Mary Howitt's charm
ingly-written " History of the United States."]

JOINT-STOCK companies for the discovery of unknown
lands were first formed in 1555. The marriage of Mary
with Philip of Spain brought the magnificent discoveries
and productions of that country into a closer proximity
with England, and a desire to emulate the successes of
Spain in the New World was excited.

The spirit of Elizabeth seconded that of her people.
The nation had now assumed a more determined and a
prouder front in their resentment of the attempt of Spain
to render them an appendage to the Spanish crown, and
by the successful struggle of Protestantism against Cathol
icism. England strengthened her navy; frequented the
bays and banks of Newfoundland; sent out adventurers
to Russia and Africa; endeavored to reach Persia by land,
and enlarged her commerce with the East, whilst her pri
vateers lay in wait at sea for the rich galleons of Spain.
The study of geography was universally cultivated, and
books of travels and adventures by land and sea were
eagerly read. Frobisher, the boldest mariner who ever
crossed the ocean, set forth to discover the long-sought-
for northwest passage, and Queen Elizabeth waved her
hand to him in token of favor, as he sailed down the
Thames. Frobisher, like all the rest of the world, hoped
to find gold. If the Spaniards had found gold in the
south, England was confident of finding gold in the north.
Elizabeth entered enthusiastically into the scheme of plant
ing a colony among the wealthy mines of the polar regions,
where gold, it was said, lay on the surface of the ground.
Frobisher was followed by a second fleet, but they found
only frost and icebergs.

HOWITT] COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 107

Whilst Frobisher and his ships were thus vainly endeav
oring to find an El Dorado in the north, Sir Francis Drake
was acquiring immense wealth as a freebooter on the
Spanish main, and winning great glory by circumnavigat
ing the globe, after having explored the northwestern
coast of America as far north as the forty-third degree.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert, also, a man of sound judgment
and deeply religious mind, obtained a charter from Queen
Elizabeth in 1578 for the more rational purposes of col
onization. He set sail with three vessels, accompanied
by his step-brother, Sir Walter Raleigh; but a series of
disasters befell them ; the largest vessel was wrecked, and
a hundred perished, among whom was Parmenius, a Hun
garian scholar, who had gone out as historian of the expe
dition. On the homeward voyage they were overtaken
by a great storm. " We are as near to heaven on sea as
on land," said Sir Humphrey Gilbert, sitting abaft with a
book in his hand. And the same night his little vessel
went down, and all on board perished

The brave spirit of Sir Walter Raleigh was not dis
couraged, though he deeply deplored the loss of his noble
step-brother. He resolved now to secure to England
those glorious countries where the poor French Protes
tants had suffered so deeply, and a patent was readily
granted, constituting him lord proprietary, with almost
unlimited powers, according to the Christian Protestant
faith, of all land which he might discover between the
thirty-third and fortieth degrees of north latitude. Under
this patent Raleigh despatched, as avant-courier ships,
two vessels, under the command of Philip Amidas and
Arthur Barlow. In the month of July they reached the
coast of North America, having perceived, while far out
at sea, the fragrance as of a delicious garden, from the
odoriferous flowers of the shore. Finding, after some

108 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Howixr

search, a convenient harbor, they landed, and, offering
thanks to God for their safe arrival, took formal posses
sion in the name of the Queen of England.

The spot on which they landed was the island of Wo-
coken. The shores of this part of America are peculiar,
inasmuch as during one portion of the year they are ex
posed to furious tempests, against which the low flat shore
affords no defence of harborage ; in the summer season, on
the contrary, the sea and air are alike tranquil, the whole
presenting the most paradisiacal aspect, whilst the vegeta
tion is calculated to strike the beholder with wonder and
delight. The English strangers beheld the country under
its most favorable circumstances; the grapes being so
plentiful that the surge of the ocean, as it lazily rolled in
upon the shore, dashed its spray upon the clusters. " The
forests formed themselves into wonderfully beautiful bow
ers, frequented by multitudes of birds. It was like a
garden of Eden, and the gentle, friendly inhabitants ap
peared in unison with the scene. On the island of Roa-
noke they were received by the wife of the king, and enter
tained with Arcadian hospitality."

[The report taken to England aroused high enthusiasm. An ex
pedition was sent, sailing on the Qth of April, 1585, under Sir Rich
ard Grenville, and consisting of seven vessels and one hundred and
fifty colonists. They reached Roanoke Island, where they quickly
roused the natives to hostility by burning a village and destroying
the standing corn on suspicion of the theft of a silver cup.]

The colonists, however, landed, and soon afterwards the
ships returned to England, Grenville taking a rich Spanish
prize by the way. Lane [the governor] and his colonists
explored the country, and Lane wrote home, " It is the
goodliest soil under the cope of heaven ; the most pleasing
territory in the world; the continent is of a huge and un-

HOWITT] COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 109

known greatness, and very well peopled and towned,
though savagely. The climate is so wholesome that we
have none sick. If Virginia had but horses and kine and
were inhabited by English, no realm in Christendom were
comparable with it." Hariot's observations were directed to
" the natural inhabitants," and to the productions of the col
ony with reference to commerce ; he observed the culture
of tobacco, used it himself, and had great faith in its salu
tary qualities ; he paid great attention to the maize and the
potato, " which he found when boiled to be good eating.". . .
In the mean time, the mass of the colonists, who were
rabid for gold, listened to wonderful tales invented by art
ful Indians, who wished to be rid of these awe-inspiring
strangers. The river Roanoke, they said, gushed forth
from a rock near the Pacific Ocean; that a nation dwelt
upon its remote banks, skilful in refining gold, and that
they occupied a city the walls of which glittered with
pearls. Even Sir Richard Lane was credulous enough to
believe these tales, and ascended the river with a party in
order to reach this golden region. They advanced on
ward, finding nothing, till they were reduced to the utmost
extremity of famine. The Indians, disappointed by their
return, resolved to cultivate no more corn, so that they
might be driven from the country by want, and the Eng
lish, divining their views, having invited the chief to a
conference, fell upon him and slew him, with many of his
followers. Lane was unfit for his office. This act of
treachery exasperated the Indians to such a degree that
they would no longer give him supplies. The colony was
about to perish by famine, as the Indians desired, when Sir
Francis Drake appeared outside the harbor with a fleet of
twenty-three ships. He was on his way from the West
Indies, and was now come to visit his friends. No visit
could have been more opportune or more welcome.

110 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HowiTT

[At the request of the colonists, Drake carried them to England.
Yet he had hardly gone before a vessel despatched by Raleigh
arrived, laden with supplies. Finding that the colony had vanished,
the vessel returned, and it had but fairly disappeared when Sir
Richard Grenville arrived with three ships. After searching in vain
for the missing colony, he also returned, leaving fifteen men on
Roanoke Island to hold possession for the English. Raleigh, not
discouraged by this failure, sent out another colony, this time
choosing agriculturists, and sending their wives and children with
the emigrants. Implements of husbandry were also sent. On
reaching Roanoke they found only the bones of the fifteen men
whom Grenville had left, while their fort was in ruins. The new
governor, Captain John White, proved an unfortunate choice, since
he at once made an unprovoked assault upon the Indians. White
quickly returned with the ships to England for supplies and rein
forcements.]

When White reached England he found the whole
nation absorbed by the threats of a Spanish invasion:
Raleigh, Grenville, and Lane, Frobisher, Drake, and Haw
kins, all were employed in devising measures of resistance.
It was twelve months before Raleigh, who had to depend
almost entirely upon his own means, was able to despatch
White with supplies: this he did in two vessels. White,
who wished to profit by his voyage, instead of at once re
turning without loss of time to his colony, went in chase of
Spanish prizes, until at length one of his ships was over
powered, boarded, and rifled, and both compelled to return
to England. This delay was fatal. The great events of
the Spanish Armada took place, after which Sir Walter
Raleigh found himself embarrassed with such a fearful
amount of debt that it was no longer in his power to
attempt the colonization of Virginia; nor was it till the
following year that White was able to return, and then also
through the noble efforts of Sir Walter Raleigh, to the
unhappy colony Roanoke. Again the island was a desert.
An inscription on the bark of a tree indicated Croatan;

HOWITT] COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. HI

but the season of the year, and the danger of storms, fur
nished an excuse to White for not going thither. What
was the fate of the colony never was known. It has been
conjectured that through the friendship of Manteo (an
Indian chief) they had probably escaped to Croatan ; per
haps had been, when thus cruelly neglected by their coun
trymen, received into a friendly tribe of Indians, and be
came a portion of the children of the forest. The Indians
had, at a later day, a tradition of this kind, and it has been
thought that the physical character of the Hatteras In
dians bore out the tradition. The kind-hearted and noble
Raleigh did not soon give up all hopes of his little colony.
Five different times he sent out at his own expense to seek
for them, but in vain. The mystery which veils the fate
of the colonists of Roanoke will never be solved in this
world. . . .

The fisheries of the north and the efforts of Sir Walter
Raleigh at colonization had trained a race of me*i for dis
covery. One of these, Bartholomew Gosnold, determined
upon sailing direct from England to America, without
touching at the Canaries and the West Indies, as had
hitherto been the custom ; and, with the aid of Raleigh, he
" wellnigh secured to New England the honor of the first
permanent English colony." He sailed in a small vessel
directly across the ocean (in 1602), and in seven weeks
reached the shores of Massachusetts, but, not finding a
good harbor, sailed southward, and discovered and landed
on a promontory which he called Cape Cod, which name it
retains to this day. Sailing thence, and still pursuing the
coast, he discovered various islands, one of which he called
Elizabeth, after the queen, and another Martha's Vine
yard. The vegetation was rich; the land covered with
magnificent forests ; and wild fruits and flowers burst from
the earth in unimagined luxuriance, — the eglantine, the

112 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Howrrx

thorn, and the honeysuckle ; the wild pea, tansy and young
sassafras; strawberries, raspberries, and vines. In the
island was a little lake, and in the lake a rocky islet, and
here the colonists resolved to build their storehouse and
fort, the nucleus of the first New England colony. The
natural features of the place, the historian tells us, remain
unchanged: the island, the little lake, and the islet are all
there ; the forests are gone, while the flowers and fruit are
as abundant as ever. But no trace remains of the fort.

Friendly traffic with the natives of the mainland soon
completed a freight, which consisted of furs and sassafras,
and Gosnold was about to sail, when the hearts of the in
tending colonists failed them; they dreaded the attack of
Indians and the want of necessary supplies from home.
All, therefore, re-embarked, and in five weeks reached
England.

Gosnold and his companions brought home such favor
able reports of the country and the shortness of the voy
age that the following year a company of Bristol mer
chants despatched two small vessels, under the command
of Martin Pring, for the purpose of exploring the country
and commencing a trade with the natives. They carried
out with them trinkets and merchandise suited for such
traffic, and their voyage was eminently successful. They
discovered some of the principal rivers of Maine, and ex
amined the coast of Massachusetts as far south as Mar
tha's Vineyard. The whole voyage occupied but six
months. Pring repeated his voyage in 1606, making still
more accurate surveys of the country.

[The coast of New England was further surveyed by an expedi
tion despatched by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Arundel and
commanded by George Weymouth. He explored the coast of Lab
rador, and discovered the Penobscot River. Captain John Smith
also made an exploration of the coast in 1614, advanced into

HOWITT] COLONIES OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 113

Massachusetts Bay " till he came up into the river between Misha-
wam, afterwards called Charlestown, and Shawmutt, afterwards
called Boston, and, having made discovery of the land, rivers,
coves, and creeks in the said bay, and also taken some observa
tion of the manners, dispositions, and sundry customs of the
numerous Indians, or nations inhabiting the same, he returned to
England." He gave to the country the name of New England,
which it still retains.

In 1598 the Marquis de la Roche endeavored to found a French
colony in America, and peopled Sable Island, on the coast of Nova
Scotia, with the refuse of the jails. After languishing here for
twelve years, they were allowed to return, and the colony was
abandoned. In 1605, De Monts, a French gentleman, formed a
colony at a place named by him Port Royal, in the Bay of Fundy,
which proved to be the first permanent French settlement in
America. The whole country, including the present New Bruns
wick, Nova Scotia, and the adjacent islands, was called Acadia. In
the succeeding year (1606) the London Company sent three vessels
to Roanoke, which were driven by a storm into Chesapeake Bay.
Here they discovered the James River, up which stream they sailed
fifty miles, and selected a place for a settlement, which they named
Jamestown. Here was formed the first permanent English colony
in America, one hundred and fourteen years after the discovery of
the New World by Columbus.]
1-8

114 THE GREAT REPUBLIC.

THE ERA OF SETTLEMENT.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

DURING the sixteenth century the work of colonizing
America was left almost entirely to the people of Spain.
While the other nations of Europe were contenting them
selves with occasional voyages of discovery, or with slave-
carrying expeditions and piratical raids, the Spaniards
were extending their dominion in the New World with a
rapidity and energy in striking contrast with their present
supineness. Colonization in the West Indies began imme
diately after the first voyage of Columbus, and was prose
cuted with such vigor that in a few years the four larger
islands were completely under Spanish control, and their
native inhabitants largely annihilated, while the remainder
were reduced to slavery. The settlement of the mainland
was prosecuted with similar activity. Colonies were estab
lished on the coasts of South and Central America, and in
1519 Cortes began that memorable expedition which soon
subjected the Aztec empire of Mexico to his sway. From
this region the Spanish dominion extended south through
out Central America, and northward to California and
New Mexico, which Coronado invaded in 1540. South
America was settled with no less rapidity. The conquest
of Mexico was quickly followed by that of the extensive
empire of Peru. Chili was conquered in 1541, with the ex-

INTRODUCTORY. REMARKS. 115

ception of the country of the Araucanians, the only Indian
nation which has successfully held its own against Euro
pean invasion. In a comparatively short time the whole
of western South America from the lower boundary of
Chili to the Caribbean coast was Spanish territory. In
1535, Buenos Ayres was colonized by Mendoza. These
first colonists were driven to Paraguay by the Indians, but
in 1580 Juan de Garay founded a more successful colony.
Among the most remarkable examples of Spanish activity
was the expedition of Orellana in 1541. In 1540, Gonzalo
Pizarro left Quito with an expedition that crossed the
Andes and journeyed eastward through the forests of west-
ern Brazil till stopped by peril of starvation. Then a brig-
antine was built, which, manned by a cavalier named Orel
lana, sailed down the river Napo to its junction with the
Amazons, and down the latter great stream to the Atlan
tic, thus accomplishing the crossing of the South Ameri
can continent at its widest part nearly three centuries be
fore such a result was achieved in the parallel section of
North America. In the region of the United States the
Spaniards were no less active in exploration, as shown by
the expeditions of Narvaez and De Soto; yet but one small
settlement was made, — that of St. Augustine, in Florida.
The only other people who showed any colonizing activ
ity in the sixteenth century were the Portuguese, who
slowly spread their settlements along the coast of Brazil,
until by the end of the century the whole line of coast
from the La Plata to the Amazons was studded with their
colonies. These had the merit of being the first settle
ments made in America on agricultural principles, the de
sire for the precious metals being the active moving cause
in all the Spanish explorations and colonizations. During
this period a few unsuccessful efforts to establish colonies
marked the limit of activity in the other nations of Europe.

116 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

A French colony on the coast of Brazil was suppressed by
the Portuguese, and a similar colony in Florida ended in
massacre. French efforts in the region of the St. Law
rence were equally unsuccessful, while the English colonies
of Raleigh ended in disaster. The only permanent settle
ment was that made by some Dutch people in 1580, near
the river Pomeroon, in Guiana. In 1595, Raleigh made an
expedition to this region, and ascended the Orinoco in
search of the fabled El Dorado. He attempted no settle
ment, but in the succeeding century English and French
settlers established themselves in Guiana, dividing the
ownership of this territory with the Dutch.

Such was the result of the efforts at colonization in
America during the sixteenth century. From the northern
line of Mexico to the southern extremity of the continent
the Spanish and Portuguese had established themselves in
nearly every available region. But North America from
the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean was still in the
hands of the aboriginal inhabitants, with the sole exception
of the Spanish colony of St. Augustine, in Florida. The
seventeenth century was destined to be the era of settle
ment of this important region, mainly by the English and
French, but to a minor extent by the Dutch and Swedes.
The story of this seventeenth-century colonization we have
now to tell.

JOHN SMITH AND THE JAMESTOWN COLONY.

CHARLES CAMPBELL.

[The return of Bartholomew Gosnold, after his voyage to North
America, and his account of the country he had visited, led to the
formation of a company for the purpose of forming colonies on
these new shores. The Virginia Company, thus called into being,

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 117

received the right to hold all the land from Cape Fear to the St.
Croix River. This company comprised two divisions, — the Lon
don Company, with control over the southern part of the territory,
and the Plymouth Company, controlling the northern. Under the
auspices of the London Company the first permanent English
colony in America was founded. Three vessels, under Captain
Christopher Newport, with about one hundred men, were sent out.
They had been instructed to land on Roanoke Island, but were
driven by a storm into Chesapeake Bay. The beauty of the situa
tion attracted them, and they determined to settle there. Sailing
up James River to a convenient spot, they landed on May 13, the
place chosen for their settlement being named by them Jamestown.
The instructions for the colony had been placed by the king in a
sealed box, on opening which it was found that seven men were
appointed a governing council, among them Gosnold, Newport,
and the celebrated Captain John Smith, who was a member of the
expedition. Most of the colony were gentlemen, who hoped to find
gold at once and make their fortune, and no attempt at agriculture
was made. A terrible summer followed. The position chosen for
security against the Indians proved unhealthy, and more than half
the colony was swept away by a pestilence. Only the friendly aid
of the Indians saved the rest from death by starvation. Meanwhile,
Captain Smith was prevented from taking his place in the council
by the action of his enemies, and was arrested on false accusations.
For several months he lay under a cloud. But, boldly defying the
malice of his enemies, he cleared himself of their charges and re
sumed his place in the council. By the autumn the sole control of
the colony fell into the hands of Smith, the president finding the
duty beyond his ability. The behavior of Smith in this capacity is
well told in Campbell's " History of the Colony and Ancient Do
minion in Virginia," from which we extract some passages, with
the caution to the reader that the story of Smith's adventures
among the Indians is told by himself, and that his character for
veracity is not a high one.]

AT the approach of winter the rivers of Virginia
abounded with wild-fowl, and the English now were well
supplied with bread, peas, persimmons, fish, and game.
But this plenty did not last long, for what Smith care
fully provided the colonists carelessly wasted. The idlers

118 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

at Jamestown, including some of the council, now began
to mutter complaints against Smith for not having dis
covered the source of the Chickahominy, it being supposed
that the South Sea, or Pacific Ocean, lay not far distant,
and that a communication with it would be found by some
river running from the northwest. The Chickahominy
flowed in that direction, and hence the solicitude of these
Jamestown cosmographers to trace that river to its head.
To allay this dissatisfaction of the council, Smith made
another voyage up that river, and proceeded until it be
came necessary, in order to pass, to cut away a large
tree which had fallen across the stream. When at last
the barge could advance no farther, he returned eight
miles and moored her in a wide bay out of danger, and
leaving orders to his men not to venture on shore until
his return, accompanied by two of his men and two In
dian guides, and leaving seven men in the barge, he went
still higher up in a canoe to the distance of twenty miles.
In a short time after he had parted from the barge the
men left in her went ashore, and one of them, George
Cassen, was surprised and killed. Smith, in the mean
while, not suspecting this disaster, reached the marshy
ground towards the head of the river, " the slashes," and
went out with his gun to provide food for the party, and
took with him one of the Indians. During his excursion
his two men, Robinson and Emry, were slain, and he him
self was attacked by a numerous party of Indians, two
of whom he killed with a pistol. He protected himself
from their arrows by making a shield of his guide, bind
ing him fast by the arm with one of his garters. Many
arrows pierced his clothes, and some slightly wounded
him. Endeavoring to reach the canoe, and walking back
ward with his eye still fixed on his pursuers, he sunk to
his waist in an oozy creek, and his savage with him.

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 119

Nevertheless the Indians were afraid to approach until,
being now half dead with cold, he threw away his arms,
when they drew him forth, and led him to the fire where
his two companions were lying dead. Here the Indians
chafed his benumbed limbs, and, having restored the vital
heat, Smith inquired for their chief, and they pointed him
to Opechancanough, the great chief of Pamunkey. Smith
presented him a manner's compass: the vibrations of
the mysterious needle astonished the untutored sons of
the forest. In a short time they bound the prisoner to
a tree, and were about to shoot him to death, when
Opechancanough holding up the compass, they all laid
down their bows and arrows. Then marching in Indian
file they led the captive, guarded by fifteen men, about
six miles, to Orapakes, a hunting town in the upper part
of the Chickahominy swamp, and about twelve miles north
east from the falls of James River [Richmond]. At this
town, consisting of thirty or forty houses, built like arbors
and covered with mats, the women and children came
forth to meet them, staring in amazement at Smith. Ope
chancanough and his followers performed their military
exercises, and joined in the war-dance. Smith was con
fined in a long house under a guard, and an enormous
quantity of bread and venison was set before him, as if
to fatten him for sacrifice, or because they supposed that
a superior being required a proportionately larger supply
of food. An Indian who had received some toys from
Smith at Jamestown now, in return, brought him a warm
garment of fur, — a pleasing instance of gratitude, a senti
ment often found even in the breast of a savage. Another
Indian, whose son had been mortally wounded by Smith,
made an attempt to kill him in revenge, and was only
prevented by the interposition of his guards.

[Smith then sent a written message to Jamestown, and received a

120 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

reply, the Indians being astonished on perceiving that " paper
could talk." The captive was next taken to Pamaunkee, the
residence of the chief.]

Here, for three days, they engaged in their horrid orgies
and incantations, with a view to divine their prisoner's
secret designs, whether friendly or hostile. They also
showed him a bag of gunpowder, which they were re
serving till the next spring, when they intended to sow
it in the ground, as they were desirous of propagating so
useful an article.

Smith was hospitably entertained by Opitchapan (Ope-
chancanough's brother), who dwelt a little above, on the
Pamunkey. Finally, the captive was taken to Werowoco-
moco, probably signifying chief place of council, a favorite
seat of Powhatan, on the York River, then called the Pa
maunkee or Pamunkey. They found this chief in his rude
palace, reclining before the fire, on a sort of throne, re
sembling a bedstead, covered with mats, his head adorned
with feathers and his neck with beads, and wearing a long
robe of raccoon-skins. At his head sat a young female,
and another at his feet; while on each side of the wigwam
sat the men in rows, on mats, and behind them as many
young women, their heads and shoulders painted red, some
with their heads decorated with the snowy down of birds,
and all with strings of white beads falling over their shoul
ders. On Smith's entrance they all raised a terrific yell.
The queen of Appomattock brought him water to wash,
and another, a bunch of feathers for a towel. After feast
ing him, a long consultation was held. That ended, two
large stones were brought, and the one laid upon the other,
before Powhatan; then as many as could lay hold, seizing
Smith, dragged him to the stones, and, laying his head on
them, snatched up their war-clubs, and, brandishing them
in the air, were about to slay him, when Pocahontas, Pow-

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 121

hatan's favorite daughter, a girl of only twelve or thirteen
years of age, finding all her entreaties unavailing, flew,
and, at the hazard of her life, clasped the captive's head
in her arms, and laid her own upon his. The stern heart
of Powhatan was touched: he relented, and consented that
Smith might live.

[The story here given is one in which the reader may be advised
not to put too great credit, as it is doubted by historical critics,
and has, in all probability, been greatly embellished by its chief
actor. Two days afterwards Smith was permitted by Powhatan to
return to Jamestown, on condition of sending him two great guns
and a grindstone.]

Smith now treated his Indian guides kindly, and, show
ing Rawhunt, a favorite servant of Powhatan, two pieces
of cannon and a grindstone, gave him leave to carry them
home to his master. A cannon was then loaded with
stones, and discharged among the boughs of a tree hung
with icicles, when the Indians fled in terror, but upon
being persuaded to return they received presents for Pow
hatan, his wives and children, and departed.

At the time of Smith's return to Jamestown, he found
the number of the colonists reduced to forty. Of the one
hundred original settlers, seventy-eight are classified as
follows : fifty-four gentlemen, four carpenters, twelve labor
ers, a blacksmith, a sailor, a barber, a bricklayer, a mason,
a tailor, a drummer, and a " chirurgeon." Of the gentle
men, the greater part were indolent, dissolute reprobates,
of good families; and they found themselves not in a
golden El Dorado, as they had fondly anticipated, but in
a remote wilderness, encompassed by want, exposure, fa
tigue, disease, and danger.

The return of Smith, and his report of the plenty that
he had witnessed at Werowocomoco, and of the generous
clemency of Powhatan, and especially of the love of Poca-

THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

hontas, revived the drooping hopes of the survivors at
Jamestown. The arrival of Newport at the same juncture
with stores and a number of additional settlers, being part
of the first supply sent out from England by the treasurer
and council, was joyfully welcomed. Pocahontas too, with
her tawny train of attendants, frequently visited James
town, with presents of bread, and venison, and raccoons,
sent by Powhatan for Smith and Newport. However, the
improvident traffic allowed between Newport's mariners
and the natives soon extremely enhanced the price of pro
visions, and the too protracted detention of his vessel
made great inroads upon the public store.

[The events described were followed by a visit to Powhatan, and
the accidental burning of Jamestown, which took place on their
return. Other troubles succeeded.]

The stock of provisions running low, the colonists at
Jamestown were reduced to a diet of meal and water, and
this, together with their exposure to cold after the loss
of their habitations, cut off upwards of one-half of them.
Their condition was made still worse by a rage for gold
that now seized them. " There was no talk, no hope, no
work, but dig gold, wash gold, refine gold, load gold."
Smith, not indulging in these empty dreams of imaginary
wealth, laughed at their infatuation in loading " such a
drunken ship with gilded dust."

Captain Newport, after a delay of three months and a
half, being now ready to sail for England, the planters,
having no use for parliaments, places, petitions, admirals,
recorders, interpreters, chronologers, courts of plea, nor
justices of the peace, sent Master Wingfield and Captain
Archer home with him, so that they, who had engrossed all
those titles to themselves, might seek some better place of
employment. Newport carried with him twenty turkeys,

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 123

which had been presented to him by Powhatan, who had
demanded and received twenty swords in return for them.
This fowl, peculiar to America, had been many years be
fore carried to England by some of the early discoverers of
North America.

After Newport's departure, Ratcliffe, the president, lived
in ease, peculating on the public store. The spring now
approaching, Smith and Scrivener undertook to rebuild
Jamestown, repair the palisades, fell trees, prepare the
fields, plant, and erect another church. While thus en
gaged they were joyfully surprised by the arrival of the
Phoenix, commanded by Captain Nelson, who had left Eng
land with Newport about the end of the year 1607, and,
after coming within sight of Cape Henry, had been driven
off to the West Indies. He brought with him the re
mainder of the first supply, which comprised one hundred
and twenty settlers. Having found provisions in the West
Indies, and having economically husbanded his own, he
imparted them generously to the colony, so that now there
was accumulated a store sufficient for half a year.

Powhatan, having effected so advantageous an exchange
with Newport, afterwards sent Smith twenty turkeys, but,
receiving no swords in return, he was highly offended, and
ordered his people to take them by fraud or force, and
they accordingly attempted to seize them at the gates of
Jamestown. The president and Martin, who now ruled,
remained inactive, under pretence of orders from England
not to offend the natives; but some of them happening to
meddle with Smith, he handled them so roughly, by whip
ping and imprisonment, as to repress their insolence.

Pocahontas, in beauty of feature, expression, and form,
far surpassed any of the natives, and in intelligence and
spirit " was the nonpareil of her country." Powhatan,
hearing that some of his people were kept prisoners at

124 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

Jamestown, sent her, with Rawhunt (who was as remark
able for his personal deformity, but shrewd and crafty),
with presents of a deer and some bread, to sue for their
ransom. Smith released the prisoners, and Pocahontas
was dismissed with presents. Thus the scheme of Pow-
hatan to destroy the English with their own swords was
happily frustrated.

The Phoenix was freighted with a cargo of cedar, and the
unserviceable, gold-hunting Captain Martin concluded to
return with her to England. Of the one hundred and
twenty settlers brought by Newport and Nelson, there
were thirty-three gentlemen, twenty-one laborers (some of
them only footmen), six tailors, two apothecaries, two
jewellers, two gold-refiners, two goldsmiths, a gunsmith, a
perfumer, a surgeon, a cooper, a tobacco-pipe maker, and
a blacksmith.

[On the 2d of June, 1608, Smith left Jamestown with the purpose
of exploring Chesapeake Bay. During this journey he discovered
the Potomac and sailed up it to the head of navigation. He contin
ued his explorations, and during the summer, " with a few men, in a
small barge, in his several voyages of discovery he traversed a dis
tance of not less than three thousand miles." In September, 1608,
he accepted the office of president, which he had formerly declined.]

Smith, the president, now set the colonists to work; some
to make glass, others to prepare tar, pitch, and soap-ashes;
while he, in person, conducted thirty of them five miles
below the fort to cut down trees and saw plank. Two of
this lumber party happened to be young gentlemen who
had arrived in the last supply. Smith sharing labor and
hardship in common with the rest, these woodmen, at first,
became apparently reconciled to the novel task, and seemed
to listen with pleasure to the crashing thunder of the fall
ing trees; but whep the axes began to blister their unac
customed hands, they grew profane, and their frequent loud
oaths echoed in the woods. Smith, taking measures to have

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 125

the oaths of each one numbered, in the evening, for each
offence, poured a can of water down the offender's sleeve;
and this curious discipline, or water-cure, was so effectual
that after it was administered an oath would scarcely be
heard in a week. Smith found that thirty or forty gentle
men who volunteered to work could do more in a day than
one hundred that worked by compulsion ; but he adds that
twenty good workmen would have been better than the
whole of them put together.

[Further troubles with the Indians succeeded, and only the en
ergy of the governor defeated the murderous schemes of Opechan-
canough.]

Returning [from his visit to this chief], he descended
the York as far as Werowocomoco, intending to surprise
Powhatan there, and thus secure a further supply of corn ;
but Powhatan had abandoned his new house, and had car
ried away all his corn and provisions ; and Smith, with his
party, returned to Jamestown. In this expedition, with
twenty-five pounds of copper and fifty pounds of iron, and
some beads, he procured, in exchange, two hundred
pounds of deer suet, and delivered to the Cape merchant
four hundred and seventy-nine bushels of corn.

At Jamestown the provision of the public store had been
spoiled by exposure to the rain of the previous summer,
or eaten by rats and worms. The colonists had been liv
ing there in indolence, and a large part of their implements
and arms had been trafficked away to the Indians. Smith
undertook to remedy these disorders by discipline and
labor, relieved by pastimes and recreations ; and he estab
lished it as a rule that he who would not work should not
eat. The whole government of the colony was now, in
effect, devolved upon him, Captain Wynne being the only
other surviving councillor, and the president having two
votes. Shortly after Smith's return, he met the chief of

126 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

Paspahegh near Jamestown, and had a rencontre with him.
This athletic savage attempting to shoot him, he closed
and grappled, when, by main strength, the chief forced him
into the river to drown him. They struggled long in the
water, until Smith, grasping the savage by the throat, well-
nigh strangled him, and, drawing his sword, was about to
cut off his head, when he begged for his life so piteously
that Smith spared him, and led him prisoner to Jamestown,
where he put him in chains. He was daily visited by his
wives, and children, and people, who brought presents to
ransom him. At last he made his escape. Captain Wynne
and Lieutenant Percy were despatched, with a party of
fifty, to recapture him, failing in which they burned the
chief's cabin and carried away his canoes. Smith now
going out to " try his conclusions " with " the salvages,"
slew some, and made some prisoners, burned their cabins,
and took their canoes and fishing-weirs. Shortly after
wards the president, passing through Paspahegh, on his
way to the Chickahominy, was assaulted by the Indians;
but, upon his firing, and their discovering who he was,
they threw down their arms and sued for peace. Oka-
ning, a young warrior, who spoke in their behalf, in justi
fying the escape of their chief from imprisonment at
Jamestown, said, " The fishes swim, the fowls fly, and the
very beasts strive to escape the snare, and live." Smith's
vigorous measures, together with some accidental circum
stances, so dismayed the savages that from this time to
the end of his administration they gave no further trouble.

[In 1609 an addition to the colony of five hundred men and
women was sent out, with stores and provisions, in a fleet of nine
vessels.]

Upon the appearance of this fleet near Jamestown,
Smith, not expecting such a supply, took them to be Span-

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 127

iards, and prepared to encounter them, and the Indians
readily offered their assistance. The colony had already,
before the arrival of the fleet, been threatened with an
archy, owing to intelligence of the premature repeal of
the charter, brought out by Captain Argall, and the new
settlers had now no sooner landed than they gave rise to
new confusion and disorder. The factious leaders, al
though they brought no commission with them, insisted
on the abrogation of the existing charter, rejected the
authority of Smith, whom they hated and feared, and un
dertook to usurp the government. Their capricious folly
equalled their insolence: to-day the old commission must
rule, to-morrow the new, the next day neither, — thus, by
continual change, plunging all things into anarchy.

Smith, filled with disgust, would cheerfully have em
barked for England, but, seeing little prospect of the ar
rival of the new commission (which was in the possession
of Gates on the island of Bermudas), he resolved to put
an end to these incessant plots and machinations. The
ringleaders, Ratcliffe, Archer, and others, he arrested; to
cut off another source of disturbance, he gave permission
to Percy, who was in feeble health, to embark for Eng
land, of which, however, he did not avail himself. West,
with one hundred and twenty picked men, was detached
to the falls of James River, and Martin, with nearly the
same number, to Nansemond. Smith's presidency having
expired about this time, he had been succeeded by Martin,
who, conscious of his incompetency, had immediately
resigned it to Smith. Martin, at Nansemond, seized the
chief, and, capturing the town, occupied it with his de
tachment; but owing to want of judgment, or of vigi
lance, he suffered himself to be surprised by the savages,
who slew many of his party, rescued the chief, and carried

128 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

off their corn. Martin not long after returned to James
town, leaving his detachment to shift for themselves.

Smith, going up the river to West's settlement at the
falls, found the English planted in a place not only subject
to the river's inundation, but " surrounded by many intol
erable inconveniences." To remedy these, by a messenger
he proposed to purchase from Powhatan his seat of that
name, a little lower down the river. The settlers scorn
fully rejected the scheme, and became so mutinous that
Smith landed among them and arrested the chief mal
contents. But, overpowered by numbers, being supported
by only five men, he was forced to retire on board of a
vessel lying in the river. The Indians daily supplied him
with provisions, in requital for which the English plun
dered their corn, robbed their cultivated ground, beat them,
broke into their cabins, and made them prisoners. They
complained to Captain Smith that the men whom he had
sent there as their protectors " were worse than their old
enemies, the Monacans." Smith, embarking, had no
sooner set sail for Jamestown than many of West's party
were slain by the savages.

It so happened that before Smith's vessel had dropped
a mile and a half down the river she ran aground, where
upon, making a virtue of necessity, he summoned the
mutineers to a parley, and they, now seized with a panic
on account of the assault of a mere handful of Indians,
submitted themselves to his mercy. He again arrested
the ringleaders, and established the rest of the party at
Powhatan, in the Indian palisade fort, which was so well
fortified by poles and bark as to defy all the savages in
Virginia. Dry cabins were also found there, and nearly
two hundred acres of ground ready to be planted, and it
was called Nonsuch, as being at once the strongest and

THE RUINS OF JAMESTOWN.
From a late photograph.

CAMPBELL] THE JAMESTOWN COLONY. 129

most delightful place in the country. Nonsuch was the
name of a royal residence in England.

When Smith was now on the eve of his departure, the
arrival of West again threw all things back into confusion.
Nonsuch was abandoned, and all hands returned to the
falls, and Smith, finding all his efforts abortive, embarked
in a boat for Jamestown. During the voyage he was ter
ribly wounded, while asleep, by the accidental explosion
of a bag of gunpowder, and in the paroxysm of pain he
leaped into the river, and was wellnigh drowned before
his companions could rescue him. Arriving at James
town in this helpless condition, he was again assailed by
faction and mutiny, and one of his enemies even presented
a cocked pistol at him in his bed; but the hand wanted
the nerve to execute what the heart was base enough to
design.

Ratcliffe, Archer, and their confederates laid plans to
usurp the government of the colony, whereupon Smith's
faithful soldiers, fired with indignation at conduct so in
famous, begged for permission to strike off their heads ;
but this he refused. He refused also to surrender the
presidency to Percy. For this Smith is censured by the
historian Stith, who yet acknowledges that Percy was in
too feeble health to control a mutinous colony. Anarchy
being triumphant, Smith probably deemed it useless to
appoint a governor over a mob. He at last, about
Michaelmas, 1609, embarked for England, after a stay of
a little more than two years in Virginia, to which he
never returned.

Here, then, closes the career of Captain John Smith
in Virginia, " the father of the colony," and a hero like
Bayard, " without fear and without reproach."

130 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Howisox

THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA.

ROBERT R. HOWISON.

[No sooner had Captain Smith departed from the Jamestown
colony than all order and subordination ceased. His energy and
good sense had alone held the reckless colonists in check, and they
quickly consumed all their provisions, and provoked the hostility of
the Indians, who refused to furnish them with supplies. Famine
succeeded. Within six months, vice, anarchy, and starvation re
duced the colony from four hundred and ninety to sixty persons,
and these so feeble and miserable that had not relief come all must
soon have perished. This period was long remembered under the
name of the starving time.

Soon after, Sir Thomas Gates arrived, but without supplies, and
as the only escape from starvation he took the surviving colonists
on his ships and set sail for Newfoundland. Fortunately, when
they reached the mouth of the river they met Lord Delaware, who
had been sent out as governor of the colony, with supplies and
emigrants. The colonists were induced to return, and order and
contentment were soon regained under the wise management of the
new governor. Shortly -afterwards seven hundred more men ar
rived, and the land, which had been held in common, was divided
among the colonists, much to the advancement of agriculture. In
1613 occurred the marriage of John Rolfe, a young Englishman,
with Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, an event which im
proved the relations between the colonists and the Indians. Poca
hontas was taken to England in 1616, and died in 1617, leaving one
son, from whom are descended some of the most respectable
families in Virginia. In 1613, Captain Argall sailed from Virginia
for the purpose of protecting the English fishermen on the coast
of Maine. He broke up a settlement which the French had made
on Mt. Desert Island, near the Penobscot, reduced the French set
tlement at Port Royal, in Acadia, and entered the harbor of New
York, where he compelled the Dutch traders to acknowledge the
sovereignty of England. The effect of the last two operations,
however, continued only till the disappearance of his ship. In 1615
the colonists went eagerly into tobacco-culture, which soon became
a mania; the culture of corn and other grain being so neglected as
to threaten renewed scarcity. In 1617 it is said that the yards, the

HOWISON] THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA. 131

market square, and the very streets of Jamestown were full of the
plants of this new article of commerce, to which the soil and
climate of Virginia proved well adapted. In 1617, Captain Argall
was made governor, and at once established a system of strict mili
tary rule which, in time, became almost a reign of terror. He was
removed in 1619, and Sir George Yeardly sent out, under whose ad
ministration the colony flourished. In 1619 a representative body
was organized, and met in Jamestown, where it adopted a colonial
constitution. This was the first legislative action in America, and
the first step towards American liberty. In the succeeding year
(1620) a Dutch man-of-war sailed up the James and landed twenty
negroes, who were quickly sold to the colonists. A happier intro
duction than this of African slavery was effected the same year, in
the sending over of ninety young women, who were also sold to
the colonists — as wives; the price paid for each being one hundred
and twenty pounds of tobacco. Sixty others were soon after sent,
and the price rose to one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco.

But the Virginian colonists were now to pass through a danger as
threatening as that of the " starving time." The death of Powhatan
had removed their best friend among the Indians. The rapid in
crease of the colonists, and the spread of their settlements, alarmed
the savages, who, in 1622, formed a conspiracy to destroy the whole
colony. The story of this thrilling event we extract from Howi-
son's " History of Virginia."]

SINCE the marriage of Pocahontas with John Rolfe, the
Indians had preserved the most peaceful relations with the
settlers, and hopes were entertained that permanent friend
ship would be established between them. The dominion
of Powhatan had descended to his brother Opitchapan, a
feeble and decrepit chieftain, who was neither dreaded by
the whites nor respected by his own subjects. But there
was one mind among the natives which now exercised all
the sway of superior genius and courage. Opecancanough
has heretofore been mentioned. It is doubtful whether
he was in any manner related to Powhatan, though he is
often spoken of as his brother. Among the Indians and
some of the whites prevailed a belief that he came from a

132 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HowisoN

tribe far in the southwest, perhaps from the interior of
Mexico. But in talents and influence he was now the
ruling power among the savages. Profound in dissimula
tion, cruel by nature and habit, patient of suffering, skilled
in every species of treachery, and possessed of a ready
eloquence, always at his command, he soon gained over
the minds of his inferiors an ascendency as resistless as it
was dangerous. . . .

The English had become careless and unsuspecting.
Believing the natives to be their friends, they admitted
them freely to their houses, sometimes supplied them with
arms, employed them in hunting and fishing for their
families, and in all respects treated them as faithful allies.
As habits of industry and steady labor gained ground, the
colonists relaxed their martial discipline. The plough was
a more useful implement than the musket, and the sword
had given place to the hoe and the pickaxe. Seduced by
the present tranquillity, and by the fertile soil found in
belts of land upon all the rivers running into the bay, they
had extended their settlements until they were now nearly
eighty in number and spread in scattered plantations over
a space of several hundred miles. They were lulled into
complete security by the demeanor of the natives, and
those who were most zealous for religion were beginning
to hope that the seeds of the truth were taking root in
many untutored minds, and would, after a season, produce
fruits of joy and peace. Some were not thus sanguine;
and among those who looked with most suspicion upon the
Indians we mark the name of Jonas Stockam, a minister,
who has left on record an open acknowledgment of his dis
trust. His strong common sense, his knowledge of human
nature, and his observations upon the natives around him,
all confirmed his belief that they were yet highly dangerous,
and that until their priests and " ancients " were destroyed

HOWISON] THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA. 138

no hope of their conversion need be entertained. But his
warnings, and slight proofs of enmity in the savages, were
alike disregarded. The colonists remained immersed in
unruffled security.

In the mean time Opecancanough was preparing the
actors in his infernal drama. Either in person or by his
emissaries, he visited all the tribes composing the con
federacy over which Powhatan had held dominion. He
roused them to revenge; represented their wrongs;
wrought their passions to intensity by mingled promises
of blood and of rapine; pointed to the defenceless state
of the colonists, and established a complete organization
for the work of death. . . . The savages of Virginia were
now embodied for their fatal purpose, and awaited but
the signal from their leader to fall upon the unsuspecting
colonists. . . .

On Friday, the 22d day of March (1622), the tragedy
began. So perfect was the confidence of the settlers that
they loaned the savages their boats to cross the rivers for
their deadly purpose; many of them even came in to take
the morning meal with the whites, and brought deer,
turkeys, fish, and fruits, which they offered for sale in the
usual manner. But at mid-day the scene of blood was
opened. Instantly, and as if by magic, the savages ap
peared at every point, and fell upon their victims with the
weapons which first presented themselves. Neither age
nor sex was spared. The tender infant was snatched from
the mother to be butchered before her eyes ; wives were left
weltering in blood in the presence of their husbands; men
helpless from age, or wholly without defence, were stricken
down ere they could see the foe who assailed them. In one
morning three hundred and forty-nine settlers were slain
upon the several plantations. The murderers were lashed
into frenzied excitement by their own passions; and, not

134 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOWISON

content with the work of death, they mutilated the corpses
in a manner so revolting that the original recorders of this
massacre shrink from the task of describing them. . . .

It is remarkable that wherever resistance was made to
these fiends it was entirely successful. Too cruel to be
brave, they fled from the first vigorous onset; and had the
colonists received one hour's warning, no life would have
been lost that was not dearly atoned for. An old soldier
who had served under John Smith, although surrounded by
Indians and severely wounded, clove the skull of one assail
ant with a single stroke of an axe, and the rest instantly
took to flight. A Mr. Baldwin, whose wife was lying be
fore his eyes, profusely bleeding from many wounds, by
one well-directed discharge drove a crowd of murderers
from his house. Several small parties of settlers obtained
a few muskets from a ship that happened to be lying in
the stream near their plantations, and with these they
routed the savages in every direction and dispersed them
in great alarm.

[Jamestown was saved through information given by a young
Indian convert. Preparations for defence were hastily made, and
the savages did not venture an assault.]

The immediate effects of this blow upon the colony
were most disastrous. Horror and consternation per
vaded every mind; nearly one-fourth of their whole num
ber had, in a single hour, been stricken down. The rest
were hastily drawn together around Jamestown. Distant
plantations were abandoned, and in a short time eighty
settlements were reduced to six. Some few bold spirits
(and among them a woman) refused to obey the order,
and remained in their country-seats, among their ser
vants, mounting cannon at weak points, and preparing to
meet the treacherous foe with becoming courage. But

HOWISON] THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA. 135

they were compelled by law to abandon their strongholds
and to unite their resources in the common fund.

A terrible reaction in the feelings of the colonists im
mediately took place. ... A war ensued, in which the
fiercest impulses that man can feel were called into being.
No truce was ever declared. The Indians were shot down
at any time and in any place in which they showed them
selves. When seed-time approached, hostilities declined
from absolute necessity. The English resorted to a strata
gem which cannot be justified. Offering peace to the
savages, they seduced them from their places of conceal
ment; but in the midst of their labor they rushed upon
them, cut down their corn, and put to death a large num
ber, among whom were several of their greatest warriors
and most skilful chieftains. So embittered and so deep
was the feeling of hatred thus engendered between the
races that for many years it was transmitted from father
to son. The colonists looked upon the Indians as their
hereditary foes, and the unhappy natives never spoke of
the " long knives " without fear and execration.

[During the immediately succeeding period no events of any
marked importance occurred in Virginia. In 1624 the London
Company was dissolved, and Virginia became a royal government.
But the rights of trial by jury and of a representative Assembly,
which had been granted by the Company, were retained, and all
succeeding colonies claimed the same, so that from the formation
of the colonial Assembly of Virginia we may date the beginning of
the evolution of American liberty. In 1643 another Indian massa
cre took place, instigated by the same implacable chief.]

The Indians were now inveterate enemies. Peace was
never thought of. Successive enactments of the Assem
bly made it a solemn duty to fall upon the natives at
stated periods of the year, and heavy penalties were vis
ited upon all who traded with them or in any way pro-

136 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HowisoN

vided them with arms and ammunition. The whites were
steadily increasing both in moral and physical strength;
the Indians were as rapidly wasting away before the
breath of civilization. A few incursions, — a few convulsive
efforts, always attended by heavy loss to themselves, — one
final struggle, — these will complete their history in eastern
Virginia.

The illegal grants favored by Sir John Hervey had pro
voked the natives into active hostility. They saw their
hunting-grounds successively swept away by a power
which they were unable to resist, and all the passions of
the savage arose to demand revenge. . . . Among the
natives there still lived a hero who had proved himself a
formidable adversary even when encountered by European
skill. Opecancanough had attained the hundredth year
of his life. Declining age had bowed a form once emi
nent in stature and manly strength. Incessant toil and
watchfulness had wasted his flesh and left him gaunt and
withered, like the forest-tree stripped of its foliage by the
frosts of winter. His eyes had lost their brightness, and
so heavily did the hand of age press upon him that his
eyelids drooped from weakness, and he required the aid
of an attendant to raise them that he might see objects
around him. Yet within this tottering and wasted body
burned a soul which seemed to have lost none of its origi
nal energy. A quenchless fire incited him to hostility
against the settlers. He yet wielded great influence
among the members of the Powhatan confederacy; and
by his wisdom, his example, and the veneration felt for
his age, he roused the savages to another effort at general
massacre.

The obscurity concerning the best records which remain
of this period has rendered doubtful the precise time at
which this fatal irruption occurred; yet the most proba-

HOWISON] THE INDIAN MASSACRE IN VIRGINIA. 137

ble period would seem to be the close of the year 1643.
The Indians were drawn together with great secrecy and
skill, and were instructed to fall upon the colonists at the
same time, and to spare none who could be safely butch
ered. Five hundred victims sank beneath their attack.
The assault was most violent and fatal upon the upper
waters of the Pamunkey and the York, where the settlers
were yet thin in number and but imperfectly armed. But
in every place where resistance was possible the savages
were routed with loss, and driven back in dismay to their
fastnesses in the forest.

Sir William Berkeley instantly placed himself at the head
of a chosen body, composed of every twentieth man able
to bear arms, and marched to the scene of devastation.
Finding the savages dispersed, and all organized resistance
at an end, he followed them with a troop of cavalry. The
aged chief had taken refuge in the neighborhood of his
seat at Pamunkey. His strength was too much enfeebled
for vigorous flight. His limbs refused to bear him, and his
dull vision rendered him an easy prey. He was overtaken
by the pursuers, and carried in triumph back to James
town.

Finding the very soul of Indian enmity now within his
power, the governor had determined to send him to Eng
land as a royal captive, to be detained in honorable custody
until death should close his earthly career. . . . But a
death of violence awaited him. A brutal wretch, urged
on by desire to revenge injuries to the whites which had
long been forgotten or forgiven, advanced with his musket
behind the unhappy chieftain and shot him through the
back. . . .

The wound thus given was mortal. Opecancanough
lingered a few days in agony; yet to the last moment of
his life he retained his majesty and sternness of demeanor.

138 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SCHARF

A crowd of idle beings collected around him to sate their
unfeeling curiosity with a view of his person and his con
duct. Hearing the noise, the dying Indian feebly motioned
to his attendants to raise his eyelids, that he might learn
the cause of this tumult. A flash of wounded pride and
of just indignation, for a moment, revived his waning
strength. He sent for the governor, and addressed to him
that keen reproach which has so well merited preserva
tion : " Had I taken Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would
not have exposed him as a show to my people." In a
short time afterwards he expired. . . .

After the death of this warrior, the celebrated confed
eracy of Powhatan was immediately* dissolved. ... It
was without a head, and the members fell away and speedily
lost all tendency to cohesion. The Indians had learned,
by fatal experience, that they contended in vain with the
whites. . . . They have faded away and gradually dis
appeared, never more to return.

THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND.

J. THOMAS SCHARF.

[The country near the Head of Chesapeake Bay was first explored
by Captain John Smith. It afterwards formed part of the grant that
was made by Charles I. to Sir George Calvert, by title Lord Balti
more, a Roman Catholic nobleman. Inspired by the same feeling
that had moved the Puritans, he sought to establish a refuge in
America for men of his religious faith, who were persecuted in
England. With this purpose he planted, in 1621, a Catholic colony
in Newfoundland. But the unfavorable soil and climate, and an
noyances from the hostile French, soon ended his hopes in that
quarter. He next visited Virginia, but found there a religious in-

SCHARF] THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 139

tolerance hostile to his purposes. The territory finally granted him
extended from the upper Chesapeake to the fortieth degree, the
latitude of Philadelphia.

The charter given to Lord Baltimore, unlike any previously
granted, secured to the emigrants equality in religious rights and
civil freedom, and an independent share in the legislation of the
province. The colony was formed in 1634 by two hundred emi
grants, mostly Roman Catholics, who entered the Potomac and
purchased of the Indians a village on the St. Mary's River, about
ten miles from its junction with the Potomac. The policy of paying
the Indians for their land, and their subsequent equitable treatment,
inaugurated peaceful relations, though these did not remain long
undisturbed. The treaty of Calvert with the Indians, though less
dramatic, resembled in principle the celebrated one made many
years afterwards by William Penn. Its character is clearly stated
by J. T. Scharf in his excellent " History of Maryland."]

INSTEAD of treating the aborigines as wild beasts, or
savages towards whom no moral law was binding, he dealt
with them as with men whose rights had a claim to respect.
He raised no sophistical question whether savages could
acquire or transfer any rights in the soil, or whether it
was worth while to pay them any price for what they
were preparing to abandon. The quantity of goods given
them is not known; but the compensation was satisfactory,
and there is no reason for alleging that it was not ample.
The land ceded was mostly forest hunting-grounds; and
the former possessors left them only to remove to others
chosen in the boundless wilderness. The articles given in
exchange were not trinkets and cheap gewgaws to pamper
savage vanity, nor the maddening draught that has been
the bane of the race, nor the arms that would render their
internal wars more deadly and hasten their extermination;
they were not merely of intrinsic worth, but of absolutely
inestimable value to the Indian, who could procure nothing
comparable to them, and was at once raised a degree in
civilization by their acquisition. The possession of an

140 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SCHARP

axe of steel instead of his rude tool of stone multiplied
his strength and efficiency a hundredfold. If the whites
occupied his fields, they gave him, in improved implements,
the means of raising larger crops, with less labor, in his
new abode; if they restricted his hunting-grounds, they
taught him to dispense with his rude garment of skin,
and clothed him in the warmer fabric of the loom.

The Indians, on their side, faithfully performed their
part of the contract. They shared at once their cabins
with the strangers and prepared to abandon them and the
cultivated fields as soon as the corn was harvested. In the
mean time they mingled freely with the colonists, who
employed many of their women and children in their fami
lies. From them the wives and daughters of the settlers
learned the modes of preparing maize and other products
of the soil. While the colonist of New England ploughed
his field with his musket on his back, or was aroused from
his slumber by the hideous war-whoop to find his dwelling
in flames, the settlers of St. Mary's accompanied the red
warrior to the chase and learned his arts of woodcraft;
and the Indian coming to the settlement with wild tur
keys or venison found a friendly reception and an honest
market, and, if belated, wrapped himself in his mantle of
skins or duffield cloth and lay down to sleep by the white
man's fireside, unsuspecting and unsuspected.

Such were the happy results of the truly Christian spirit
that animated the first Maryland colonists.

[Trouble with the Indians began as early as 1641, in the incur
sions of the Susquehannoughs, a fierce tribe, which had always been
hostile to the colonists. These savages had now acquired the posses
sion and learned the use of fire-arms. The sale of arms and am
munition to them had been made penal in the colony, but the
Swedes and Dutch on the Delaware freely supplied them with these
dangerous articles. There resulted a war with the Indians, which

SCHARF] THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 141

extended from 1642 to 1644. In the mean time Calvert was given
great trouble by William Claiborne, a Virginian who had in 1631
establishing a trading-station on the island of Kent and one near the
mouth of the Susquehanna, and who for years continued to contest
the rights of the lord proprietary. He even organized a rebellion,
and for a time drove the governor from the province.

Maryland has the honor of being the first country to establish the
principle of religious toleration to people of all faiths. George Cal
vert " was the first," says Bancroft, " in the history of the Christian
world, to seek for religious security and peace by the practice of
justice and not by the exercise of power; to plan the establishment
of popular institutions with the enjoyment of liberty of conscience;
to advance the career of civilization by recognizing the rightful
equality of all Christian sects." The religious toleration which
already existed by charter was further established by a law of the
Maryland Assembly, of April 2, 1649. Rhode Island had previously
passed a similar law. We quote the significant section of this im
portant enactment.]

" And whereas the inforcing of the conscience in mat
ters of religion hath frequently fallen out to bee of danger
ous consequence in those commonwealths where it hath
beene practiced, and for the more quiet and peaceable gov
ernment of this province, and the better to preserve mutual!
love and unity among the inhabitants here, Bee it, there
fore, also by the lord proprietary, with the advice and
assent of this assembly, ordained and enacted, . . . that
no person or persons whatsoever within this province or
the islands, ports, harbours, creeks, or havens thereunto
belonging, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from
henceforth be any waies troubled, molested, or discounte
nanced, for or in respect of his or her religion, nor in the
free exercise thereof within this province or the islands
thereunto belonging, nor any way compelled to the be-
Hefe or exercise of any other religion against his or her
consent, so as they be not unfaithfull to the lord proprie
tary, or molest or conspire against the civill government,

142 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SCHARF

established or to be estabblished in this province under
him or his heyres; and that all and every person or persons
that shall presume contrary to this act and the true intent
and meaning thereof, directly or indirectly, eyther in per
son or estate, wilfully to wrong, disturbe, or trouble, or
molest any person or persons whatsoever within this
province, professing to believe in Jesus Christ, for or in
respect of his or her religion, or the free exercise thereof
within this province, . . . shall be compelled to pay treble
damages to the party so wronged or molested, and for
every such offence shall also forfeit 2os. sterling in money
or the value thereof, . . . or if the party so offending as
aforesaid, shall refuse or bee unable to recompence the
party so wronged or to satisfie such fine or forfeiture,
then such offender shall be severely punished by publick
whipping and imprisonment during the pleasure of the
lord proprietary or his lieutenant or chiefe governour of
this province for the time being, without baile or main-
prise."

[The act here given also punishes with fine whoever shall denom
inate any person as " an Heretick, Schismatick, Idolater, Puritan,
Presbyterian, Independent, Popish Priest, Jesuit, Jesuited Papist,
Lutheran, Calvinist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Antinomian, Barrowist,
Roundhead, Separatist, or other name or terme in a reproachful
manner, relating to matters of religion," or shall blaspheme or deny
any of the persons of the Holy Trinity, or speak reproachfully of the
Virgin Mary, or shall break the Sabbath by drunkenness, swearing,
disorderly recreation, or work except when absolutely necessary.

The enactment here described was one worthy to be printed in let
ters of gold, as an example of remarkable breadth of view and spirit
of tolerance for the age of religious bigotry in which it was passed.
Its principle was not long permitted to continue in force. During the
Puritan ascendency in England the government was taken from the
proprietor, and the Catholics of Maryland were disfranchised, ex
cluded from the Assembly, and declared not entitled to the protec
tion of the law. In January of the following year (1655), Stone, the

SCHARF] THE SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 143

lieutenant of Lord Baltimore, resumed his office, and a civil war en
sued, which is worth describing, as the first instance of civil war in
America.]

Lord Baltimore, learning the surrender of Governor
Stone, and that the affairs of the province were adminis
tered by commissioners appointed by Claiborne, and his
associates, in the latter part of 1654, despatched a special
messenger . . . with a severe rebuke to the governor for
so tamely yielding his authority, and an order to him to
resume it immediately.

The ship arrived in January, 1655, N. S., and Captain
Stone proceeded to issue commissions to officers, and to
organize an armed force in the county of St. Mary's. In
a short time he found himself at the head of about one
hundred and thirty men.

[With this force he recovered the records of the province, and
captured a magazine of arms and ammunition from the Puritans.]

About the twentieth of March, Stone set out with his
little army for Providence. He had pressed into his ser
vice eleven or twelve small vessels for the transportation
of part of his forces, and part marched by land along the
bay shore. . . . Governor Stone, witH his little fleet and
army, entered the outer harbor of Providence (Annapolis
harbor) late in the evening of March 24. ...

Stone had no sooner drawn up his force in array upon
the shore, than the Golden Lyon and Captain Cut's vessel
opened fire upon them, killing one man, and compelling
him to retire a little up the neck of land. In the mean
time, Captain Fuller, at the head of one hundred and sev
enty men, embarked in boats, and, having gone " over the
river some six miles distant from the enemy," landed, and
made a circuit around the head of the creek, proposing to
take Stone's force in flank and rear. On their approach
the sentry fired a gun, and an engagement followed, which

144 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SCHARF

is thus described by Leonard Strong, one of Fuller's
council, in his pamphlet, " Babylon's Fall."

" Captain Fuller, still expecting that then, at last, pos
sibly they might give a reason of their coming, commanded
his men, on pain of death, not to shoot a gun, or give the
first onset ; setting up the standard of the commonwealth
of England, against which the enemy shot five or six guns
and killed one man in the front before a shot was made by
the other. Then the worcl was given : In the name of God,
fall on; God is our strength — that was the word for Provi
dence: the Marylanders' word was Hey for Saint Maries.
The charge was fierce and sharp for the time ; but, through
the glorious presence of the Lord of hosts manifested in
and towards his poor oppressed people, the enemy could
not endure, but gave back, and were so effectually charged
home that they were all routed, turned their backs, threw
down their arms, and begged mercy. After the first vol
ley of shot, a small company of the enemy, from behind
a great tree fallen, galled us, and wounded divers of our
men, but were soon beaten off. Of the whole company of
the Marylanders there escaped only four or five, who ran
away out of the army to carry news to their confederates.
Captain Stone, Colonel Price, Captain Gerrard, Captain
Lewis, Captain Kendall, Captain Guither, Major Chandler,
and all the rest of the councillors, officers, and soldiers of
the Lord Baltimore, among whom, both commanders and
souldiers, a great number being Papists, were taken, and so
were all their vessels, arms, ammunition, provision; about
•fifty men slain and wounded. We lost only two in the
field ; but two died since of their wounds. God did appear
wonderful in the field and in the hearts of the people ; all
confessing Him to be the only worker of this victory and
deliverance."

Strong's pamphlet is, no doubt, strongly colored by

PALFREY] THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 145

partisanship, but, whatever the exact details, the Puritans
were completely victorious. ..." Two or three days after
the victors condemned ten to death, and executed foure,
and had executed all, had not the incessant petitioning
and begging of some good women saved some, and the
souldiers others; the governor himself being condemned
by them, and since beg'd by the souldiers; some being
saved just as they were leading out to execution."

[In 1658, on the restoration of monarchy in England, the proprie
tor regained his authority in Maryland. A new disturbance between
Protestants and Catholics occurred in 1689, at the period of the
English revolution, and Lord Baltimore was deprived of his rights
by the king in 1691. Religious toleration was abolished, and the
Church of England established as the state religion. After more
than twenty years, the infant heir of Lord Baltimore, then a Prot
estant, was restored to his proprietorship, and Maryland remained
a proprietary government until the Revolution.]

THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS.

JOHN GORHAM PALFREY.

[The discovery and settlement of New England was a slow pro
cess. It possibly began with the voyages of the Northmen, though
the locality of Finland can never be definitely known. The English
claim to the territory was based on the voyages of the Cabots, in
which the coast was visited from the far north to the thirty-eighth
(or perhaps to the thirty-sixth) degree of north latitude. The New
England coast was afterwards visited by Cortereal, by Verrazano,
and by several later voyagers. Yet during the sixteenth century no
part of it was explored, and no effort made at colonization. Gos-
nold, in 1602, made an unsuccessful attempt to plant a colony on
Martha's Vineyard. Martin Pring made a trading-voyage to the
coast in 1603. In 1605 George Weymouth entered the Kennebec or
the Penobscot River. About the same time the French essayed to
plant a colony on Cape Cod, but were driven off by the Indians. In
i — 10

146 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PALFREY

1606 the Plymouth and London Companies, for the purpose of plant
ing colonies in America, were formed in London, the patent of the
first-named covering the coast of New England, to which a colony
was sent in 1607. It landed at the mouth of the Kennebec River, but
the colonists became discouraged, and returned on the ships, with
the exception of forty-five, who spent a long and severe winter on
the coast and returned to England in the following spring. A party
of French established themselves on Mount Desert Island in 1613,
but were driven off after a few weeks' stay by Captain Argall, of Vir
ginia. The next effort to colonize this region was made by Captain
John Smith, who had already given permanence to the Virginia col
ony by his shrewdness and energy. He explored the coast in 1614,
and made a map of it, giving its present name to the country. But
his earnest efforts to found a colony failed, through discouraging
circumstances, and despite his persistent endeavors. Other voyages
were made, and a trading-party remained on the coast during the
winter of 1616-17, but all such efforts to establish trading-colonies
ended in failure, and it was not until the arrival of the Puritan agri
culturists in 1620 that a permanent colony was formed.

No detailed explanation as to who the Puritans were is here de
manded. It will suffice to say that long before the establishment of
the English Episcopal Church by Henry VIII. there had been in
England a large body of religious reformers, and that after that
period these continued to exist, under the titles of Non-Conformists,
Separatists, Brownists, etc., despite the persecutions to which they
were subjected. Among the congregations of Separatists are two
with which we are particularly concerned. One was gathered at
Gainsborough, in Lincolnshire, the other at the village of Scrooby,
in Nottinghamshire. They were composed of simple agriculturists,
yet they found the repression of religious liberty to which they were
subjected so intolerable that they determined to emigrate to Holland,
where they had heard that freedom of thought was permitted. After
great difficulty, the Scrooby congregation succeeded in reaching
Amsterdam, where they found the Gainsborough people, and a Lon
don congregation that had emigrated some twelve or fifteen years
before. In 1616 they removed to Leyden. But the political agita
tion which arose in Holland made that country a disagreeable place
of residence, and they finally determined to emigrate to America,
where they might be free to worship God in their own way with
out hindrance.

PALFREY] THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 147

They well knew the perils and difficulties they would have to en
counter, and even magnified them, but were prepared to endure
them all for the blessing of religious liberty. Some thought of join
ing the colony in Virginia; others, of going to Guiana, where Sir
Walter Raleigh then was, on a second visit. Negotiations were en
tered into with the Dutch, with a view to emigrate to the Hudson.
But they finally concluded to establish a new colony on the north
ern American coast, where they would be free from any interference
with their fixed purposes. In July, 1620, they embarked for Eng
land in the ship Speedwell. Here, in the port of Southampton,
they found the Mayflower, a vessel of one hundred and eighty tons'
burden, which had been engaged for the voyage. Two starts
were made, but in each case they were obliged to return, the
Speedwell proving unseaworthy. Finally, on September 6, the May
flower sailed alone, and "put to sea with a prosperous wind."
Among the leading spirits of the expedition may be named Brad
ford and Brewster, members of the original Scrooby congregation,
Winslow, a personage of superior condition to his companions,
who had joined them in Holland, and Miles Standish, who was not
a member of the church, but who loved adventure, and whose mili
tary knowledge was of great value to the emigrants. The story
of the voyage and landing we extract from Palfrey's admirable
" History of New England."]

THE colonists, — men, women, and children, — who were
now embarked on board the Mayflower, were a hundred
and two in number. Concerning very few of them is it
known to this day from what English homes they came.
. . . Little is recorded of the incidencs of the voyage.
The first part was favorably made. As the wanderers
approached the American continent, they encountered
storms which their overburdened vessel was scarcely able
to sustain. Their destination was to a point near the Hud
son River, yet within the territory of the London Company,
by which their patent had been granted. This description
corresponds to no other country than the sea-coast of the
State of New Jersey. At early dawn of the sixty-first
day of their voyage (November 9, 1620) they came in
sight of the white sand-banks of Cape Cod. In pursuance

148 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PALFREY

of their original purpose, they veered to the south, but
by the middle of the day they found themselves " among
perilous shoals and breakers," which caused them to re
trace their course. An opinion afterwards prevailed, on
questionable grounds, that they had been purposely led
astray by the master of the vessel, induced by a bribe
from the Dutch, who were averse to having them near
the mouth of the Hudson, which Dutch vessels had begun
to visit for trade.

The narrow peninsula, sixty miles long, which termi
nates in Cape Cod, projects eastwardly from the mainland
of Massachusetts, in shape resembling the human arm
bent rectangularly at the elbow and again at the wrist.
In the basin enclosed landward by the extreme point of
this projection, in the roadstead of what is now Province-
town, the Mayflower dropped her anchor at noon on a
Saturday near the close of autumn (November n).

[Here was drawn up and signed an instrument constituting a
brief governmental compact, and John Carver, who had been in
strumental in obtaining from the king permission for their enter
prise, was chosen governor of the colony.]

In the afternoon, " fifteen or sixteen men, well armed,"
were sent on shore to reconnoitre and collect fuel. They
returned at evening, reporting that they had seen neither
person nor dwelling, but that the country was well wooded,
and that the appearance as to soil was promising.

Having kept their Sabbath in due retirement, the men
began the labors of the week by landing a shallop from
the ship, and hauling it up the beach for repairs, while
the women went on shore to wash clothes. While the
carpenter and his men were at work on the boat, sixteen
others, armed and provisioned, with Standish for their
commander, set off on foot to explore the country. The
only incident of this day was the sight of five or six sav-

PALFREY] THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 149

ages, who, on their approach, ran away too swiftly to be
overtaken. At night, lighting a fire and setting a guard,
the party bivouacked at the distance, as they supposed,
of ten miles from their vessel. Proceeding southward next
morning, they observed marks of cultivation, some heaps
of earth, which they took for signs of graves, and the re
mains of a hut, with " a great kettle, which had been
some ship's kettle." In a heap which they opened, they
found two baskets containing four or five bushels of In
dian corn, of which they took as much as they could carry
away in their pockets and in the kettle. Farther on they
saw two canoes and " an old fort or palisado, made by
some Christians," as they thought. The second night,
which was rainy, they encamped again, with more pre
cautions than before. On Friday evening, having lost
their way meanwhile, and been amused by an accident to
Bradford, who was caught in an Indian deer-trap, they
returned to their friends " both weary and welcome, and
delivered in their corn into the store to be kept for seed,
for they knew not how to come by any, and therefore
were very glad, proposing, as soon as they could meet
with any of the inhabitants of that place, to make them
large satisfaction."

[The succeeding week was passed in necessary labors, and in ex
ploration of the coast in the shallop. Landing, they found some
more corn and a bag of beans, and several miles inland a grave
containing " bowls, trays, dishes," " a knife, a pack-needle," " a
little bow," and some " strings and bracelets of fine white beads."
Two wigwams were seen. On December 6 another exploration
was made. The cold was extreme. Coasting for six or seven
leagues, they saw a party of Indians, who ran away. They con
tinued to explore during the next day, but found no inhabitants.]

The following morning, at daylight, they had just ended
their prayers, and were preparing breakfast at their camp

150 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PALFREY

on the beach, when they heard a yell, and a flight of
arrows fell among them. The assailants turned out to
be thirty or forty Indians, who, being fired upon, retired.
Neither side had been harmed. A number of the arrows
were picked up, " some whereof were headed with brass,
others with hart's horn, and others with eagles' claws."

Getting on board, they sailed all day along the shore in
a storm of snow and sleet, making, by their estimate, a
distance of forty or fifty miles, without discovering a
harbor. In the afternoon, the gale having increased, their
rudder was disabled, and they had to steer with oars. At
length the mast was carried away, and they drifted in the
dark with a flood-tide. With difficulty they brought up
under the lee of a " small rise of land." Here a part of
the company, suffering from wet and cold, went on shore,
though not without fear of hostile neighbors, and lighted
a fire by which to pass the inclement night. In the morn
ing " they found themselves to be on an island secure
from the Indians, where they might dry their stuff, fix
their pieces, and rest themselves ; and, this being the last
day of the week, they prepared there to keep the Sabbath."

" On Monday they sounded the harbor, and found it fit
for shipping, and marched also into the land, and found
divers cornfields and little running brooks, a place, as they
supposed, fit for situation; ... so they returned to their
ship again with this news to the rest of their people, which
did much to comfort their hearts." Such is the record of
that event which has made the twenty-second of December
a memorable day in the calendar.*

* A trustworthy tradition has preserved a knowledge of the land
ing place, naturally an object of interest both to the inhabitants
and to strangers. It was PLYMOUTH ROCK. Part of it is now em
bedded in a wharf. ... In 1775 the rock was broken into two
pieces in an attempt to remove it to the town square. The large

PALFREY] THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 151

No time was now lost. By the end of the week the
Mayflower had brought her company to keep their Sab
bath by their future home. Further examination con
firmed the agreeable impressions which had been received.
There was found a convenient harbor, " compassed with
a goodly land." The country was well wooded. It had
clay, sand, and shells, for bricks, mortar, and pottery, and
stone for wells and chimneys ; the sea and beach promised
abundance of fish and fowl, and " four or five small running
brooks " brought a supply of " very sweet fresh water."
After prayer for further divine guidance, they fixed upon
a spot for the erection of their dwellings, in the neighbor
hood of a brook " and many delicate springs," and of a
hill suitable for a lookout and a defence. A storm inter
rupted their proceeding. When it was past, " so many of
them as could went on shore, felled and carried timber, to
provide themselves stuff for building." Then came Sun
day, when " the people on shore heard a cry of some
savages, as they thought, which caused an alarm and to
stand on their guard, expecting an assault; but all was
quiet." They were still without the shelter of a roof. At
the sharp winter solstice of New England, there was but

" A screen of leafless branches
Between them and the blast."

But it was the Lord's hallowed time, and the work of

fragment which was separated was in 1834 placed before Pilgrim
Hall and enclosed within an iron railing. The tradition does not
appear to have unequivocally determined who it was that landed
upon the rock, whether the exploring party of ten men who went
ashore at Plymouth, December n (Old Style), or the whole com
pany who came into Plymouth harbor in the Mayflower on Satur
day, December 16, and who, or a part of whom, " went a land "
two days after. The received opinion, that the same landing-place,
as being the most convenient within sight, was used on both occa
sions, appears altogether probable.

152 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PALFREY

building must wait. Next followed the day solemnized,
in the ancient fanes of the continent they had left, with
the most pompous ritual of what they esteemed a vain
will-worship. And the reader pauses to ponder and ana
lyze the feeling of stern exultation with which its record
was made : " Monday, the 25th day, we went on shore,
some to fell timber, some to saw, some to rive, and some
to carry; so no man rested all that day."

The first operations were the beginning of a platform for
the ordnance, and of a building, twenty feet square, for a
storehouse and for common occupation. Nineteen plots
for dwellings were laid out, on the opposite sides of a way
running along the north side of the brook. The number
of plots corresponded to that of the families into which
the company was now divided; the appropriation was
made by lot ; and the size of each plot was such as to allow
half a rod in breadth, and three rods in depth, for each
person included in the family. It " was agreed that each
man should build his own house." " The frost and foul
weather hindered them much." " Seldom could they work
half the week." Time was lost in going to and from the
vessel, to which in the severe cold they were obliged often
to repair for lodging. They were delayed in unloading
for want of boats; and stone, mortar, and thatch were
slowly provided.

These were discouraging circumstances; but far worse
troubles were to come. The labor of providing habita
tions had scarcely begun, when sickness set in, the con
sequence of exposure and bad food. Within four months
it carried off nearly half their number. Six died in Decem
ber, eight in January, seventeen in February, and thirteen
in March. At one time during the winter only six or seven
had strength enough left to nurse the dying and bury the
dead. Destitute of every provision which the weakness

PALFREY] THE LANDING OF THE PILGRIMS. 153

and the daintiness of the invalid require, the sick lay
crowded in the unwholesome vessel, or in half-built cabins
heaped around with snow-drifts. The rude sailors refused
them even a share of those coarse sea-stores which would
have given a little variety to their diet, till disease spread
among the crew, and the kind ministrations of those whom
they had neglected and affronted brought them to a better
temper. The dead were interred in a bluff by the water
side, the marks of burial being carefully effaced, lest the
natives should discover how the colony had been weakened.
The imagination vainly tasks itself to comprehend the
horrors of that fearful winter. The only mitigations were
that the cold was of less severity than is usual in the
place, and that there was not an entire want of food and
shelter.

Meantime, courage and fidelity never gave out. The
well carried out the dead through the cold and snow, and
then hastened back from the burial to wait on the sick;
and as the sick began to recover, they took the places of
those whose strength had been exhausted. There was no
time and there was no inclination to despond. The lesson
rehearsed at Leyden was not forgotten, " that all great and
honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties,
and must be both enterprised and overcome with answer
able courages." The dead had died in a good service, and
the fit way for survivors to honor and lament them was to
be true to one another, and to work together bravely for
the cause to which dead and living had alike been conse
crated. The devastation increased the necessity of prepa
rations for defence ; and it was at the time when the com
pany was diminishing at the rate of one on every second
day, that a military organization was formed, with Stand-
ish for the captain, and the humble fortification on the hill
overlooking the dwellings was mounted with five guns.

154 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

" Warm and fair weather " came at length, and " the
birds sang in the woods most pleasantly." Never was
spring more welcome than when it opened on this afflicted
company.

[Their fears of trouble with the Indians proved not unfounded.
The friendliness at first displayed by the savages soon gave way to
threats of hostilities. In 1622 the Narragansetts sent to the colony
a bundle of arrows tied with a snake-skin, as a declaration of war.
Bradford, the governor, with grim humor, filled the snake-skin with
powder and ball, and returned it. The frightened savages refused to
keep it. It passed from hand to hand, and at length came back to
Plymouth. A conspiracy to murder the settlers was discovered in
1623, and repressed by Standish, who killed the ringleaders of the
plot. This settled all Indian troubles for years. The colony of
Plymouth prospered from that time forward. It never attained
great dimensions, the Boston colony proving more attractive to set
tlers, but " the virtue displayed in its institution and management,
and the great consequences to which it led," will always claim for
it the attention of mankind. After several efforts to found other
colonies, one was established at Salem in 1628. This " Colony of
Massachusetts Bay " made rapid progress, and by 1634 " between
three and four thousand Englishmen were distributed among
twenty hamlets along and near the sea-shore." The work of estab
lishing an English agricultural settlement in New England had
been accomplished.]

RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS IN NEW ENGLAND.

WILLIAM ROBERTSON.

[The New England colonists made vigorous efforts to establish
firmly their political rights. The original charter contained no pro
vision for the self-government or religious freedom of the people,
who were left, in these particulars, at the mercy of the Company
and the king. In furtherance of their democratic sentiments, the
bold step was taken, in 1630, of removing the governing council
from England to Massachusetts, while the provincial government

ROBERTSON] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 155

took every precaution to prevent the Church of England from ex
tending its authority over the colony.

In matters of conscience the colonists manifested from the first an
autocratic tendency, and the determination that God should be wor
shipped in their province in only one way, and that the way of the
Puritans. That thought could be confined to so narrow a channel
was, however, impossible, and there began at an early date that
strenuous effort to weed out what was to them heresy which forms
an important part of the history of New England. To the earliest
of these troubles, that connected with the name of Roger Williams,
the settlement of the province of Rhode Island was due. Similar
religious dissensions had their share in the settlement of the prov
inces of Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire. We select a
description of these events from Robertson's " History of America,"
a favorite historical work of the last century.

We may premise by saying that Roger Williams was a young
Puritan minister, of fine talents and education, who had been driven
out of England by the intolerance of Archbishop Laud. On land
ing in Boston he found himself unable to join the church in that
place, from its opposition to his views respecting religious freedom.
He was subsequently called to the church in Salem, but was pre
vented from officiating through the opposition of Governor Win-
throp. Two years afterwards he again received a pastoral call to
Salem. Here his doctrine gave great offence to the colony, though
he was warmly supported by the people of Salem.]

HOWEVER liberal their system of civil policy might be,
as their religious opinions were no longer under any re
straint of authority, the spirit of fanaticism continued to
spread, and became every day wilder and more extrava
gant. Williams, a minister of Salem, in high estimation,
having conceived an antipathy to the cross of St. George
in the standard of England, declaimed against it with so
much vehemence as a relic of superstition and idolatry
which ought not to be retained among a people so pure
and sanctified, that Endicott, one of the members of the
court of assistants, in a transport of zeal, publicly cut out
the cross from the ensign displayed before the governor's

156 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

gate. This frivolous matter interested and divided the
colony. Some of the militia scrupled to follow colors in
which there was a cross, lest they should do honor to an
idol; others refused to serve under a mutilated banner,
lest they should be suspected of having renounced their
allegiance to the crown of England. After a long contro
versy, carried on by both parties with that heat and zeal
which, in trivial disputes, supply the want of argument,
the contest was terminated by a compromise. The cross
was retained in the ensigns of forts and ships, but erased
from the colors of the militia. Williams, on account of
this, as well as of some other doctrines deemed unsound,
was banished out of the colony.

[Among these obnoxious doctrines were, that it was wrong to en
force an oath of allegiance to the sovereign, or of obedience to the
magistrate; that the king had no right to usurp the power of dis
posing of the territory of the Indians, and, more particularly, that
all religious sects had the right to claim equal protection from the
laws, and that the civil magistrates had no right to restrain the
consciences of men, or to interfere with their modes of worship or
religious beliefs. It was decided to send the heretical pastor to
England, and he was ordered to repair to Boston. As he did not
obey this order, a party was sent to Salem to arrest him. On
reaching there they found that Williams had left the settlement,
and was making his way through the forest wilderness and the cold
and hardship of a New England winter in search of a locality where
he might have the privilege of worshipping God in accordance with
the dictates of his conscience.]

The prosperous state of New England was now so
highly extolled, and the simple frame of its ecclesiastic
policy was so much admired by all whose affections were
estranged from the Church of England, that crowds of
new settlers flocked thither (1635). Among these were
two persons whose names have been rendered memorable
by the appearance which they afterwards made on a more
conspicuous theatre: one was Hugh Peters, the enthusi-

ROBERTSON] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 157

astic and intriguing chaplain of Oliver Cromwell; the
other, Mr. Henry Vane, son of Sir Henry Vane, a privy
councillor, high in office, and of great credit with the
king : a young man of a noble family, animated with such
zeal for pure religion and such love of liberty as induced
him to relinquish all his hopes in England and to settle in
a colony hitherto no further advanced in improvement
than barely to afford subsistence to its members, was re
ceived with the fondest admiration. His mortified ap
pearance, his demure look, and rigid manners, carried
even beyond the standard of preciseness in that society
which he joined, seemed to indicate a man of high spirit
ual attainments, while his abilities and address in business
pointed him out as worthy of the highest station in the
community. With universal consent, and high expecta
tions of advantage from his administration, he was elected
governor in the year subsequent to his arrival (1636).
But as the affairs of an infant colony afforded not objects
adequate to the talents of Vane, his busy pragmatical
spirit occupied itself with theological subtleties and specu
lations unworthy of his attention. These were excited by
a woman, whose reveries produced such effects, both
within the colony and beyond its precincts, that, frivolous
as they may now appear, they must be mentioned as an
occurrence of importance in its history.

It was the custom at that time in New England among
the chief men in every congregation to meet once a
week, in order to repeat the sermons which they had
heard, and to hold religious conferences with respect to
the doctrine contained in them. Mrs. Hutchinson, whose
husband was among the most respectable members of the
colony, regretting that persons of her sex were excluded
from the benefit of those meetings, assembled statedly in
her house a number of women, who employed themselves

158 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

in pious exercises similar to those of the men. At first
she satisfied herself with repeating what she could recol
lect of the discourses delivered by their teachers. She
began afterwards to add illustrations, and at length pro
ceeded to censure some of the clergy as unsound, and to
vent opinions and fancies of her own. These were all
founded on the system which is denominated Antinomian
by divines, and tinged with the deepest enthusiasm. She
taught that sanctity of life is no evidence of justification,
or of a state of favor with God; and that such as incul
cated the necessity of manifesting the reality of our faith
by obedience preached only a covenant of works : she
contended that the spirit of God dwelt personally in good
men, and by inward revelations and impressions they
received the fullest discoveries of the divine will. The
fluency and confidence with which she delivered these
notions gained her many admirers and proselytes, not
only among the vulgar, but among the principal inhab
itants. The whole colony was interested and agitated.
Vane, whose sagacity and acuteness seemed to forsake
him whenever they were turned towards religion, espoused
and defended her wildest tenets. Many conferences were
held, days of fasting and humiliation were appointed, a
general synod was called, and, after dissensions so violent
as threatened the dissolution of the colony, Mrs. Hutch-
inson's opinions were condemned as erroneous, and she
herself banished (1637). Several of her disciples with
drew from the province of their own accord. Vane
quitted America in disgust, unlamented even by those who
had lately admired him; some of whom now regarded
him as a mere visionary, and others as one of those dark
turbulent spirits doomed to embroil every society into
which they enter.

However much these theological contests might disquiet

ROBERTSON] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 159

the colony of Massachusetts Bay, they contributed to the
more speedy population of America. When Williams was
banished from Salem, in the year one thousand six hundred
and thirty-four, such was the attachment of his hearers to
a pastor whose piety they revered, that a good number
of them voluntarily accompanied him in his exile. They
directed their march towards the south; and having pur
chased from the natives a considerable tract of land, to
which Williams gave the name of Providence, they settled
there. They were joined soon after by some of those to
whom the proceedings against Mrs. Hutchinson gave dis
gust; and by a transaction with the Indians they obtained
a right to a fertile island in Narragansett Bay, which ac
quired the name of Rhode Island. Williams remained
among them upwards of forty years, respected as the
father and the guide of the colony which he had planted.
His spirit differed from that of the Puritans in Massachu
setts; it was mild and tolerating; and, having ventured
himself to reject established opinions, he endeavored to
secure the same liberty to other men, by maintaining that
the exercise of private judgment was a natural and sacred
right; that the civil magistrate had no compulsive juris
diction in the concerns of religion; that the punishment
of any person on account of his opinions was an encroach
ment on conscience and an act of persecution. These
humane principles he instilled into his followers, and all
who felt or dreaded oppression in other settlements re
sorted to a community in which universal toleration was
known to be a fundamental maxim. In the plantations
of Providence and Rhode Island, political union was es
tablished by voluntary association and the equality of
condition among the members, as well as their religious
opinions; their form of government was purely democrat -
ical, the supreme power being lodged in the freemen per-

160 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [ROBERTSON

sonally assembled. In this state they remained until they
were incorporated by charter.

To similar causes the colony of Connecticut is indebted
for its origin. The rivalship between Mr. Cotton and Mr.
Hooker, two favorite ministers in the settlement of Mas
sachusetts Bay, disposed the latter, who was least success
ful in this contest for fame and power, to wish for some
settlement at a distance from a competitor by whom his
reputation was eclipsed. A good number of those who
had imbibed Mrs. Hutchinson's notions, and were offended
at such as combated them, offered to accompany him.
Having employed proper persons to explore the country,
they pitched upon the west side of the great river Con
necticut as the most inviting station; and in the year one
thousand six hundred and thirty-six, about an hundred
persons, with their wives and families, after a fatiguing
march of many days through woods and swamps, arrived
there, and laid the foundations of the towns of Hartford,
Springfield, and Wethersfield.

[As appears in the selection which immediately follows this one,
previous settlements had been made in the same locality.]

The history of the first attempts to people the provinces
of New Hampshire and Maine, which form the fourth and
most extensive division in New England, is obscure and
perplexed by the interfering claims of various proprietors.
The company of Plymouth had inconsiderately parcelled
out the northern part of the territory contained in its
grant among different persons; of these only Sir Ferdi-
nando Gorges and Captain Mason seem to have had any
serious intention to occupy the lands allotted to them.
Their efforts to accomplish this were meritorious and per
severing, but unsuccessful. The expense of settling colo
nies in an uncultivated country must necessarily be great

ROBERTSON] RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. 161

and immediate; the prospect of a return is often uncer
tain and always remote. The funds of two private adven
turers were not adequate to such an undertaking. Nor
did the planters whom they sent out possess that principle
of enthusiasm which animated their neighbors of Massa
chusetts with vigor to struggle through all the hardships
and dangers to which society, in its infancy, is exposed in a
savage land. Gorges and Mason, it is probable, must have
abandoned their design if, from the same motives that
settlements had been made in Rhode Island and Connecti
cut, colonists had not unexpectedly migrated into New
Hampshire and Maine. Mr. Wheelwright, a minister of
some note, nearly related to Mrs. Hutchinson, and one
of her most fervent admirers and partisans, had, on this
account, been banished from the province of Massachu
setts Bay. In quest of a new station, he took a course
opposite to the other exiles, and, advancing towards the
north, founded the town of Exeter, on a small river flow
ing into Piskataqua Bay. His followers, few in number,
but firmly united, were of such rigid principles that even
the churches of Massachusetts did not appear to them
sufficiently pure. From time to time they received some
recruits, whom love of novelty, or dissatisfaction with the
ecclesiastical institutions of the other colonies, prompted
to join them. Their plantations were widely dispersed,
but the country was thinly peopled, and its political state
extremely unsettled. The colony of Massachusetts Bay
claimed jurisdiction over them, as occupying lands situ
ated within the limits of their grant. Gorges and Mason
asserted the rights conveyed to them as proprietors by
their charter. In several districts the planters, without
regarding the pretensions of either party, governed them
selves by maxims and laws copied from those of their
brethren in the adjacent colonies. The first reduction of
i— ii

163 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLLISTER

the political constitution in the provinces of New Hamp
shire and Maine into a regular and permanent form was
subsequent to the Revolution.

THE PEQUOT WAR.

G. H. HOLLISTER.

[The settlement of Connecticut began in 1631, in which year an
Indian sachem, named Wahquimacut, visited the governors of the
Massachusetts and Plymouth colonies. He described the country
occupied by his own and kindred tribes as a rich and beautiful val
ley, abounding in game and corn, and traversed by a river called
" Connecticut," a noble stream, of surpassing purity of waters, and
full of excellent fish. He begged each settlement to send English
men to the valley, offering to give each emigrant eighty beaver-
skins annually, and to supply them with corn. This anxiety for
white settlers was probably instigated by the desire to obtain their
aid against the Pequot Indians, who dominated the region. Gov
ernor Winslow, of Plymouth, went to see for himself this Indian
Paradise. His report must have been very favorable, for other
explorers followed, and in 1633 a trading-settlement was made on
the Connecticut coast. This excited the ire of the Dutch, who had
already established themselves at Hartford. Wouter van Twilier,
the Dutch governor, proceeded in martial array to suppress the
intruders, but as the latter stood boldly on the defensive he marched
back again, concluding that he could best show his wisdom by let
ting them alone. In 1635 several settlements were made in the
new colony, and John Winthrop, the agent of Lord Say and Seal
and Lord Brook, the proprietors, was sent to build a fort at the
mouth of the Connecticut, which he did just in time to scare back
the Dutch, who had sent an expedition for the same purpose.

The succeeding winter was one of excessive severity, and the
colonists and the garrison of the fort at Saybrook suffered terribly.
Most of them made then way back to Boston, by land or water,
to escape the danger of starvation. The few that remained barely
survived the horrors of the winter. But with the coming of April

HOLLISTER] THE PEQUOT WAR. 163

again upon the land many of the fugitives returned, while others
followed them, and the colony rapidly augmented. It was not long,
however, before trouble with the Indians began. The most im
portant of the Connecticut Indians were the Pequots and the Mo-
hegans, the former under a head sachem named Sassacus, who was
bitterly hostile to the whites, the latter under the celebrated Uncas,
who allied himself with the settlers. The Narragansetts and other
tribes, from their hostility to the warlike Pequots, favored the
English, through whom they hoped to be revenged upon their
dreaded foes.

A series of murders by Indians followed the settling of the colony.
In 1634 two traders were slaughtered. The next year other mur
ders took place. In reprisal an expedition from Massachusetts at
tacked the Indians, much to the dissatisfaction of the Connecticut
settlers, who feared they would pay bitterly for this assault. Their
prevision was correct. The Pequots lurked about the fort, torturing
all who fell into their hands. They similarly waylaid the settlers,
killing and destroying, until the situation grew unbearable. War
was resolved upon, and on the 10th of May, 1637, an army of ninety
Englishmen, under John Mason, and seventy Mohegans, under Un
cas, embarked at Hartford for the Pequot strongholds. Fort
Mistick, the smaller of the two Pequot forts, was approached at
night, with the intention of effecting a surprise. The story of this
Indian war we select from G. H. Hollister's " History of Connec
ticut," in which it is detailed in homely but graphic language.]

ABOUT two hours before day, the men were roused up
and .commanded to make themselves ready for battle.
The moon still shone in their faces as they were sum
moned to prayer. They now set forward with alacrity.
The fort proved to be about two miles off. A long way it
seemed over the level though stony ground, and the offi
cers began at last to fear that they had been led upon the
wrong track, when they came at length to a second field
of corn, newly planted, at the base of a high hill. Here
they halted, and " gave the word for some of the Indians
to come up." At first not an Indian was to be seen; but
finally Uncas and Wequash the guide showed themselves.

164 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLLISTER

" Where is the fort? " demanded Mason. " On the top of
that hill," was the answer. " Where are the rest of the
Indians?" asked the fearless soldier. The answer was,
what he probably anticipated, " Behind, and very much
afraid." "Tell them," said Mason, "not to fly, but to
stand as far off as they please, and see whether English
men will fight."

There were two entrances to the fort, one on the north
eastern side, the other on the west. It was decided that
Mason should lead on and force open the former, while
Underhill, who brought up the rear, was to pass around
and go in at the western gate.

Mason had approached within about a rod of the fort,
when he heard a dog bark, and almost in a breath this
alarm was followed up by the voice of an Indian, crying,
" Owanux ! Owanux ! " — Englishmen ! Englishmen ! No
time was to be lost. He called up his forces with all haste
and fired upon the enemy through the palisades. The
Pequots, who had spent the night in singing and dancing
{under the belief that the English had retreated), were
now in a deep sleep. The entrance, near which Mason
stood, was blocked up with bushes about breast high.
Over this frail obstruction he leaped, sword in hand,
shouting to his men to follow him. But Seely, his lieu
tenant, found it more easy to remove the bushes than to
force the men over them. When he had done so, he also
entered, followed by sixteen soldiers. It had been deter
mined to destroy the enemy with the sword, and thus
save the corn and other valuables that were stored in the
wigwams. With this view the captain, seeing no Indians,
entered one of the wigwams. Here he found many war
riors, who crowded hard upon him, and beset him with
great violence; but they were so amazed at the strange
apparition that had so suddenly thrust itself upon them,

HOUJSTER] THE PEQUOT WAR. 165

that they could make but a feeble resistance. Mason was
soon joined by William. Hayden, who, as he entered the
wigwam through the breach that had been made by his
impetuous captain, stumbled against the dead body of a
Pequot, whom Mason had slain, and fell. Some of the
Indians now fled from the wigwam; others, still stupefied
with sleep, crept under mats and skins to hide them
selves.

The palisades embraced an area of about twenty acres, — -
a space sufficient to afford room for a large Indian village.
There were more than seventy houses in this space, with
lanes or streets passing between them. Mason, still intent
on destroying the Pequots and at the same time saving
their property, now left the wigwam, and passed down
one of these streets, driving the crowd of Indians that
thronged it before him from one end of it to the other.
At the lower extremity of this lane stood a little company
of Englishmen, who, having effected an entrance from the
west, met the Indians as they fled from Mason, and killed
about half a dozen of them. The captain now faced about,
and went back the whole length of the lane, to the spot
where he had entered the fort. He was exhausted, and
quite out of breath, and had become satisfied that this was
not the way to exterminate the Indians, who now swarmed
from the wigwams like bees from a hive. Two of his
soldiers stood near him, close to the palisades, with their
useless swords pointed to the ground. "We shall never
kill them in this way," said the captain; and then added,
with the same laconic brevity, " We must burn them! "
With these words the decree of the council of war to save
the booty of the enemy was annulled; for, stepping into
the wigwam where he had before forced an entrance, he
snatched a firebrand in his hand, and, instantly returning,
applied it to the light mats that formed the covering of

166 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLLISTEE

their rude tenements. Almost in an instant the whole
village was wrapped in flames, and the frightened Pequots
fled in dismay from the roofs that had just before sheltered
them. Such was their terror that many of them took
refuge from the English in the flames, and perished there.
Some climbed the palisades, where they formed but too
fair a mark for the muskets of their enemies, who could
see to take a dead aim in the light of the ghastly con
flagration. Others fled from the beds of mats or skins
where they had sought a temporary concealment, and were
arrested by the hand of death in the midst of their flight.
Others still, warping up to the windward, whence the fire
sped with such fatal velocity, fell flat upon the ground and
plied their destroyers with arrows. But their hands were
so palsied with fear that the feathered messengers either
flew wide of their aim or fell with spent force upon the
ground. A few, of still stouter heart, rushed forth with
the tomahawk, to engage the invaders of their homes in
a hand-to-hand combat. But they were nearly all, to the
number of about forty, cut in pieces by the sword. The
vast volume of flame, the lurid light reflected on the dark
background of the horizon, the crack of the muskets, the
yells of the Indians who fought, and of those who sought
vainly to fly, the wail of women and children as they
writhed in the flames, and the exulting cries of the Narra-
gansetts and Mohegans without the fort, formed a contrast,
awful and sublime, with the quiet glories of the peaceful
May morning, that was just then breaking over the woods
and the ocean.

Seventy wigwams were burned to ashes, and proba
bly not less than five hundred men, women, and children
were destroyed. The property, too, shared the same fate.
The long-cherished wampum-belt, with the beads of blue,
purple, and white, the war-club, the eagle plume, the

HOLLISTER] THE PEQUOT WAR. 167

tufted scalps, trophies of many a victory, helped only to
swell the blaze that consumed alike the young warrior
and the superannuated counsellor, the squaw and the little
child that clung helplessly to her bosom. Of all who were
in the fort, only seven were taken captive, and about the
same number escaped.

[The English, however, were in no enviable situation. Two of
them had been killed, and about twenty wounded. They were
without provisions, in the midst of an unfamiliar country, and
within a short distance of the fort of Sassacus, tenanted by hun
dreds of fierce warriors. Fortunately, the vessels were now seen
gliding into the Pequot harbor.]

By this time the news of the destruction that had
fallen upon his tribe at Mistick, heralded, no doubt, not
only by the handful of men who had escaped from the
fort, and by the clouds of smoke that floated from the
fatal scene, but by the dismal cries that attended this
exterminating sacrifice, had reached the fort of Sassacus,
and three hundred warriors came rushing towards the
English with the determination to revenge themselves for
an injury not yet half revealed to them. Mason led out a
file of his best marksmen, who soon gave the Pequots a
check. Seeing that they could not stand his fire, he com
menced his march towards Pequot harbor. Of the twenty
wounded men, four or five were so disabled that it was
necessary to employ about twenty other men to carry
them; so that he had but about forty men who could
engage in battle, until he succeeded in hiring some In
dians to take charge of the wounded. They had marched
about a quarter of a mile, when the Pequot warriors,
who had withdrawn out of the range of their muskets,
reached the spot where, not two hours before, their fort
had sheltered so much that was sacred to them. When

168 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLLISTER

they came to the top of the hill, venerable to them from
so many associations connected with the history and glory
of their tribe, — when they saw the smoking palisades, the
flames of their wigwams, not yet extinguished, the black
ened bodies that lay scattered where death had overtaken
them, — in their grief and rage they stamped upon the
ground, tore the hair from their heads, and then rushed
madly down the hill, as if they would have swept the
enemy from the face of the earth. Captain Underbill, with
a file of the bravest men, was ordered to defend the rear.
This he did with such efficiency that the Indians were soon
compelled to fall back. Yet such was their resolve to have
their revenge upon the English that during their march
for the next six miles they pursued them, sometimes hang
ing upon their rear, sometimes hidden behind trees and
rocks in front, discharging their arrows in secret, at others
making desperate attacks, that could be repelled only by
the too deadly use of the musket. They fought at fear
ful odds, as was evinced by the dead bodies of their war
riors picked up by the Mohegans who followed in their
train, while not an Englishman was injured during the
whole line of their march. At last, wearied with a pur
suit that only brought harm to themselves, they abandoned
it, and left the English to continue their march unmolested,
with their colors flying, to Pequot harbor. Here they
were received on board their vessels with many demonstra
tions of joy.

[This disaster utterly disheartened the Pequots. They accused
Sassacus of having brought ruin upon them, and in dismay burned
their remaining fort and fled for safety. Sassacus and about eighty
of his principal warriors made their way towards the Hudson.
They were rapidly followed, and at length traced to a swamp
within the limits of the old town of Fairfield.]

In this swamp were hidden about eighty Pequot war-

HOLLISTER] THE PEQUOT WAR. 169

riors, with their women and children, and about two hun
dred other Indians. A dismal, miry bog it was, covered
with tangled bushes. Dangerous as it was, Lieutenant
Davenport rushed into it with his men, eager to encounter
the Pequots.

The sharp arrows of the enemy flew from places that
hid the archers, wounding the soldiers, who, in their haste
to retreat, only sunk deeper in the mire. The Indians,
made bold by this adventure, pressed hard upon them, and
would have carried off their scalps had it not been for the
timely aid of some other Englishmen, who waded into the
swamp, sword in hand, drove back the Pequots, and drew
their disabled friends from the mud that had threatened
to swallow them up. The swamp was now surrounded,
and a skirmish followed that proved so destructive to
the savages that the Fairfield Indians begged for quarter.
They said, what was probably true, that they were there
only by accident, and had never done the English any
harm.

[They were permitted to withdraw, with their women and children.]

But the Pequot warriors, made up of choice men, and
burning with rage against the enemy who had destroyed
their tribe and driven them from their old haunts, fought
with such desperate bravery that the English were glad
to confine themselves to the borders of the swamp. . . .

Some suggested that they should cut down the swamp
with the hatchets that they had brought with them;
others, that they should surround it with palisades.
Neither of these propositions was adopted. They finally
hit upon a plan that was more easily executed. They
cut down the bushes that grew upon a little neck of firm
upland that almost divided the swamp into two parts.
In this way they so lessened the area occupied by the

170 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLLISTER

Pequots that, by stationing men twelve feet apart, it could
all be surrounded by the troops. This was done, and the
sentinels all stationed, before nightfall. Thus keeping
watch on the borders of the morass, wet, cold, and weary,
the soldiers passed the night under arms. Just before
day a dense fog arose, that shrouded them in almost total
darkness. A friendly mist it proved to the Pequots, for
it doubtless saved the lives of many of them. At a favor
able moment they rushed upon the English. Captain
Patrick's quarters were first attacked, but he drove them
back more than once. Their yells, more terrible from the
darkness that engulfed the scene of the conflict, were so
unearthly and appalling, the attack was so sudden and
so well sustained, that, but for the timely interference of
a party sent by Mason to relieve him, Patrick would
doubtless have been driven from his station or cut to
pieces. The siege had by this time given place to a
hand-to-hand fight. As Mason was himself marching up
to aid Patrick, the Pequots rushed upon him from the
thicket. He drove them back with severe loss. They
did not resume the attack upon the man who had recently
given them such fearful proofs of his prowess, but turned
upon Patrick, broke through his ranks, and fled. About
sixty of the Pequot warriors escaped. Twenty lay dead
upon the field. One hundred and eighty were taken pris
oners. Most of the property that this fugitive remnant
of the tribe had attempted to carry with them fell into
the hands of the English. Hatchets of stone, beautiful
wampum-belts, polished bows, and feathered arrows, with
the utensils employed by the women in their rude do
mestic labors, became at once, as did the women them
selves, the property of the conquerors. The captives and
the booty were divided between Massachusetts and Con
necticut. Some were sent by Massachusetts to the West

EKJ THE PEQUOT WAR. 171

Indies, and there, as slaves, dragged out a wretched but
brief existence. . . . Those who fell to the colony of Con
necticut found their condition more tolerable. Some of
them, it is true, spent their days in servitude; yet its
rigors softened as the horrors of the war faded from the
recollections of the English.

Sassacus seems not to have been present at this battle.
Foiled and discomfited at every turn, he fled far to the
westward, and sought a refuge among the enemies of his
tribe, the Mohawks. But he looked in vain for protection
at their hands. He had defied them in his prosperity,
and in his evil days they avenged themselves. They be
headed him, and sent his scalp as a trophy to Connecticut.
A lock of his black, glossy hair was carried to Boston in
the fall of the same year, as a witness that the proud
sachem of the Pequots was no more.

[So ended the first Indian war in New England. About two hun
dred of the vanquished tribe still survived. These were divided be
tween the Mohegans and Narragansetts, and the tribal organization
completely broken up. The bow and arrow and stone axe had
been tried against the sword and musket, and had signally failed.
In the future wars, of musket against musket, the suppression of the
Indians was not to prove so easy a task. It may be said here that
this was one of the most justifiable wars ever waged by the settlers
against the Indians. The murderous incursions of the Pequots
upon the peaceful settlers had become so unbearable that annihi
lation of one side or the other seemed the only solution of the
problem.]

172 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS.

FRANCIS PARKMAN.

[The first permanent French settlement in America, as we have al
ready stated, was made by De Monts in 1605, on the coast of the
Bay of Fundy, the settlement being named Port Royal, and the
country Acadia. In 1608, De Monts was granted a monopoly of the
fur-trade on the St. Lawrence River, and sent out two vessels un
der Samuel Champlain, who had previously visited that region.
Champlain ascended the river to the site of the present city of
Quebec, near the place where Cartier had wintered in 1541. The
colony he there established was the first permanent French settle
ment in Canada. The history of this colony under Champlain's
management, of the explorations which he made, and of his hostile
relations with the Iroquois Indians, is one of the greatest interest,
and reads like a page from romance rather than the detail of sober
history.

Champlain was one of the most active and earnest explorers the
world has ever known. " A true hero, after the chivalrous medi
aeval type, his character was dashed largely with the spirit of ro
mance. Earnest, sagacious, penetrating, he yet leaned to the mar
vellous; and the faith which was the life of his hard career was
somewhat prone to overstep the bounds of reason and invade the
alluring domain of fancy." In early life he had been seized with
a desire to explore those golden realms from which the Spaniards
sedulously excluded the people of other European nations. He
entered the Spanish service, and made his way to the West Indies
and Mexico. He afterwards took part in the Port Royal expedi
tion of De Monts, and explored the New England coast. His en
terprising spirit, while of the utmost importance to the success
of the Canadian colony, brought the colonists into hostile rela
tions with the powerful Iroquois confederacy of Indians, and started
a bitter and unrelenting war through which the settlement was
more than once threatened with annihilation.

The colony of Canada had no thought of agriculture. It was dis
tinctively a trading settlement, a condition conducive to adventurous
excursions, in which movements Champlain was the leading spirit.
It, unlike all other American colonies, entered at once into an alli
ance, offensive and defensive, with the neighboring Indian tribes,

PARKMAN] CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS. 173

aided them in their wars, and roused the undying enmity of power
ful foes. A description of the settlement of Quebec, of Champlain's
first excursion with the Indians, of the discovery of the lake which
bears his name, and of his first encounter with the Iroquois, may
be taken from Parkman's " Pioneers of France in the New World."]

AND now, peace being established with the Basques,
and the wounded Pontgrave busied, as far as might be, in
transferring to the hold of his ship the rich lading of the
Indian canoes, Champlain spread his sails, and once more
held his course up the St. Lawrence. . . .

Above the point of the Island of Orleans, a constriction
of the vast channel narrows it to a mile: on one hand
the green heights of Point Levi; on the other, the cliffs
of Quebec. Here a small stream, the St. Charles, enters
the St. Lawrence, and in the angle between them rises the
promontory, on two sides a natural fortress. Land among
the walnut-trees that formed a belt between the cliffs and
the St. Lawrence. Climb the steep height, now bearing
aloft its ponderous load of churches, convents, dwellings,
ramparts, and batteries, — there was an accessible point,
a rough passage, gullied downward where Prescott Gate
now opens on the Lower Town. . . . Two centuries and a
half have quickened the solitude with swarming life, cov
ered the deep bosom of the river with barge and steamer
and gliding sail, and reared cities and villages on the site
of forests; but nothing can destroy the surpassing gran
deur of the scene. . . .

A few weeks passed, and a pile of wooden buildings
rose on the brink of the St. Lawrence, on or near the
site of the market-place of the Lower Town of Quebec.
The pencil of Champlain, always regardless of proportion
and perspective, has preserved its semblance. A strong
wooden wall, surmounted by a gallery loop-holed for
musketry, enclosed three buildings, containing quarters

174 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

for himself and his men, together with a court-yard, from
one side of which rose a tall dove-cot, like a belfry. A
moat surrounded the whole, and two or three small can
non were planted on salient platforms towards the river.
There was a large magazine near at hand, and a part of
the adjacent ground was laid out as a garden. . . .

It was on the eighteenth of September that Font-
grave set sail, leaving Champlain with twenty-eight men
to hold Quebec through the winter. Three weeks later,
and shores and hills glowed with gay prognostics of ap
proaching desolation, — the yellow and scarlet of the
maples, the deep purple of the ash, the garnet hue of
young oaks, the bonfire blaze of the tupelo at the water's
edge, and the golden plumage of birch saplings in the
fissure of the cliff. It was a short-lived beauty. The forest
dropped its festal robes. Shrivelled and faded, they rustled
to the earth. The crystal air and laughing sun of October
passed away, and November sank upon the shivering
waste, chill and sombre as the tomb. . . .

One would gladly know how the founders of Quebec
spent the long hours of their first winter; but on this
point the only man among them, perhaps, who could
write, has not thought it necessary to enlarge. He him
self beguiled his leisure with trapping foxes, or hanging
a dead dog from a tree and watching the hungry martens
in their efforts to reach it. Towards the close of winter,
all found abundant employment in nursing themselves or
their neighbors, for the inevitable scurvy broke out with
virulence. At the middle of May only eight men of the
twenty-eight were alive, and of these half were suffering
from disease. . . . Great was the joy of Champlain when
he saw a sail-boat rounding the Point of Orleans, betoken
ing that the spring had brought with it the longed-for
succors.

PARKMAN] CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS. 175

[Pontgrave had returned with supplies and emigrants. After a
consultation it was decided that he should remain in charge of
Quebec while Champlain entered upon his meditated explorations,
by which he hoped to find a practicable way to China. It was the
same dream of a passage to the Pacific that had animated so many
of his predecessors.]

But there was a lion in the path. The Indian tribes,
war-hawks of the wilderness, to whom peace was unknown,
infested with their scalping-parties the streams and path
ways of the forest, increasing tenfold its inseparable risks.
That to all these hazards Champlain was more than indif
ferent, his after-career bears abundant witness; yet now
an expedient for evading them offered itself, so consistent
with his instincts that he was fain to accept it. Might he
not anticipate surprises, join a war-party, and fight his way
to discovery?

During the last autumn a young chief from the banks of
the then unknown Ottawa had been at Quebec; and,
amazed at what he saw, he had begged Champlain to join
him in the spring against his enemies. These enemies
were a formidable race of savages, the Iroquois, or Five
Confederate Nations, dwelling in fortified villages within
limits now embraced by the State of New York.

[The Canadian foes of this confederacy were the Hurons, a tribe
of their own race, the Algonquins of the St. Lawrence region, and
the Montagnais, a less energetic tribe of the same region. With
these Indians Champlain joined himself in a projected expedition
against their powerful enemies.]

It was past the middle of May, and the expected war
riors from the upper country had not come, — a delay which
seems to have given Champlain little concern, for, without
waiting longer, he set forth with no better allies than a
band of Montagnais. But as he moved up the St. Law
rence he saw, thickly clustered in the bordering forest, the

176 THE GREAT REPUBLIC, [PARKMAN

lodges of an Indian camp, and, landing, found his Huron
and Algonquin allies. Few of them had ever seen a white
man. They surrounded the steel-clad strangers in speech
less wonderment. Champlain asked for their chief, and
the staring throng moved with him towards a lodge where
sat, not one chief, but two, for each band had its own.
There were feasting, smoking, speeches ; and, the needful
ceremony over, all descended together to Quebec ; for the
strangers were bent on seeing those wonders of architect
ure whose fame had pierced the recesses of their forests.

[On May 28 the expedition again set out, passing down the St.
Lawrence to the " Riviere des Iroquois," since called the Richelieu,
or the St. John. Here the warriors encamped for two days, hunted,
fished, feasted, and quarrelled, three-fourths of the party seceding,
while the rest pursued their course. Champlain outsailed his allies.
But he soon found himself in impassable rapids, and was obliged
to return. The Indians had lied to him, with the story that his
shallop could traverse the river unobstructed.]

But should he abandon the adventure, and forego the
discovery of that great lake, studded with islands and bor
dered with a fertile land of forests, which his red compan
ions had traced in outline and by word and sign had
painted to his fancy? . . . He directed Marais, with the
boat and the greater part of the men, to return to Quebec,
while he, with two who offered to follow him, should pro
ceed in the Indian canoes.

The warriors lifted their canoes from the water, and in
long procession through the forest, under the flickering
sun and shade, bore them on their shoulders around the
rapids to the smooth stream above. Here the chiefs made
a muster of their forces, counting twenty-four canoes, and
sixty warriors. All embarked again, and advanced once
more, by marsh, meadow, forest, and scattered islands,
then full of game, for it was an uninhabited land, the war-

PARKMAN] CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS. 177

path and battle-ground of hostile tribes. The warriors
observed a certain system in their advance. Some were
in front as a vanguard, others formed the main body,
while an equal number were in the forests on the flanks
and rear, hunting for the subsistence of the whole; for,
though they had a provision of parched maize pounded
into meal, they kept it for use when, from the vicinity of
the enemy, hunting should become impossible.

Late in the day they landed and drew up their canoes,
ranging them closely side by side. All was life and bustle.
Some stripped sheets of bark, to cover their camp-sheds;
others gathered wood, — the forest was full of dead, dry
trees ; others felled the living trees, for a barricade. They
seem to have had steel axes, obtained by barter from the
French ; for in less than two hours they had made a strong
defensive work, a half-circle in form, open on the river
side, where their canoes lay on the strand, and large
enough to enclose all their huts and sheds. Some of their
number had gone forward as scouts, and, returning, re
ported no signs of an enemy. This was the extent of their
precautions, for they placed no guard, but all, in full
security, stretched themselves to sleep, — a vicious custom
from which the lazy warrior of the forest rarely departs.

[An important part of the subsequent proceedings was the opera
tion of the medicine-man, who entered his magic lodge and invoked
the spirits in mumbling tones, while his dusky audience listened in
awe and wonder. Suddenly the lodge rocked with violence to and
fro, — as alleged, by the power of the spirits, though Champlain
could see the fist of the medicine-man shaking the poles. The
diviner was now seized with convulsions, and invoked the spirit in
an unknown language, while the answer came in squeaking and
feeble accents. This mummery over, the chief stuck sticks in the
earth in a certain order, each stick representing a warrior and in
dicating his position in the expected battle. They all gathered
round and studied the sticks, then formed, broke, and reformed
their ranks with alacrity and skill.]

I— 12

178 THE GREAT 'REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

Again the canoes advanced, the river widening as they
went. Great islands appeared, leagues in extent, — Isle a
la Motte, Long Island, Grande Isle. Channels where ships
might float and broad reaches of expanding water stretched
between them, and Champlain entered the lake which pre
serves his name to posterity. Cumberland Head was
passed, and from the opening of the great channel between
Grande Isle and the main he could look forth on the wil
derness sea. Edged with woods, the tranquil flood spread
southward beyond the sight. Far on the left the forest
ridges of the Green Mountains were heaved against the
sun, patches of snow still glistening on their tops ; and on
the right rose the Adirondacks, haunts in these later years
of amateur sportsmen from counting-rooms or college
halls, nay, of adventurous beauty, with sketch-book and
pencil. Then the Iroquois made them their hunting-
ground; and beyond, in the valleys of the Mohawk, the
Onondaga, and the Genesee, stretched the long line of
their five cantons and palisaded towns. . . .

The progress of the party was becoming dangerous.
They changed their mode of advance, and moved only in
the night. ... At twilight they embarked again, paddling
their cautious way till the eastern sky began to redden.
Their goal was the rocky promontory where Fort Ticon-
deroga was long afterwards built. Thence they would
pass the outlet of Lake George, and launch their canoes
again on that Como of the wilderness. . . . Landing at
the future site of Fort William Henry, they would carry
their canoes through the forest to the river Hudson, and,
descending it, attack, perhaps, some outlying town of the
Mohawks. . . .

The allies were spared so long a progress. On the morn
ing of the twenty-ninth of July, after paddling all night,
they hid as usual in the forest on the western shore, not

PARKMAN] CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS. 179

far from Crown Point. The warriors stretched themselves
to their slumbers, and Champlain, after walking for a time
through the surrounding woods, returned to take his re
pose on a pile of spruce boughs. . . .

It was ten o'clock in the evening, when they descried
dark objects in motion on the lake before them. These
were a flotilla of Iroquois canoes, heavier and slower than
theirs, for they were made of oak bark (or more probably
elm bark). Each party saw the other, and the mingled
war-cries pealed over the darkened water. The Iroquois,
who were near the shore, having no stomach for an aquatic
battle, landed, and, making night hideous with their clam
ors, began to barricade themselves. Champlain could see
them in the woods laboring like beavers, hacking down
trees with iron axes taken from the Canadian tribes in
war, and with stone hatchets of their own making. The
allies remained on the lake, a bowshot from the hostile
barricade, their canoes made fast together by poles lashed
across. All night they danced with as much vigor as the
frailty of their vessels would permit, their throats making
amends for the enforced restraint of their limbs. It was
agreed on both sides that the fight should be deferred till
daybreak; but meanwhile a commerce of abuse, sarcasm,
menace, and boasting gave unceasing exercise to the lungs
and fancy of the combatants, — " much," says Champlain,
" like the besiegers and besieged in a beleaguered town."

As day approached, he and his two followers put on the
light armor of the time. Champlain wore the doublet and
long hose then in vogue. Over the doublet he buckled on
a breastplate, and probably a back-piece, while his thighs
were protected by cuisses of steel, and his head by a plumed
casque. Across his shoulder lay the straps of his bandoleer,
or ammunition-box; at his side was his sword, and in his
hand his arquebuse, which he had loaded with four balls.

180 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

Such was the equipment of this ancient Indian-fighter,
whose exploits date eleven years before the landing of the
Puritans at Plymouth, and sixty-six years before King
Philip's War.

Each of the three Frenchmen was in a separate canoe,
and, as it grew light, they kept themselves hidden, either
by lying in the bottom, or covering themselves with an
Indian robe. The canoes approached the shore, and all
landed without opposition at some distance from the Iro-
quois, whom they presently could see filing out of their
barricade, tall, strong men, some two hundred in number,
of the boldest and fiercest warriors of NortH America.
They advanced through the forest with a steadiness which
excited the admiration of Champlain. Among them could
be seen several chiefs, made conspicuous by their tall
plumes. Some bore shields of wood and hide, and some
were covered with a kind of armor made of tough twigs
interlaced with a vegetable fibre supposed by Champlain to
be cotton.

The allies, growing anxious, called with loud cries for
their champion, and opened their ranks that he might pass
to the front. He did so, and, advancing before his red
companions-in-arms, stood revealed to the astonished gaze
of the Iroquois, who, beholding the warlike apparition in
their path, stared in mute amazement. But his arquebuse
was levelled; the report startled the woods, a chief fell
dead, and another by his side rolled among the bushes.
Then there rose from the allies a yell, which, says Cham-
plain, would have drowned a thunder-clap, and the forest
was full of whizzing arrows. For a moment, the Iroquois
stood firm and sent back their arrows lustily; but when
another and another gunshot came from the thickets on
their flank, they broke and fled in uncontrollable terror.
Swifter than hounds, the allies tore through the bushes

PARKMAN] CHAMPLAIN AND THE IROQUOIS. 181

in pursuit. Some of the Iroquois were killed; more were
taken. Camp, canoes, provisions, all were abandoned, and
many weapons flung down in the panic flight. The arque-
buse had done its work. The victory was complete. . . .
The victors made a prompt retreat from the scene of
their triumph. Three or four days brought them to the
mouth of the Richelieu. Here they separated ; the Hurons
and the Algonquins made for the Ottawa, their homeward
route, each with a share of prisoners for future torments.
At parting they invited Champlain to visit their towns
and aid them again in their wars, — an invitation which
this paladin of the woods failed not to accept.

[Thus ended the first Indian battle in the northern United States,
the fruitful seed of an abundant crop of future disasters. The subse
quent history of Champlain may be rapidly epitomized. In the next
year (1610) he took part in another successful war-expedition. In
1611 he founded the city of Montreal. The year 1613 he employed
in an exploration of the Ottawa River, deceived by a statement that
it led to a great lake which was connected with the North Sea. In
1614 he made another long journey, up the Ottawa, then overland to
Lake Huron, and then south, in company with a war-party of
Hurons, to the Iroquois country, where an attack was made on a
strong fortification. The assault proved a failure. The Iroquois
defended themselves valiantly, and finally drove off their foes,
Champlain being twice wounded. In 1629, twenty years after the
settlement of Quebec, it contained less than a hundred persons,
and these the prey of a severe famine, from whose consequences
they were saved only by a surrender of the place to the English,
then at war with France. At the end of the war it was restored
to France. The history of Canada during the remainder of the
century is largely made up of the revenge taken by the Iroquois for
their earlier disasters. Their dreaded foe, Champlain, died in 1635.
He had aided in making a treaty of peace between the Hurons and
the Iroquois in 1622, but in 1648 the latter broke the truce, and
suddenly fell upon the French and their allies, slaughtering the
whites without distinction of sex or age, and causing a complete dis
persal of the Hurons, who ceased to exist as a separate tribe. For
years afterwards the Iroquois remained lords of the situation, keep-

182 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

ing the French shut up in their fortified posts, while their allies
were left without succor. The Algonquins were dispersed, the
Eries obliterated, and the war ended in 1672, after more than twenty
years' duration, in the conquest of the Andastes, a powerful Huron
tribe. In 1687 the war was renewed, through a treacherous act
of Denonville, the Canadian governor, and in the succeeding year
the Iroquois made a descent on the Island of Montreal, which
they laid waste, and carried off two hundred prisoners. This
brings us to the era of war between the French and the English,
in which the services of the Indians were freely called into requisi
tion, and desolating raids and massacres abounded.]

THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK.

E. B. O'CALLAGHAN.

[The Dutch showed less enterprise in planting colonies in America,
and less persistence in sustaining them, than any other of the mari
time nations of Europe. Their only settlement in North America
was that of New Amsterdam, occupying Manhattan Island, and
sending branch hamlets up the Hudson and to the shores of Long
Island Sound and the South or Delaware River. This colony was
held with very little vigor. The Dutch permitted themselves to be
supplanted in Connecticut by the English Puritans, with scarcely
any resistance. The Swedes came into collision with them on
the Delaware, though these intruders were eventually subjected
to Dutch authority. And in their central seat on the Hudson they
had to contend with unwarranted English invasions, and were
finally conquered by the English, in times of peace, and without
resistance either by the colony or by the mother-country. The
story of this colony is of less interest than that of most of the
other American settlements. It had its contests, its intestine diffi
culties, its troubles with the Indians, yet none of these were of
striking importance. We extract from O'Callaghan's " History of
New Netherland " some passages descriptive of the rise and prog
ress of the settlement. Henry Hudson, the discoverer of the river
that bears his name, was an English mariner, who, in the years 1607

O'CALLAGHAN] THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 183

and 1608, made two voyages in search of a northwest passage to
India. He afterwards entered the service of the Dutch East India
Company, and in April, 1609, sailed on a third voyage with the
same purpose. Touching at Newfoundland, he continued his course
till he sighted the American coast, and then turned southward, with
the hope of finding a passage-way to the Pacific through the conti
nent. He entered Penobscot Bay, and landed at Cape Cod, which
he named New Holland.]

THE Half Moon hence pursued a course south and west
for the next ten days, and at length arrived, about the
middle of August, at the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay,
where the first effectual attempt to plant an English col
ony had been commenced only two years before. Hudson
now retraced his steps, and in a few days afterwards dis
covered, in latitude thirty-nine degrees five minutes, a
great bay, which has since been called Delaware. Here
he anchored the Half Moon in eight fathom water, and
took possession, it is said, of the country. From this
place he coasted northward, the shore appearing low, like
sunken ground, dotted with islands, and at length descried
the Highlands of Navesinck, which, the journalist re
marks, is a very good land to fall in with, and a pleasant
land to see. He found himself, on the following day, at
the mouth of three great rivers, the northernmost of
which he attempted to enter; but, having been prevented
by a shoal bar at its mouth, he cast about to the south
ward, and, after due examination of the sounding, rounded
a low " sandy hook," and moored the Half Moon, on the
following morning, in latitude forty degrees . thirty min
utes, at a short distance from the shore, in the waters of
" The Great North River of New Netherland."

While the ship lay here at anchor, the natives from the
western shore came on board, and seemed to be highly
pleased at the arrival of the Europeans. They brought

184 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

green tobacco, which they desired to exchange for knives
and beads. They had divers ornaments, as well as pipes,
made of copper; plenty of maize, or Indian corn; dresses
of deerskins, well cured, hung loosely around them.

The next day some men were sent in the boat to explore
the bay farther up. They landed on the western bank,
which was lined with men, women, and children, by whom
they were very kindly received, and presented with tobacco
and dried currants. They found the land covered with
dried oaks. The natives continued to flock on board the
ship, dressed in mantles of feathers and fine furs; their
necks adorned with ornaments of copper, and some of the
women had hemp.

[Five of the crew were sent to examine the channel of what ap
peared to be an extensive river. " They described the land as cov
ered with trees, grass, and flowers, and the air filled with delightful
fragrance." On their return they were attacked, for no known
cause, by a party of Indians, one man being killed and two
wounded. This made Hudson very suspicious of the natives. He
would permit no more to come on board, — except a few who were
detained as prisoners, but afterwards escaped, — and soon weighed
anchor and stood up through the Narrows, entering New York
harbor.]

Hudson, "having ascended thus far, prepared now to ex
plore the magnificent river which rolled its waters into
the sea from unknown regions, in the probable hope that
it would lead him to the long-sought-for passage to the
Indies. He accordingly weighed in the afternoon of the
I2th September, and commenced his memorable voyage
up that majestic stream which has since handed his name
down to posterity.

[He sailed on up the river, through the highland region, being
everywhere received with enthusiasm by the natives, who crowded
on board with their commodities.]

Distrusting the savages all along, Hudson determined

O'CALLAGHAN] THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 185

now to try an experiment which, by throwing them off
their guard, would elicit any treachery which might be
latent in their dispositions. He accordingly invited sev
eral of the chiefs into the cabin, and gave them plenty of
brandy to drink, so as to make them intoxicated. The
result was that one got drunk, and fell sound asleep, to
the great astonishment of his companions, who " could
not tell how to take it." They all took suddenly to their
canoes and hurried ashore, leaving their stupefied coun
tryman behind them. Their anxiety for his welfare
soon induced them, however, to return with a quantity
of beads which they gave him, to enable him, perhaps,
to bribe or exorcise " the foul fiend " which had posses
sion of him. The savage slept soundly all night, and was
quite recovered from the effects of his debauch when his
friends came to see him next day. So rejoiced were these
people at finding their chief restored, as it were, to life, that
they returned on board in crowds again in the afternoon,
bringing tobacco and more beads, which they presented
to Hudson, to whom they made an oration, showing him
the country round about. They then sent one of their
company on land, who presently returned with a great
platter of dressed venison, which they caused Hudson to
eat with them; after which they made him profound rev
erence and departed, all save the old man, who, having
had a taste of the fatal beverage, preferred to remain on
board.

Such was the introduction among the Indians, by the
first European that came among them, of that poison
which, combined with other causes, has since operated to
deprive their descendants of almost a foothold in their
native land, and caused, within a few centuries, the almost
entire extinction of the Red race.

The Half Moon had now evidently ascended as high as

186 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

she could go. She had reached a little below the present
city of Albany, and Hudson, having satisfied himself, by
despatching a boat some seven or eight leagues higher
up, that he had gained the head of the ship-navigation,
prepared to retrace his course.

[His descent of the river was much more expeditious than the
upward voyage. On reaching the vicinity of Stony Point he was
visited by Indians, one of whom stole some articles from the cabin
and was shot and killed by the mate.]

On the following day they descended about seven leagues
farther, and came to anchor. Here they were visited by
a canoe, on board of which was one of the savages who
had made his escape from the vessel as she was going up.
Fearing treachery, Hudson would not allow either him or
his companions on board. Two other canoes, filled with
armed warriors, now came under the stern, and com
menced an attack with arrows. They were repulsed with
a loss of three men. More than a hundred savages now
pushed off from the nearest point of land, but one of the
ship's cannon, having been brought to bear on these, killed
two of the party, and the rest fled, thereupon, to the
woods. But the savages were not yet discouraged. Nine
or ten of the boldest of the warriors, probably incited by
the two who had made their escape from the Half Moon
on her way up, threw themselves into a canoe and made
for the vessel; but these fared no better than those who
preceded them. A cannon-shot drove a hole through
their canoe, and killed one of the men. This was fol
lowed by a discharge of musketry, which killed three
or four more, and put an end to the battle. The Half
Moon now descended some five miles farther down, prob
ably near Hoboken, and thus got beyond the reach of all
enemies.

O'CALLAGHAN] THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 187

Hudson had now thoroughly explored the river, from its
mouth to the head of navigation, and had secured for his
employers possessions which would reward them beyond
measure for the expense they had incurred. For himself he
had won an immortality which was destined to hand down
his name to the latest age. Happy at the result, he left
" the great mouth of the Great River," and put to sea,
with all sails set, to communicate to those in Holland in
whose service he was the tidings of his valuable discovery.

[For years a trading-station was the extent of the Dutch settle
ment on Manhattan Island; yet the number of settlers gradually
increased, and in 1615 a settlement was made at Albany. The coun
try was called New Netherland. In 1618 the settlers made an im
portant treaty of peace and alliance with the Iroquois.]

When the Dutch arrived in America the tribes compos
ing the Five Nations were at war with the Algonquin or
Canada Indians. But the latter, having formed an alliance
with the French, who some years previous to this date had
commenced the settlement of New France, as Canada was
called, derived such powerful aid from the fire-arms of their
European allies that the Iroquois were defeated in almost
every rencontre with their ancient enemy. Smarting under
the disgrace of these unexpected repulses, the Iroquois hailed
the establishment among them, now, of another European
nation familiar with the use of these terrible instruments,
which, almost without human intervention, scattered death
wherever they were directed, and defied the war-club and
bow and arrow as weapons of attack or defence. Though
jealous by nature, and given to suspicion, the Indians ex
hibited none of these feelings towards the new-comers,
whose numbers were too few even to protect themselves or
to inflict injury on others. On the contrary, they courted
their friendship, for through them they shrewdly calculated
on being placed in a condition to cope with the foe, or to

188 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

obtain that bloody triumph for which they thirsted. Such
were the circumstances which now led to that treaty of
alliance which, as the tradition goes, was concluded on the
banks of the Norman's Kill, between the Five Nations and
the Dutch.

Nothing could surpass the importance the warlike in*
habitants of those ancient forests attached to the ratifica
tion of this solemn treaty. Each tribe sent its chief as its
ambassador to represent it on this occasion. The neigh
boring tribes — the Lenni Lenape and Mohegans — were
invited to attend; and there, in the presence of the earth,
their common mother, — of the sun, which shed its genial
heat on all alike, — by the murmurs of that romantic stream,
whose waters had been made to flow by their common
Maker from all time, was the belt of peace held fast by the
Dutch and their aboriginal allies, in token of their eternal
union. There was the calumet smoked, and the hatchet
buried, while the Dutch traders declared that they should
forthwith erect a church over that weapon of war, so that it
would no more be exhumed without overturning the sacred
edifice, and whoever dared do that should incur the resent
ment of the white man. By this treaty the Dutch secured
for themselves the quiet possession of the Indian trade,
and the Five Nations obtained the means to assert that
ascendency which they ever after maintained over the other
native tribes, and to inspire terror far and near among
the other savages of North America.

[Up to 1623 only trading-settlements existed. In that year the
actual colonization of the country took place, though a governor was
not appointed till two years afterwards. Captain Mey, who took
out the settlers, also ascended Delaware Bay and River in 1623, and
built Fort Nassau, a few miles below Camden. This fort was soon
abandoned. In 1631 a colony was planted in Delaware, near the
present Lewistown, but the settlers were soon murdered by the
Indians. The Dutch claim now extended from Cape Henlopen to

O'CALLAGHAN] THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 189

Cape Cod. This claim was disputed by the New-Englanders, who
formed settlements in Connecticut and on Long Island. They en
deavored, also, to trade with the Hudson River Indians. In 1633
one Jacob Eelkins arrived at New Amsterdam in an English ship
called the William. He was ordered to depart by Wouter van
Twiller, the Dutch governor.]

After an interval of five days, the factor of the William
went again on shore to the fort, to inquire if the director-
general would permit him, in a friendly way, to ascend the
river, stating at the same time that, if he would not allow
it, he [Eelkins] would proceed without his consent, if it
should cost him his life. But van Twiller was immovable.
Instead of consenting, he ordered the ship's crew on shore,
and, in the presence of all, commanded the Prince of
Orange's flag to be run up the fort, and three pieces of
ordnance to be fired in honor of his highness. Eelkins,
not to be outdone, immediately ordered his gunner to go
on board the William, to hoist the English flag, and fire a
salute of three guns in honor of the King of England,
which was accordingly done. Van Twiller now warned
Eelkins to take heed that what he was about did not cost
him his neck. Eelkins, however, noway daunted, returned
on board with the ship's crew. The anchor was weighed,
and the William shortly after sailed up the river, " near to
a fort called Orange."

Director van Twiller, incensed at this audacity, collected
all the servants of the company in the fort before his door,
ordered a barrel of wine to be broached, and, having taken
a bumper, cried out, " Those who love the Prince of Orange
and me, emulate me in this, and assist me in repelling the
violence committed by that Englishman! " The cask of
wine was soon emptied, but the people were noways dis
posed at first to trouble the Englishman. . . .

The William having, in the mean while, arrived in the

190 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

neighborhood of Fort Orange, the factor and crew went
ashore " about a mile below that fort," set up a tent, and,
having landed all their goods, immediately opened an ac
tive trade with the natives. It was not long before the
news of these proceedings came to the ears of Houten, the
commissary at Fort Orange. He forthwith embarked, with
a trumpeter, on board a shallop, over which waved some
green boughs, and proceeded to where Eelkins was. " By
the way the trumpet was sounded, and the Dutchmen drank
a bottle of strong waters of three or four pints, and were
right merry." The Dutch set up a tent by the side of that
of the English; did as much as they could to disparage
their cloth and other goods, with a view to hinder the
latter's trade; but the Indians, having been well acquainted
with Eelkins, who had " heretofore lived four yeares among
them," and could speak their language, were a good deal
more willing to trade with him than with the others, and
he consequently had every prospect of advantageously dis
posing of his merchandise, having been fourteen days there,
when a Dutch officer arrived from below, in command
of three vessels, a pinnace, a carvel, and a hoy, bearing
two letters, protesting against Eelkins, and ordering him
to depart forthwith.

To enforce these commands came soldiers " from both
the Dutch forts, armed with muskets, half-pikes, swords,
and other weapons," and, after having beaten several of
the Indians who had come to trade with Eelkins, ordered
the latter to strike his tent. In vain he pleaded that he was
on British soil, and that British subjects had a right to
trade there; the Dutch would not listen to any remon
strances. They pulled his tent about his ears, sent the
goods on board, " and, as they were carrying them to the
ship, sounded their trumpet in the boat in disgrace of the
English."

O'CALLAGHAN] THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 191

[In this chronicle of the adventures of the first English ship that
sailed up the Hudson we have a scene ridiculous enough to find a
place in Knickerbocker's " History of New York." The succeeding
troubles of the Dutch were with the Swedes and the Indians. In
1640 war began with the neighboring Indians, which continued till
terminated by the mediation of the Iroquois, in 1645. In 1638 the
Swedes settled on the Delaware, near the present Wilmington, and
gradually extended their settlements until 1655, when they were at
tacked by tke Dutch, and all their forts captured. The Swedes re
mained, under Dutch government. In 1664 the King of England
granted to his brother James all the country from the Connecticut to
the Delaware, heedless of the claims of the Dutch. A squadron
was sent out, and the Dutch were forced to surrender New Amster
dam. Thus, by an act of flagrant injustice, while England and
Holland were at peace, the Dutch dominion in North America
was overthrown, after half a century of existence. Mr. O'Callaghan
gives some brief details of the condition of affairs in New Amster
dam in 1646, which we transcribe.]

Slaves constituted, as far back as 1628, a portion of the
population. The introduction of this class was facilitated
by the establishments which the Dutch possessed in Brazil
and on the coast of Guinea, as well as by the periodical
capture of Spanish and Portuguese prizes, and the circum
stances attendant upon the early settlement of the coun
try. The expense of obtaining labor from Europe was
great, and the supply by no means equal to the demand.
To add to these embarrassments, the temptations held
out by the fur-trade were so irresistible that the servants,
or " boere-knechts," who were brought over from Hol
land, were soon seduced from the pursuits of agriculture.
Farmers were consequently obliged to employ negroes,
and slave-labor thus became, by its cheapness and the
necessity of the case, one of the staples of the country.

The lot of the African under the Dutch was not as hope
less as his situation might lead us to expect. He was a
" chattel/' it is true ; but he could still look forward to the
hour when he too might become a freeman. In the years

192 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [O'CALLAGHAN

1644 and 1646, several negroes and their wives, who ha<i
originally been captured from the Spaniards, had been
manumitted, in consequence of their long and faithful
services. To enable them to provide for their support they
obtained a grant of land; but as the price of their manu
mission they were bound to pay yearly twenty-two bushels
and a half of corn, wheat, peas, or beans, and one fat hog
valued at eight dollars, failing which, they were to lose
their liberty and return again to their former state of ser
vitude. . . . The price of a negro averaged between one
hundred and one hundred and .fifty dollars. . . .

The greater number of the houses around Forts Amster
dam and Orange were, in those days, low-sized wooden
buildings, with roofs of reed or straw, and chimneys of
wood. Wind- or water-mills were erected, here and there,
to grind corn, or to saw lumber. One of the latter, situated
on Nut or Governor's Island, was leased in 1639 f°r ^ve
hundred merchantable boards yearly, half oak and half
pine. Saw- and grist-mills were built upon several of the
creeks in the colony of Rensselaerswyck, where " a horse
mill " was also erected in 1646. A brewery had been con
structed previous to 1637, m tne same quarter, by the Pa-
troon, with the exclusive right of supplying retail dealers
with beer. But private individuals were allowed the privi
lege, notwithstanding, to brew whatever quantity of beer
they might require for consumption within their own
families.

[These settlements were established under two different systems
of government. The " colonies " were governed on a feudal prin
ciple, the Patroon, or proprietor, having sovereign authority over
his vassals, who swore allegiance to him, and submitted to his
special courts, ordinances, and laws. In return he was bound to
protect them. The other system was a municipal one, like that
of the manors of Holland, the qualified electors of cities, villages,
and hamlets being empowered to nominate the magistrates, who
needed to be confirmed by the director and council. Through

STOUGHTON] THE QUAKER COLONY. 193

these regulations the democratic spirit of Holland was carried over
to New Amsterdam, and a republican sentiment of a different type
from that of the English colonies was instituted.]

THE QUAKER COLONY.

JOHN STOUGHTON.

[In 1638 a colony of Swedes settled on Christiana Creek, in the
present State of Delaware. Governor Kieft, of New Amsterdam,
considered this an intrusion on his territory, and, as a check to their
aggression, rebuilt the previously abandoned Fort Nassau, below
the present Camden. The Swedes gradually extended their settle
ments, the territory occupied reaching from Cape Henlopen to a
point opposite Trenton. Their governor built a fort and a resi
dence on the island of Tinicum, below Philadelphia. In 1655 the
Swedes were attacked by the Dutch, and their forts taken. The
most of them continued on their estates, under Dutch authority.
The territory of New Jersey was granted in 1664 to Lord Berkeley
and Sir George Carteret. Berkeley sold his share in 1674 to John
Fenwick, in trust for Edward Byllinge, who subsequently assigned
his claim to William Penn and two other Quakers. The province
was then divided, Carteret receiving the eastern portion, and the
Quaker assignees the western portion, on the Delaware. It was
in this way that William Penn first became interested in the set
tlement of America. As two colonies, Massachusetts and Mary
land, had already been formed through the desire for religious
liberty, it occurred to him to establish a refuge in the New World
for the persecuted sect of which he was a member. This was first
attempted in West Jersey. A free constitution was given to the set
tlers, granting important privileges of civil and religious liberty.
Quakers were specially recommended to take advantage of it,
and more than four hundred emigrated to the province in 1677.
In 1682, William Penn and eleven others purchased East Jersey,
so that the whole province then came under Quaker control.
Robert Barclay, author of the " Apology for Quakers," was ap
pointed governor for life.

In 1681, Penn obtained from Charles II. a grant of all the lands
I— 13

194 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STOUGHTON

embraced in the present State of Pennsylvania. His purpose in this
was not alone to convert and civilize the Indians, as expressed in
the charter, but also to form an asylum for those desirous of civil
and religious liberty, in which the principles of Peace, as advocated
by his sect, might be efficiently carried out. He soon after obtained
a grant of the present State of Delaware, then called " The Terri
tories." In September, 1682, he set sail for his new province, with
a large number of emigrants of his own religious belief. Others
had preceded him. The story of his landing and his actions in the
New World we extract from John Stoughton's " William Penn,"
from the fact that this writer gives the true story of that celebrated
" Treaty with the Indians," concerning which so little is actually
known, yet which has been made the basis of so many imaginative
statements, full of dramatic interest, yet with very small foundation
in fact]

CONVENIENCE, thoughts of commerce, the selection of a
fitting spot for a great city, the choice of a harbor for the
shipping of the world, no doubt mainly determined the
site of Philadelphia. But utility and the picturesque often
go together. . . . Whether the commissioners sent out by
Penn, who marked the foundation for the noble metropo
lis of their new State, had much care for landscape beauty,
I cannot say; but, at all events, they managed to secure
it, even if aiming at far other things. Nearly forty years
before, red Indians were haunting the shore about a mile
from Fort Nassau, and there some Dutchmen bought land
from these wild children of the west, and mounted the
flag of their country on a tall boundary-mark as a sign of
possession.

[A quarrel ensued with the neighboring Swedes, who tore down
the flag.]

Between thirty and forty years afterwards the region
remained infested with wolves, and the heads of these
animals were brought in to be paid for by the scanty
pettlers at the rate of fifty-five heads for forty guilders.

STOUGHTON] THE QUAKER COLONY. 195

Some acres between " the land of Wiccaco " and " the land
of Jurian Hartsfielder " were granted on petition in 1677
to one Peter Rambo, but on the complaint of a neighbor
ing family, who laid claim to it, the grant was cancelled.
This became the site of the new city.

Penn did not land there. His voyage from England
lasted two months, and on its way the Welcome was
scourged by the small-pox, which swept off no less than
one-third of the hundred passengers who had embarked
at Deal. The first point on the American coast which the
vessel reached was " the Capes," on the 24th of October,
1682, and on the 28th Penn landed at New-Castle. He
was "hailed there with acclamation by the Swedes and
Dutch/' says one authority, who informs us that the
Swedes were living in log cabins and clay huts, the men
dressed "in leather breeches, jerkins, and match coats,"
the women "in skin jackets and linsey petticoats;" but
the old records of New-Castle give a more stately descrip
tion of the arrival. Penn produced two deeds of enfeoff-
ment, and John Moll, Esq., and Ephraim Hannan, gentle
man, performed livery of seisin by handing over to him
turf and twig, water and soil, and with due formality the
act was recorded in a document signed with nine names.
The inhabitants of the little settlement afterwards gave a
pledge of obedience. . . .

After this Penn visited New York, and returned at the
end of a month, when he went to a place called Upland,
and, turning round to a Quaker friend who had come with
him in the Welcome, he said, " Providence has brought us
here safe ; thou hast been the companion of my perils : what
wilt thou that I should call this place ? " Pearson said,
" Chester," in remembrance of the city whence he came. . . .

The Great Law, as it was called, or rather the body
of laws, of the province of Pennsylvania, was passed at

196 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STOUGHTON

Chester the 7th of December, 1682; and here we have
the scheme of legislation devised by the founder. It re
quires attention, as expressing his political views. It lays
down the principle of liberty of conscience for the whole
province, and it recognizes intolerance as intolerable. " If
any person shall abuse or deride any other for his or her
different persuasion or practice in matter of religion, such
shall be looked upon as disturber of the peace, and be
punished accordingly." The observance of the Lord's
Day is prescribed, but is not enforced by penalties. All
government officers and servants are to profess belief in
the Divinity of Christ; profaneness and blasphemy are to
be punished, and several criminal offences are carefully
specified. Drinking healths, and selling rum to Indians,
come under the same category; so do stage plays, and
other amusements fashionable in the days of Charles II.
Days and months are not to be called by heathen names.
These are the only peculiar laws ; the rest being provisions
for trial by jury, for purity of election, and for strictly
legal taxation.

[This code bears a close resemblance, in its prbvisions for religious
tolerance, to that previously passed in Maryland, already quoted.]

The Assembly which passed the laws of Pennsylvania
sat for three days, and after its adjournment Penn paid a
visit to Maryland, and had an interview with Lord Balti
more respecting the boundaries of the two provinces. . . .
Penn returned to Chester, and thence proceeded to the
spot where, in after-time, the capital city of his province
was to rise and spread in all its magnificence. His ar
rival is an event of great interest; but he himself has
given no account of it, nor have any of his contempo
raries left a connected description of the circumstances.
By piecing together scattered fragments of tradition, how-

STOUGHTON] THE. QUAKER COLONY. 197

ever, something like a full narrative of what occurred may
be constructed.

He proceeded along the river in an open boat till he
reached " a low and sandy beach," at the mouth of what
was called the Dock Creek; on the opposite side of it was
a grassy and wet soil, yielding an abundance of whortle
berries; beyond was the " Society Hill," rising up to what
is now Pine Street, covered then with wild outgrowths, —
the neighborhood containing woods in which rose lofty
elms and passes of rich laurels. The margin of the creek
here and there produced evergreen shrubs, and near them
were wigwams of red Indians, who had settled down for
a while as a starting-point for favorite hunting-grounds.
When Penn and his companions arrived they found some
men busy building a low wooden house, destined, under
the name of the Blue Anchor, to be an object of interest
and a subject of controversy. These men, and a few Euro
pean colonists who were scattered about the locality,
pressed towards the boat to give a cordial welcome as the
Englishmen stepped on shore.

If not immediately, we may be sure that soon afterwards
the Indians would come forward to gaze on the white men
from the other side of the world; and then would begin
those manifestations of kindness towards the children of
the forest which made an indelible impression on them,
and on others who witnessed the interviews. A lady, who
lived to be a hundred, used to speak of the governor as
being of " rather short stature, but the handsomest, best-
looking, lively gentleman she had ever seen." " He en
deared himself to the Indians by his marked condescension
and acquiescence in their wishes. He walked with them,
sat with them on the ground, and ate with them of their
roasted acorns and hominy. At this they expressed their
great delight, and soon began to show how they could

198 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STOUGHTON

hop and jump; at which exhibition, William Penn, to cap
the climax, sprang up and beat them all." Probably a
little imagination enlivened the old lady's recollections, and
she condensed several meetings into one ; but as Penn was
at that time under forty, and he had been fond of active
sports in earlier days, the story, on the whole, is quite
credible; and it is curious to find an old journalist leaving
on record that the founder of Pennsylvania was " too prone
to cheerfulness for a grave public Friend," especially in the
eye of those of them who held " religion harsh, intolerant,
severe."

Blue Anchor Tavern was pulled down years ago, but
some archaeological Philadelphians still preserve relics of
the old timbers.

The city had been planned beforehand, the streets
marked, and the names given; and these being Vine, Wal
nut, Pine, Sassafras, and Cedar, we may believe that such
trees abounded in the woods into the midst of which the
city ran. The name of Philadelphia was chosen by the
founder, its scriptural and historical associations being
probably present to his mind; but the chief object of the
choice was a lesson to its inhabitants " touching brotherly
love, upon which he had come to these parts, which he
had shown to Dutch, Swedes, Indians, and others alike,
and which he wished might forever characterize his new
dominions."

[The fact stated concerning the founding of Philadelphia is of in
terest, since it seems to be the only city that was planned and
definitely laid out by the early settlers of America. The other
ancient cities of the country grew as chance willed. The rectangu-
larity of Penn's idea has its advantages, but its disadvantages as
well, and some greater degree of chance growth would have been
useful. Penn is said to have purchased the land for his city from its
Swedish occupants, and to have made with the Indians a treaty,
which has attained great celebrity, though very little is known
about it]

STOUGHTON] THE QUAKER COLONY. 199

The Treaty-Elm locality — the spot where stood the tra
ditionary elm — is known, and is identified by a monument
on the spot ; but as to the treaty said to have been ratified
there, imagination has had play, for historical information
is wanting. Everybody has seen Benjamin West's picture
of the treaty between Penn and the Indians, and the ar
tist's fancy has been made the basis of historical descrip
tion. So unsatisfactory was the state of the question years
ago, that the Historical Society of Philadelphia appointed
a committee of inquiry. They reported that a treaty did
take place, probably in November, 1682 [this date does
not agree with that of Penn's first visit to Philadelphia as
above given], at Shackamaxon, under an elm-tree blown
down in 1810. The treaty was probably made with the
Delaware tribes as " a treaty of amity and friendship,"
and not for the purchase of territory. The speeches made,
the dresses worn, and the surrounding scene, appear now
to be altogether fictitious.

Materials, however, exist for forming some idea of the
manner in which the treaty would be conducted. " I have
had occasion," says Penn, " to be in council with them
upon treaties for land, and to adjust the terms of trade.
Their order is thus:

" The king sits in the middle of an half-moon, and has
his council, the old and wise, on each hand. Behind them,
or at a little distance, sit the younger fry, in the same
figure. Having consulted and resolved their business, the
king ordered one of them to speak to me. He stood up,
came to me, and in the name of his king saluted me, then
took me by the hand, and told me that he was ordered by
his king to speak to me, and that now it was not he but
the king who spoke, because what he should say was the
king's mind. He first prayed with me to excuse them
that they had not complied with me the last time. He

200 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STOUGHTON

feared there might be some fault in the interpreter, being
neither Indian nor English. Besides, it was the Indian
custom to deliberate and take up much time in council
before they resolved; and that if the young people and
owners of the land had been as ready as he, I had not
met with so much delay. Having thus introduced his
matter, he fell to the bounds of the land they had agreed
to dispose of, and the price, which now is little and dear;
that which would have bought twenty miles not buy
ing now two. During the time that this person spoke,
not a man of them was observed to whisper or smile, the
old grave, the young reverent, in their deportment. They
speak little, but fervently, and with elegance. I have
never seen more natural sagacity, considering them with
out the help (I was going to say the spoil) of tradition;
and he will deserve the name of wise who outwits them
in any treaty about a thing they understand. When the
purchase was agreed, great promises passed between us
of kindness and good neighborhood, and that the English
and Indians must live in love as long as the sun gave
light; which done, another made a speech to the Indians
in the name of all the sachamakers or kings; first, to tell
them what was done; next, to charge and command them
to love the Christians, and particularly to live in peace
with me and the people under my government; that
many governors had been in the river, but that no gov
ernor had come himself to live and stay there before;
and having now such an one, who had treated them well,
they should never do him or his any wrong; at every
sentence of which they shouted, and said Amen in their
way."

[It is stated that by the terms of one of -Perm's treaties of land-
purchase with the Indians, the land granted was to extend as far back

STOUGHTON] THE QUAKER COLONY. 201

as a man could walk in three days. Penn and some of his friends,
and a number of Indian chiefs, smarted to measure this territory,
and walked leisurely up the Delaware from the mouth of the
Neshaminy for a day and a half, and then stopped, concluding that
that was sufficient for the present, and that the remainder might
be measured when needed. In 1733 the then Governor of Pennsyl
vania undertook to measure the remainder. He employed a walker
noted for his speed, who succeeded in covering eighty-six miles in
his day and a half. This shrewd and rascally trick caused the
first breach in the confidence of the Indians, and it is significant
that the first murder of a white man by an Indian in Pennsylvania
was upon the ground of which they had been thus robbed.]

When Penn had enjoyed possession of his territory a
little while, he wrote an account of it to the " Free Society
of Traders of Pennsylvania," and in it he manifests a
power of graphic description really admirable. It brings
the whole country vividly before our eyes ; the land, " the
best vales of England watered by brooks ; the air, sweet ;
the heavens, serene like the south of France ; the seasons,
mild and temperate; vegetable productions abundant,
chestnut, walnut, plums, muscatel grapes, wheat and other
grain ; a variety of animals, elk, deer, squirrel, and turkeys
weighing forty or fifty pounds, water-birds and fish of
divers kinds, no want of horses; and flowers lovely for
color, greatness, figure, and variety." . . .

" Philadelphia, the expectation of those who are con
cerned in this province, is at last laid out, to the great
content of those here who are any way interested therein.
The situation is a neck of land, and lieth between two
navigable rivers, Delaware and Sculkill, whereby it hath
two fronts upon the water, each a mile; and two from
river to river. Delaware is a glorious river; but the
Sculkill, being a hundred miles boatable above the falls,
and its course northwest toward the fountain of Susque-
hanna (that tends to the heart of the province, and both

202 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STOUGHTON

sides our own), it is like to be a great part of the settle
ment of this age. I say little of the town itself, because a
platform will soon be shown you by my agent, in which
those who are purchasers of me will find their names and
interests. But this I will say, for the good providence of
God, of all the places I have seen in the world, I remember
not one better seated ; so that it seems to me to have been
appointed for a town, whether we regard the rivers, or
the conveniency of the coves, docks, and springs, the lofti
ness and soundness of the land, and the air, held by the
people of these parts to be very good. It is advanced
within less than a year to about fourscore houses and
cottages, such as they are, where merchants and handi
crafts are following their vocations as fast as they can;
while the countrymen are close at their farms."

[Within two years of his arrival the infant city contained three
hundred houses, and the population was reckoned at two thousand
five hundred. Penn returned to England in 1684. There he met
with misfortunes, and in 1692 his proprietary right was taken from
him; but it was restored in 1694. In 1699 he again visited America.
He found the people dissatisfied, and demanding further conces
sions and privileges. He framed a new charter, more liberal than
the former. The city now contained seven hundred houses, and
was very prosperous. He returned to England in 1701, after hav
ing made new treaties with the Indians and done all in his power
to settle the affairs of his province. He died in 1718, leaving hi$
interest in Pennsylvania to his sons. It continued in the family un
til the Revolution, when the claims of the Proprietors were pur
chased by the commonwealth for a value of about five hundred
and eighty thousand dollars.]

WILLIAMSON] THE "GRAND MODEL" GOVERNMENT. 203

THE "GRAND MODEL" GOVERNMENT.

HUGH WILLIAMSON.

[The settlement of the three southern colonies of the United
States may be dealt with briefly, as it was attended with no events
of special importance. Of these colonies Georgia was not settled
until 1732. The consideration of it, therefore, properly belongs to
the succeeding section of this work. The provinces of North and
South Carolina originally constituted but one. We have already
described the early efforts to colonize this region, those of Ribaut
at Port Royal and of Raleigh on Roanoke Island. About 1630,
Sir Robert Heath was granted a tract embracing the Carolinas,
but no settlements were made under the grant. The earliest emi
grants came from Virginia about 1650. In 1663 the province of
Carolina was granted to Lord Clarendon and seven others. The
charter secured religious freedom and a voice in legislation to
the people, but retained the main power and privilege in the hands
of the proprietaries. In 1660 or 1661 a party of New-Englanders
settled on Cape Fear River near Wilmington. The settlement was
soon abandoned, on account of Indian hostilities, but a permanent
colony was established in the same locality in 1665, by a party of
planters from Barbadoes.

The charter of the proprietaries embraced the whole region from
Virginia to Florida, and in 1670 a colony was planted on the Ashley
River, in the South Carolina region, which was known as the Car-
teret County Colony, on the site of Old Charleston. Slaves from
Barbadoes were soon introduced, Dutch settlers came from New
Netherland, then recently taken by the English, and afterwards
from Holland, a colony of Huguenot refugees from France was
sent out by the King of England, and the new settlement pros
pered. In 1680 the city of Charleston was founded, and was at
once declared the capital of the province. The growth of the set
tlements in North Carolina was less rapid, many of the colonists
removing south, while domestic dissensions retarded prosperity.

The most interesting feature attending the colonization of the
province of Carolina, however, was the remarkable system of gov
ernment devised, at the request of the proprietaries, by the
celebrated English philosopher John Locke. Made in the retire
ment of his study, arid based upon conditions of society utterly

204= THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WILLIAMSON

unlike those of the thinly-settled wilderness of America, Locke's
scheme was absurdly unsuited to the purpose designed, while its au
tocratic character was entirely out of accordance with the demo
cratic sentiments of the settlers. As a strenuous effort, however,
was made to carry out the provisions of this magnificently-absurd
" Grand Model " of government, we may give its leading features,
as epitomized by Hugh Williamson in his " History of North
Carolina."]

As it was to be expected that a great and fertile province
would become the residence of a numerous and powerful
body of people, the lords proprietors thought fit in the
infant state of these colonies to establish a permanent form
of government. Their object, as they expressed them
selves, was "to make the government of Carolina agree,
as nearly as possible, to the monarchy of which it was a
part, and to avoid erecting a numerous democracy." Lord
Ashley, one of the proprietors, who was afterwards created
Earl of Shaftesbury, a man of fine talents, was requested
by the proprietors to prepare a form of government ; but
he availed himself of the abilities of John Locke, the cele
brated philosopher and metaphysician, who drew up a plan,
consisting of one hundred and twenty articles or fundamen
tal constitutions, of which the following are the outlines :

Carolina shall be divided into counties. Each county
shall consist of eight signiories, eight baronies, and four
precincts. Each precinct shall consist of six colonies.
Each signiory, barony, or colony shall consist of twelve
thousand acres. The signiories shall be annexed unaliena-
bly to the proprietors; the baronies, to the nobility; and
the precincts, being three-fifths of the whole, shall remain
to the people. . . .

There shall be two orders of nobility, chosen by the pro
prietors, — viz., landgraves and casiques.

There shall be as many landgraves as counties, and
twice as many casiques.

WILLIAMSON] THE "GRAND MODEL" GOVERNMENT. 205

Each landgrave shall hold four baronies, and each casique
two baronies.

[From the year 1701 the proprietaries and nobility were to be
inalienably hereditary.]

There may be manors, to consist of not less than three
thousand acres or more than twelve thousand in one tract
or colony.

The lord of every signiory, barony, or manor shall have
the power of holding court leet, for trying causes civil or
criminal, with appeal to the precinct or county court,

No leet man shall remove from the land of his lord
without permission.

There shall be eight supreme courts. The oldest pro
prietor shall be palatine; and each of the other proprie
tors shall hold a great office, — viz., the several offices of
chancellor, chief justice, constable, admiral, treasurer, high
steward, and chamberlain.

[The formation of the courts of the proprietors is here laid
down, and the various officers are designated.]

Of the forty-two counsellors, in the several courts, the
greater number shall be chosen out of the nobles or the
sons of proprietors or nobles.

There shall be a grand council, which is to consist of the
palatine, the other seven proprietors, and the forty-two
counsellors from the courts of the several proprietors.
They shall have the power of making war and peace,
etc.

[The formation of the minor courts is then designated.]

No cause of any freeman, civil or criminal, shall be tried
in any court, except by a jury of his peers.

Juries are to consist of twelve men, of whom it sh*ll be
sufficient that a majority are agreed.

THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [WILLIAMSON

It shall be a base and infamous thing, in any court, to
plead for money or reward.

The parliament shall meet once every two years. It shall
consist of all the proprietors or their deputies, the land
graves, the casiques, and one commoner from each precinct,
chosen by the freeholders in their respective precincts.
These four estates shall sit in one room, each man having
one vote. . . .

No matter shall be proposed in parliament that had not
previously been prepared and passed by the grand council.

No act shall continue in force longer than to the next
biennial meeting of parliament, unless in the mean time it
shall have been ratified by the palatine and a quorum of
the proprietors.

While a bill is on its passage before the parliament, any
proprietor or his deputy may enter his protest against it,
as being contrary to any of the fundamental constitutions
of government. In which case, after debate, the four orders
shall retire to four separate chambers; and if a majority
of either of the four estates determines against the bill, it
shall not pass. . . .

The Church of England being deemed the only true
orthodox church, no provision shall be made by parliament
for any other church. . . .

No man, above the age of seventeen years, shall have
any benefit of the laws, whose name is not recorded as a
member of some church or religious profession.

These fundamental and unalterable constitutions were
signed by the lords proprietors the first of March, 1669.
It would be difficult to account for some of the articles
that are contained in this plan of government, except by re
curring to the old adage that respects Scylla and Charybdis.

The proprietors, or some of them, had lately smarted
under a government that was called republican. They

WILLIAMSON] THE "GRAND MODEL" GOVERNMENT. 207

were zealous royalists ; and they expected, by the help of a
powerful aristocracy, to obviate the return of republican
measures; but we are sorry to find among the works of
John Locke, who was an advocate for civil and religious
liberty, a plan of government that in some articles does not
consist with either.

It will readily be perceived that a government to be ad
ministered by nobles was not well adapted to a country
in which there was not one nobleman. . . . The lords
proprietors, in the mean time, resolved to come as near to
the great model as possible. For this purpose, Governor
Stevens of Albemarle and Sayle of Carteret were instructed
to issue writs requiring the freeholders to elect five persons,
who, with five others to be chosen by the proprietors, were
to form a grand council for the governor.

The parliament was to be composed of this great council
and twenty delegates, who were also to be chosen by the
freemen. In the mean time the proprietors made tempo
rary laws for the preservation of good order in the several
colonies, — laws that were little respected by men who had
not been consulted in forming them.

[Locke's governmental scheme never took root in Carolina. It
was a government of theory, not the result of a natural growth, as
all persistent government must be, and was utterly unsuited to the
conditions of a thinly-settled colony inhabiting a wilderness and
composed of persons little disposed to submit to regulations more
aristocratic than those from which they had emigrated. The plain
and simple laws under which the colonists had previously lived
were suited to their circumstances, while the " great model," with
its nobles, palatines, and other grand officers, was in ridiculous
contrast with the actually existing condition of sparse population,
rude cabins, and pioneer habits. A strong effort was made to es
tablish it, but the people effectually resisted, and, after twenty years
of contest, Locke's constitution, which had simply kept the country
in a state of discord, was voluntarily abrogated by the proprietaries.]

208 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. JDu PRATZ

LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ.

LE PAGE Du PRATZ.

[One more colony whose settlement was effected in the seven
teenth century here demands attention, — that of Louisiana. After
the death of De Soto on the Mississippi, in 1542, that great river
was not visited by the whites until more than a century had elapsed.
It was next reached, in its upper courses, by Jesuit missionaries
from Canada, whose efforts to convert the heathen made them
among the most daring and persistent explorers of the interior of
America. As early as 1634 they penetrated the wilderness to Lake
Huron, and established missions among the savages of that region.
Failing in similar efforts to convert the Iroquois, they pushed far
ther west, and in 1665 Father Allouez reached Lake Superior, and
landed at the great village of the Chippewas. Learning from the
Indians of the existence of a great river to the westward, called
by them the Mes-cha-ce-be, or " Father of Waters," two missiona
ries, Marquette and Joliet, set out from Green Bay to make its
discovery, under the illusory hope that it might furnish the long-
sought water-way to China. They reached the stream on June 17,
1673, and floated down it as far as the mouth of the Arkansas, where
they found the natives in possession of European articles, and be
came convinced that the river must flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Mississippi was again reached, in 1680, by Father Hennepin,
the advance pioneer of the exploring party under La Salle,who had
set out to investigate thoroughly the great river. Hennepin ascended
the stream to beyond the Falls of St. Anthony, where he was held
captive for a while by the Sioux Indians. La Salle did not reach the
Mississippi until two years afterwards, when he embarked on its
mighty flood, and floated down it until its mouth was reached and
th adventurers found themselves on the broad surface of the Gulf
of Mexico. To the territories through which he passed he gave the
name of Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV. of France. In 1684 he
sailed from France, with a party of settlers, for the mouth of the
Mississippi, which, however, he failed to find, landing his colonists
at the head of Matagorda Bay, in Texas. La Salle was afterwards
murdered while journeying overland to the Illinois, and the Mata
gorda Bay settlement was broken up by Indian hostility.

Du PRATZ] LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ. 209

In Upper Louisiana a Jesuit mission was established in 1685 at
Kaskaskia, the first permanent colony in the Mississippi region. In
1698, Lemoine d'Iberville, a French officer, obtained a patent for
planting a colony in the southern part of the territory. He suc
ceeded in finding the mouth of the Mississippi, and was the first
to enter that stream from the sea. He sailed up it as far as the
mouth of the Red River, and, returning, erected a fort at the head
of the Bay of Biloxi. It proved an unhealthy station, and in 1701
he removed the colonists to the western bank of the Mobile River,
thus founding the first European settlement in Alabama. The colo
nizing of southern Louisiana proved a slow process. At successive
periods colonists arrived there, but no permanency was attained
until 1718, when John Law, the promoter of the notorious " Missis
sippi Company," sent out eight hundred emigrants. Some of
these settled on the Bay of Biloxi, some on the site of New Or
leans. With this party was Du Pratz, the historian of the colony.
The subsequent disastrous failure of the Mississippi Company did
not break up the colony, though the scattered settlements found
themselves environed with many difficulties, chief among which
were troubles with hostile Indians. These difficulties were prin
cipally with the Natchez, who massacred a French settlement and
were in turn totally destroyed, and with the Chickasaws, who held
their own valiantly against the French, after a war of several years'
duration. We append, from Du Pratz's " History of Louisiana,"
his curiously-interesting story of the war with the Natchez, a tribe
which was in several respects the most remarkable among the
Indians of the region of the United States. We have already, in
our article on the Aborigines of America, described its principal
peculiarities.]

IN the beginning of the month of December, 1729, we
heard at New Orleans, with the. most affecting grief, of
the massacre of the French at the post of the Natchez,
occasioned by the imprudent conduct of the commandant.
I shall trace that whole affair from its rise.

The Sieur de Chopart had been commandant of the post
of the Natchez, from which he was removed on account
of some acts of injustice. M. Perier, commandant-gen
eral, but lately arrived, suffered himself to be prepossessed
1—14

210 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Du PRATZ

in his favor, on his telling him that he had commanded
that post with applause; and thus he obtained the com
mand from M. Perier, who was unacquainted with his
character.

This new commandant, on taking possession of his post,
projected the forming one of the most eminent settlements
of the whole colony. For this purpose he examined all
the grounds unoccupied by the French, but could not find
anything that came up to the grandeur of his views.
Nothing but the village of the White Apple, a square
league at least in extent, could give him satisfaction;
where he immediately resolved to settle. This ground
was distant from the fort about two leagues. Conceited
with the beauty of his project, the commandant sent for
the Sun of that village to come to the fort.

The commandant, upon his arrival at the fort, told him,
without further ceremony, that he must look out for an
other ground to build his village on, as he himself resolved,
as soon as possible, to build on the village of the Apple;
that he must directly clear the huts and retire somewhere
else. The better to cover his design, he gave out that it
was necessary for the French to settle on the banks of
the rivulet where stood the Great Village and the abode
of the Grand Sun. The commandant, doubtless, supposed
that he was speaking to a slave whom we may command
in a tone of absolute authority. But he knew not that
the natives of Louisiana are such enemies to a state of
slavery that they prefer death itself thereto; above all,
the Suns, accustomed to govern despotically, have still a
greater aversion to it.

The Sun of the Apple thought that if he was talked to
in a reasonable manner he might listen to him; in this he
had been right, had he to deal with a reasonable person.
He therefore made answer that his ancestors had lived in

Du PRATZ] LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ.

that village for as many years as there were hairs in his
double cue, and therefore it was good they should continue
there still.

Scarce had the interpreter explained this answer to the
commandant, but he fell into a passion, and threatened the
Sun if he did not quit his village in a few days he might
repent it. The Sun replied, when the French came to ask
us for lands to settle on, they told us there was land
enough still unoccupied, which they might take; the same
Sun would enlighten them all, and all would walk in the
same path. He wanted to proceed further in justification
of what he alleged; but the commandant, who was in a
passion, told him he was resolved to be obeyed, without
any further reply. The Sun, without discovering any
emotion or passion, withdrew, only saying he was going
to assemble the old men of his village, to hold a council
on this affair.

[At this council it was resolved to represent to the French that
the corn was just out of the ground and the chickens were laying
their eggs, and to ask for delay. This the commandant rejected,
with a threat to chastise them if they did not obey quickly. It was
next proposed that each hut in the village would pay him a basket
of corn and a fowl for the privilege of remaining till the harvest
had been gathered. To this the avaricious commandant agreed.
But the Sun had other objects in view. Meetings of the old men
of the village were held, at which it was resolved to destroy the
insolent intruders who had treated them like slaves and soon would
deprive them of all their liberty. It was proposed to cut off the
French to a man, in a single hour. The oldest chief advised that,
on the day fixed for the contribution, the warriors should carry
some corn to the commandant, as an instalment on their payment.
He further advised them]

" also to carry with them their arms, as if going out to
hunt, and that to every Frenchman in a French house there
shall be two or three Natchez ; to ask to borrow arms and
ammunition for a general hunting-match on account of

THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Du PRATZ

a great feast, and to promise to bring them meat; the
report of the firing at the commandant's to be the signal to
fall at once upon and kill the French; that then we shall
be able to prevent those who may come from the old French
village (New Orleans) by the great water (Mississippi) ever
to settle here."

He added that, after apprising the other nations of the
necessity of taking that violent step, a bundle of rods in
number equal to that they should reserve for themselves
should be left with each nation, expressive of the number
of days that were to precede that on which they were to
strike the blow at one and the same time. And to avoid
mistakes, and to be exact in pulling out a rod every day
and breaking and throwing it away, it was necessary to
give this in charge to a person of prudence. Here he
ceased, and sat down. They all approved his counsel, and
were to a man of his mind.

The project was in like manner approved of by the Sun
of the Apple; the business was to bring over the Grand
Sun, with the other petty Suns, to their opinion ; because,
all the princes being agreed as to that point, the nation
would all to a man implicitly obey. They, however, took
the precaution to forbid apprising the women thereof, not
excepting the female Suns (princesses), or giving them the
least suspicion of their designs against the French.

[Within a short time the Grand Sun, the Stung Serpent, his uncle,
and all the Suns and aged nobles, were brought into the scheme.
It was kept secret from the people, and nohe but the female Suns
had a right to demand the object of these many meetings. The
grand female Sun was a princess scarce eighteen, but the Stung
Arm, mother of the Grand Sun, a woman of experience, and well
disposed towards the French, induced her son to tell her of the
scheme which had been devised. He also told her that the bundle
of rods lay in the temple.]

The Stung Arm, being informed of the whole design,

Du PRATZ] LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ. 213

pretended to approve of it, and, leaving her son at ease,
henceforward was only solicitous how she might defeat this
barbarous design : the time was pressing, and the term pre
fixed for the execution was almost expired.

[She vainly attempted to convey a warning to the commandant.
The hints of danger she sent him by soldiers were blindly ignored.]

The Stung Arm, fearing a discovery, notwithstanding
her utmost precaution and the secrecy she enjoined, re
paired to the temple and pulled some rods out of the fatal
bundle ; her design was to hasten or forward the term pre
fixed, to the end that such Frenchmen as escaped the
massacre might apprise their countrymen, many of whom
had informed the commandant, who clapt seven of them in
irons, treating them as cowards on that account. . . .

Notwithstanding all these informations, the commandant
went out the night before [the fatal day] on a party of
pleasure, with some other Frenchmen, to the grand village
of the Natchez, without returning to the fort till break of
day; where he was no sooner come, but he had pressing
advice to be upon his guard.

The commandant, still flustered with his last night's
debauch, added imprudence to his neglect of these last
advices, and ordered his interpreter instantly to repair to
the grand village and demand of the Grand Sun whether
he intended, at the head of his warriors, to come and kill
the French, and to bring him word directly. The Grand
Sun, though but a young man, knew how to dissemble, and
spoke in such a manner to the interpreter as to give full
satisfaction to the commandant, who valued himself on his
contempt of former advices : he then repaired to his house,
situate below the fort.

The Natchez had too well taken their measures to be
disappointed in the success thereof. The fatal moment

214 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Du PRATZ

was at last come. The Natchez set out on the eve of St.
Andrew, 1729, taking care to bring with them one of the
lower sort, armed with a wooden hatchet, in order to
knock down the commandant: they had so high a con
tempt for him that no warrior would deign to kill him.
The houses of the French filled with enemies, the fort in
like manner with the natives, who entered in at the gate
and breaches, deprived the soldiers, without officers or even
a sergeant at their head, of the means of self-defence. In
the mean time the Grand Sun arrived, with some warriors
loaded with corn, in appearance as the first payment of
the contribution; when several shots were heard. As this
firing was the signal, several shots were heard at the
same instant. Then at length the commandant saw, but
too late, his folly : he ran into the garden, whither he was
pursued and killed. The massacre was executed every
where at the same time. Of about seven hundred per
sons, but few escaped to carry the dreadful news to the
capital ; on receiving which the governor and council were
sensibly affected, and orders were despatched everywhere
to put people on their guard.

The other Indians were displeased at the conduct of the
Natchez, imagining they had forwarded the term agreed
on, in order to make them ridiculous, and proposed to take
vengeance the first opportunity, not knowing the true cause
of the precipitation of the Natchez.

After they had cleared the fort, warehouse,, and other
houses, the Natchez set them all on fire, not leaving a
single building standing.

[Steps were immediately taken by the French to revenge them
selves upon their enemies. A force, partly made up of Chocta\v
allies, assailed the fort of the Natchez, who offered to release the
French women and children prisoners if peace was promised them.
This was agreed to, and the Natchez took advantage of the oppor-

Du PRATZ] LOUISIANA AND THE NATCHEZ. 215

tunity to vacate the fort by stealth, under cover of night, with all
their baggage and plunder, leaving only the cannon and ball be
hind. They took refuge in a secret place to the west of the Missis
sippi, which proved difficult to discover. As soon as the place of
concealment was found, the French set out to chastise the
murderers.]

The Messrs. Perier set out with their army in very favor
able weather, and arrived at last, without obstruction, near
to the retreat of the Natchez. To get to that place, they
went up the Red River, then the Black River, and from
thence up the Silver Creek, which communicates with a
small lake at no great distance from the fort which the
Natchez had built in order to maintain their ground against
the French.

The Natchez, struck with terror at the sight of a vigi
lant enemy, shut themselves up in their fort. Despair
assumed the place of prudence, and they were at their
wits' end on seeing the trenches gain ground on the fort:
they equip themselves like warriors, and stain their bodies
with different colors, in order to make their last efforts by
a sally which resembled a transport of rage more than
the calmness of valor, to the terror, at first, of the soldiers.

The reception they met from our men taught them,
however, to keep themselves shut up in their fort; and
though the trench was almost finished, our generals were
impatient to have the mortars put in a condition to play
on the place. At last they are set in battery; when the
third bomb happened to fall in the middle of the fort, the
usual place of residence of the women and children, they
set up a horrible screaming; and the men, seized with
grief at the cries of their wives and children, made the
signal to capitulate.

The Natchez, after demanding to capitulate, started dif
ficulties, which occasioned messages to and fro till night,

216 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [Du PKATZ

which they wanted to avail themselves of, demanding till
next day to settle the articles of capitulation. The night
was granted them, but, being narrowly watched on the
side next the gate, they could not execute the same pro
ject of escape as in the war with M. de Loubois. How
ever, they attempted it, by taking advantage of the ob
scurity of the night, and of the apparent stillness of the
French; but they were discovered in time, the greatest
part being constrained to retire into the fort. Some of
them only happened to escape, who joined those that were
out a-hunting, and all together retired to the Chickasaws.
The rest surrendered at discretion, among whom were the
Grand Sun, and the female Suns, with several warriors,
many women, young people, and children.

The French army re-embarked, and carried the Natchez
as slaves to New Orleans, where they were put in prison;
but afterwards, to avoid an infection, the women and chil
dren were disposed of in the king's plantation, and else
where; among these women was the female Sun called
the Stung Arm, who then told me all she had done in
order to save the French.

Some time after, these slaves were embarked for St.
Domingo, in order to root out that nation in the colony;
which was the only method of effecting it, as the few
that escaped had not a tenth of the women necessary to
recruit the nation. And thus that nation, the most con
spicuous in the colony, and most useful to the French, was
destroyed.

GRAHAME] THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS.

PROGRESS OF THE COLONIES.

THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS.

JAMES GRAHAME.

[The history of Massachusetts during the latter half of the seven
teenth century presents several occurrences of particular interest,
such as the Quaker persecution, King Philip's Indian war, and the
witchcraft delusion. The first of these now calls for attention. We
may premise with a brief statement of preceding events. One of
these was an effort in England to prevent Puritan emigration,
which is said to have had the effect to retain John Hampden and
Oliver Cromwell in that country. If so, the king in this committed
an error which in the end proved fatal to himself. In 1638, John
Harvard, a minister of Charlestown, left something over three
thousand dollars in support of a school previously founded by the
colony. This was the origin of Harvard College. In 1643 the
four colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New
Hampshire formed a confederacy, under the title of THE UNITED
COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. Rhode Island was, at a later date,
refused admission into the confederacy, which continued in exist
ence for over forty years. Each colony was to contribute men
and money to the common defence, while two commissioners from
each colony formed an annual assembly for the settlement of all
questions relating to the confederacy.

The religious dissensions which had formerly agitated the colony
were renewed by the emigration of persons of other sectarian
views, who were little disposed to submit to the intolerance of the
Puritan churches and tribunals. In 1651 a party of Anabaptists
reached Massachusetts. The doctrines they advocated raised a
storm of opposition in the colony; they were arrested, tried, fined,
and one of them severely flogged, and a law was passed banishing

218 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GRAHAME

from the colony any one who should oppose the dogma of infant
baptism. The treatment received by the Quakers was of sufficient
severity and importance to demand special consideration, and we
therefore select a description of it from James Grahame's " History
of the United States."]

THE treatment which the Quakers experienced in Mas
sachusetts was much more severe [than that of the Ana
baptists], but certainly much more justly provoked. It is
difficult for us in the calm and rational deportment of the
Quakers of the present age to recognize the successors
of those wild enthusiasts who first appeared in the north
of England about the year 1644 and received from the
derision of the world the title which they afterwards
adopted as their sectarian denomination. . . . When the
doctrines of Quakerism were first promulgated, the effects
which they produced on many of their votaries far ex
ceeded the influence to which modern history restricts
them, or which the experience of a rational and calcu
lating age finds it easy to conceive. In England, at that
time, the minds of men were in a state of feverish agita
tion and excitement, inflamed with the rage of innovation,
strongly imbued with religious sentiment, and yet strongly
averse to restraint. The bands that so long repressed
liberty of speech being suddenly broken, many crude
thoughts were eagerly broached, and many fantastic
notions that had been vegetating in the unwholesome
shade of locked bosoms were abruptly brought to light:
and all these were presented to the souls of men roused
and whetted by civil war, kindled by great alarms or by
vast and indeterminate designs, and latterly so accustomed
to partake or contemplate the most surprising changes,
that with them the distinction between speculation and
certainty was considerably effaced. . . .

It was the wildest and most enthusiastic visionaries of

GRAHAME] THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 219

the age whom Quakerism counted among its earliest vota
ries, and to whom it afforded a sanction and stimulus to
the boldest excursions of unregulated thought, and a
principle that was adduced to consecrate the rankest ab
surdity of conduct. . . . The unfavorable impression
which these actions created long survived the extinction
of the frenzy and folly that produced them.

While, in pursuance of their determination to prosely
tize the whole world, some of the Quakers travelled to
Rome, in order to illuminate the Pope, and others to Con
stantinople, for the purpose of converting the Grand Turk,
a party of them embarked for America and established
themselves in Rhode Island, where persons of every re
ligious (Protestant) denomination were permitted to settle
in peace, and no one gave heed to the sentiments or prac
tices of his neighbors. From hence they soon made their
way into the Plymouth territory, where they succeeded
in persuading some of its inhabitants to embrace the doc
trine that a sensible experience of inward light and spirit
ual impression was the meaning and end of Christianity
and the essential characteristic of its votaries, and to op
pose all regulated order, forms, and discipline, whether
civil or ecclesiastical, as a vain and Judaizing substitution
of the kingdom of the flesh for the kingdom of the spirit.

On their first appearance in Massachusetts (July, 1656),
where two male and six female Quakers arrived from
Rhode Island and Barbadoes, they found that the reproach
entailed on their sect by the insane extravagance of some
of its members in England had preceded their arrival, and
that they were regarded with the utmost terror and dis
like by the great bulk of the people. They were instantly
arrested by the magistrates, and diligently examined for
what were considered bodily marks of witchcraft. No
such indications having been found, they were sent back

220 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GRAHAME

to the places whence they came, by the same vessels that
had brought them, and prohibited with threats of severe
punishment from ever again returning to the colony. A
law was passed at the same time, subjecting every ship
master importing Quakers or Quaker writings to a heavy
fine; adjudging all Quakers who should intrude into the
colony to stripes and labor in the house of correction, and
all defenders of their tenets to fine, imprisonment, or
exile. . . .

The penal enactments resorted to by the other settle
ments [than Rhode Island] served only to inflame the
impatience of the Quaker zealots to carry their ministry
into places that seemed to them to stand so greatly in
need of it; and the persons who had been disappointed in
their first attempt returned almost immediately to Massa
chusetts, and, dispersing themselves through the colony,
began to proclaim their mystical notions, and succeeded in
communicating them to some of the inhabitants of Salem.
They were soon joined by Mary Clarke, the wife of a
tailor in London, who announced that she had forsaken
her husband and six children in order to convey a message
from heaven, which she was commissioned to deliver to
New England. Instead of joining with the provincial
missionaries in attempts to reclaim the neighboring sav
ages from their barbarous superstition and profligate im
moralities, or themselves prosecuting separate missions
with a like intent, the apostles' of Quakerism raised their
voices in vilification of everything that was most highly
approved and revered in the doctrine and practice of the
provincial churches. Seized, imprisoned, and flogged, they
were again dismissed with severer threats from the colony,
and again they returned by the first vessels they could
procure. The government and a great majority of the
colonists were incensed at their stubborn pertinacity, and

GRAHAME] THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS,

shocked at the impression which they had already pro
duced on some minds, and which threatened to corrupt
and subvert a system of piety whose establishment, fru
ition, and perpetuation supplied their fondest recollections,
their noblest enjoyment, and most energetic desire. New
punishments were introduced into the legislative enact
ments against the intrusion of Quakers and the profession
of Quakerism (1657) and in particular the abscission of
an ear was added to the former ineffectual severities.
Three male Quaker preachers endured the rigor of this
cruel law.

But all the exertions of the provincial authorities proved
unavailing, and seemed rather to stimulate the zeal of the
obnoxious sectaries to brave the danger and court the
glory of persecution (1658). Swarms of Quakers descended
upon the colony; and, violent and impetuous in provoking
persecution, calm, resolute, and inflexible in sustaining-
it, they opposed their power of enduring cruelty to their
adversaries' power of inflicting it, and not only multiplied
their converts, but excited a considerable degree of favor
and pity in the minds of men who, detesting the Quaker
tenets, yet derived from their own experience a peculiar
sympathy with the virtues of heroic patience, constancy,
and contempt of danger. ... It was by no slight provo
cations that the Quakers attracted these and additional
severities upon themselves. ... In public assemblies and
in crowded streets, it was the practice of some of the
Quakers to denounce the most tremendous manifestations
of divine wrath on the people, unless they forsook their
carnal system. One of them, named Faubord, conceiving
that he experienced a celestial encouragement to rival the
faith and imitate the sacrifice of Abraham, was proceed
ing with his own hands to shed the blood of his son, when
his neighbors, alarmed by the cries of the lad, broke into

222 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GRAHAME

the house and prevented the consummation of this blas
phemous atrocity. Others interrupted divine service in
the churches by loudly protesting that these were not the
sacrifices that God would accept; and one of them illus
trated his assurance by breaking two bottles in the face
of the congregation, exclaiming, " Thus will the Lord
break you in pieces! " They declared that the Scriptures
were replete with allegory, that the inward light was the
only infallible guide to religious truth, and that all were
blind beasts and liars who denied it.

The female preachers far exceeded their male associates
in folly, frenzy, and indecency. One of them presented
herself to a congregation with her face begrimed with
coal-dust, announcing it as a pictorial illustration of the
black pox, which Heaven had commissioned her to predict
as an approaching judgment on all carnal worshippers.
Some of them in rueful attire perambulated the streets,
proclaiming the speedy arrival of an angel with a drawn
sword to plead with the people ; and some attempted feats
that may seem to verify the legend of Godiva of Coventry.
One woman, in particular, entered stark naked into a
church in the middle of divine service, and desired the
people to take heed to her as a sign of the times, and
an emblem of the unclothed state of their own souls; and
her associates highly extolled her submission to the inward
light, that had revealed to her the duty of illustrating the
spiritual nakedness of her neighbors by the indecent ex
hibition of her own person. Another Quakeress was ar
rested as she was making a similar display in the streets
of Salem. The horror justly inspired by these insane
enormities was inflamed into the most vehement indigna
tion by the deliberate manner in which they were defended,
and the disgusting profanity with which Scripture was
linked in impure association with notions and behavior at

GRAHAME] THE PERSECUTION OF THE QUAKERS. 223

once ridiculous and contemptible. Among other singu
larities, the Quakers exemplified and inculcated the for
bearance of even the slightest demonstration of respect to
courts and magistrates; they declared that governors,
judges, lawyers, and constables were trees that cumbered
the ground, and presently must be cut down, in order that
the true light might have leave to shine and space to rule
alone ; and they freely indulged every sally of distempered
fancy which they could connect, however absurdly, with
the language of the Bible. . . .

It has been asserted by some of the modern apologists
of the Quakers that these frantic excesses, which excited so
much attention and produced such tragical consequences,
were committed, not by genuine Quakers, but by the Rant
ers, or wild separatists from the Quaker body. Of these
Ranters, indeed, a very large proportion certainly betook
themselves to America. ... It is certain, however, that
the persons whose conduct we have particularized assumed
the name of Quakers, and traced all their absurdities to
the peculiar Quaker principle of searching their own
bosoms for sensible admonitions of the Holy Spirit, inde
pendent of the scriptural revelation of divine will. And
many scandalous outrages were committed by persons
whose profession of Quaker principles was recognized by
the Quaker body, and whose sufferings are related, and
their frenzy applauded, by the pens of Quaker writers.

Exasperated by the repetition of these enormities, and
the extent to which the contagion of their radical princi
ple was spreading in the colony, the magistrates of Mas
sachusetts, in the close of this year (1658), introduced
into the Assembly a law denouncing the punishment of
death upon all Quakers returning from banishment. This
legislative proposition was opposed by a considerable
party of the colonists; and various individuals, who

224 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GRAHAME

would have hazarded their own lives to extirpate the
heresy of the Quakers, solemnly protested against the
cruelty and iniquity of shedding their blood. It was at
first rejected by the Assembly, but finally adopted by the
narrow majority of a single voice. In the course of the
two following years (1659, 1660) this barbarous law was
carried into execution on three separate occasions, — when
four Quakers, three men and a woman, were put to death
at Boston. It does not appear that any of these unfor
tunate persons were guilty of the outrages which the con
duct of their brethren in general had associated with the
profession of Quakerism. Oppressed by the prejudice
created by the frantic conduct of others, they were ad
judged to die for returning from banishment and continu
ing to preach the Quaker doctrines. In vain the court
entreated them to accept a pardon on condition of
abandoning forever the colony from which they had been
repeatedly banished. They answered by reciting the
heavenly call to continue there, which on various occa
sions, they affirmed, had sounded in their ears, in the
fields and in their dwellings, distinctly syllabling their
names and whispering their prophetic office and the scene
of its exercise. When they were conducted to the scaf
fold, their demeanor expressed unquenchable zeal and
courage, and their dying declarations breathed in general
a warm and affecting piety.

These executions excited much clamor against the gov
ernment; many persons were offended by the exhibition
of severities against which the establishment of the colony
itself seemed intended to bear a perpetual testimony ; and
many were touched with an indignant compassion for the
sufferings of the Quakers, that effaced all recollection of
the indignant disgust which the principles of these sec
taries had previously inspired. The people began to flock

CHURCH] THE DEATH OF KING PHILIP. 225

in crowds to the prisons and load the unfortunate Quakers
with demonstrations of kindness and pity.

[This feeling finally became so strong that the magistrates dared
no longer oppose it. After the condemnation of Wenlock Christi-
son, who had defended himself with marked ability, the magis
trates felt it necessary to change the sentences of the condemned
Quakers to flogging and banishment. As the demeanor of the
Quakers grew more quiet and orderly, the toleration of them in
creased, and the flogging of Quakers was soon after prohibited by
Charles II.]

The persecution thus happily closed was not equally
severe in all the New England States: the Quakers suf
fered most in Massachusetts and Plymouth, and compara
tively little in Connecticut and New Haven. It was only
in Massachusetts that the inhuman law inflicting capital
punishment upon them was ever carried into effect. At
a subsequent period, the laws relating to vagabond Quakers
were so far revived that Quakers disturbing religious as
semblies, or violating public decorum, were subjected to
corporal chastisement. But little occasion ever again oc
curred of executing these severities, the wild excursions
of the Quaker spirit having generally ceased, and the
Quakers gradually subsiding into a decent and orderly
submission to all the laws, except such as related to the
militia and the support of the clergy, — in their scruples
as to which the provincial legislature, with reciprocal
moderation, consented to indulge them.

TEE DEATH OF KING PHILIP.

BENJAMIN CHURCH.

[After the defeat of the Pequots the New England colonies es
caped the horrors of Indian warfare for a period of nearly forty
years. This era of peace was destined to be followed by an era of
terror and massacre, beginning with the celebrated King Philip's
i— 15

226 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CHURCH

War, and continuing through the successive wars between the
French and English, known as King William's and Queen Anne's
Wars, and at a later period King George's and the French and
Indian Wars, in which all the barbarity of savage warfare was let
loose upon the devoted colonies of New England. During the
life of Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampanoags, the treaty of
peace which he had early made with the Plymouth colony con
tinued unbroken. After his death his sons, Alexander and Philip,
were suspected of hostile intentions. Alexander soon died, and
Philip became sachem of the tribe. According to the early New
England writers, he for several years occupied himself in organiz
ing a secret confederacy of the Indian tribes against the whites,
of whose growing power he was jealous. Later historians doubt
this, and are inclined to believe that he was driven into hostility
by outrages committed by the whites, and impulsive reprisals by
Indians. However that be, the existence of a plot, real or spurious,
was declared by an Indian missionary, who was soon after mur
dered. Three Indians were arrested and hung for the crime. Philip
now, by his own inclination, or by the determination of his tribe,
prepared for war. The women and children of the tribe were sent
to the Narragansetts for protection, and in July, 1675, an attack
was made on the village of Swanzey, in Massachusetts, and several
persons were killed.

The whole country quickly took the alarm, and troops from Plym
outh and Boston marched in pursuit of the enemy. It must be
borne in mind that the long interval of peace had greatly changed
the conditions of both parties to the war. On the one hand, the
whites of New England had greatly grown in strength, and now
numbered about sixty thousand souls, while numerous settlements
had been founded. On the other hand, the Indians no longer
looked upon powder and ball as " bad medicine," which it was
dangerous to touch. On the contrary, they had adopted the Euro
pean methods of fighting, and exchanged the bow and arrow for
the musket and bullet. We may briefly relate the events of the
war. The pursuing troops made their way to Mount Hope, the
residence of Philip, but he fled, with his warriors, at their ap
proach. He was shortly afterwards attacked in a swamp at Po-
casset, but after a thirteen days' siege managed to escape. Other
tribes were now brought into the war, and a party of twenty whites
were ambushed and most of them killed. The remainder in-

CHURCH] THE DEATH OF KING PHILIP. 227

trenched themselves in a house at Brookfield, where they sustained
a siege for two days, until relieved.

On September 5 the Indians were attacked and defeated at Deer-
field, and on the nth they burned the town. On the same day they
attacked the town of Hadley. The tradition goes that during the
fight a venerable stranger suddenly appeared, put himself at the
head of the townsmen, and drove back the foe. This is said to have
been General Goffe, one of the judges of Charles I., then concealed
in that town. The story is entirely traditional, and has been called in
question. On the 28th a party of eighty teamsters were assailed by
a large body of Indians, and nearly all killed. The Indians were
subsequently repulsed by a reinforcement of soldiers. Philip's next
attack was upon Hatfield, where he met with a defeat.

By this time the hostility to the whites had extended widely among
the Indians. The Narragansetts had as yet kept the treaty of peace
which had been made with them, but they were suspected of favoring
Philip and of intending to break out into hostilities in the spring. It
was therefore determined to crush them during the winter. A force
of fifteen hundred men marched against their stronghold, — a fort
in the midst of a great swamp, surrounded with high palisades, and
having but a single entrance, over a fallen tree, which but one man
at a time could cross. Here three thousand Indians had collected,
with provisions, intending to pass the winter. They were attacked
with fury, on December 29, by the English, but the latter were
driven back with heavy loss. Another party of the invaders waded
the swamp, and found a place destitute of palisades. They broke
through this, with considerable loss, while others forced their way
over the tree. A desperate conflict ensued, ending in a defeat of the
Indians. The wigwams were then set on fire, contrary to the advice
of the officers, and hundreds of women and children, and old,
wounded, and infirm men, perished in the flames. Of the Narragan-
sett warriors a thousand were killed or mortally wounded, and sev
eral hundreds taken prisoners. Cold and famine during the winter
killed many more, but the weak remnant of the tribe joined Philip
and became bitterly hostile. The war now extended to Maine and
New Hampshire, whose settlements were exposed to the fury of
Indian attack. The power of the Indians rapidly diminished, how
ever, before the energy and discipline of the whites, and Philip
found himself steadily growing weaker. It is said that he endeav
ored to persuade the Mohawks to join him, but in vain. In August,
1676, he returned, with a small party of warriors, to Pokanoket,

228 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CHURCH

or Mount Hope, the seat of his tribe. Tidings of this fact were
brought to Captain Church, one of the most active of his adversaries,
who repaired with a small party to the spot. Captain Church has
left on record the story of his connection with this war. It is the
artless and prolix narrative of one better acquainted with the sword
than with the pen, yet has the merit of being an exact relation of the
facts, and of showing clearly the spirit of the Indian-fighters of that
day. We therefore extract from the " History of the Great Indian
War of 1675 and 1676," by this grim old Indian-fighter, an account
of the death of King Philip. This history was written by the son of
Captain Church, from the notes of his father.]

CAPTAIN CHURCH being now at Plymouth again, weary
and worn, would have gone home to his wife and family,
but the government being solicitous to engage him in the
service until Philip was slain, and promising him satisfac
tion and redress for some mistreatment that he had met
with, he fixes for another expedition.

He had soon volunteers enough to make up the company
he desired, and marched through the woods until he came
to Pocasset. And not seeing or hearing of any of the
enemy, they went over the ferry to Rhode Island, to re
fresh themselves. The captain, with about half a dozen
in his company, took horses and rode about eight miles
down the island, to Mr. Sanford's, where he had left his
wife. [She] * no sooner saw him, but fainted with surprise ;
and by that time she was a little revived, they spied two
horsemen coming a great pace. Captain Church told his
company that " those men (by their riding) come with
tidings." When they came up, they proved to be Major
Sanford and Captain Golding. [They]* immediately asked
Captain Church, what he would give to hear some news
of Philip? He replied, that was what he wanted. They
told him they had rode hard with some hopes of over
taking him, and were now come on purpose to inform him
that there were just now tidings from Mount Hope. An
* " Who," in the original text.

CHURCH] THE DEATH OF KING PHILIP. 229

Indian came down from thence (where Philip's camp now
was) to Sandy Point, over against Trip's, and hallooed, and
made signs to be brought over. And being fetched over,
he reported that he was fled from Philip, " who (said he)
has killed my brother just before I came away, for giving
some advice that displeased him." And said he was fled
for fear of meeting with the same his brother had met
with. Told them, also, that Philip was now in Mount
Hope neck. Captain Church thanked them for their good
news, and said he hoped by to-morrow morning to have
the rogue's head. The horses that he and his company
came on, standing at the door (for they had not been un
saddled), his wife must content herself with a short visit,
when such game was ahead. They immediately mounted,
set spurs to their horses, and away.

The two gentlemen that brought him the tidings told
him they would gladly wait on him to see the event of
the expedition. He thanked them, and told them he
should be as fond of their company as any men's; and
(in short) they went with him. And they were soon at
Trip's ferry (with Captain Church's company), where the
deserter was, who was a fellow of good sense, and told
his story handsomely. He offered Captain Church to pilot
him to Philip, and to help to kill him, that he might re
venge his brother's death. Told him that Philip was now
upon a little spot of upland, that was in the south end of
the miry swamp, just at the foot of the mount, which was
a spot of ground that Captain Church was well acquainted
with.

By that time they were over the ferry, and came
near the ground, half the night was spent. The captain
commands a halt, and bringing the company together,
he asked Major Sanford's and Captain Golding's advice,
what method was best to take in making the onset ; but

230 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CHURCH

they declined giving him any advice, telling him that his
great experience and success forbid their taking upon them
to give advice. Then Captain Church offered Captain
Golding the honor (if he would please accept of it) to beat
up Philip's head-quarters.

[He designed to place the remainder of his men in ambush, and
fire upon the Indians when they should endeavor to escape through
the swamp.]

Captain Church, knowing that it was Philip's custom
to be foremost in the flight, went down to the swamp,
and gave Captain Williams of Scituate the command of
the right wing of the ambush, and placed an Englishman
and an Indian together behind such shelters of trees, etc.,
that he could find, and took care to place them at such
distance that none might pass undiscovered between them ;
charged them to be careful of themselves, and of hurting
their friends, and to fire at any that should come silently
through the swamp. But, [it] being somewhat farther
through the swamp than he was aware of, he wanted men
to make up his ambuscade.

Having placed what men he had, he took Major Sanford
by the hand, [and] said, " Sir, I have so placed them that
it is scarce possible Philip should escape them." The same
moment a shot whistled over their heads, and then the
noise of a gun towards Philip's camp. Captain Church,
at first, thought it might be some gun discharged by ac
cident ; but before he could speak, a whole volley followed,
which was earlier than he expected.

[Captain Golding had fired at a single Indian whom he perceived.]

And upon his firing, the whole company that were with
him fired upon the enemy's shelter, before the Indians had
time to rise from their sleep, and so overshot them. But

CHURCH] THE DEATH OF KING PHILIP. 231

their shelter was open on that side next the swamp, built
so on purpose for the convenience of flight on occasion.
They were soon in the swamp, but Philip the foremost,
who started at the first gun, threw his petunk and powder-
horn over his head, catched up his gun, and ran as fast as
he could scamper, without any more clothes than his small
breeches and stockings; and ran directly on two of Cap
tain Church's ambush. They let him come fair within
shot, and the Englishman's gun missing fire, he bid the
Indian fire away, and he did so to purpose; sent one
musket-ball through his heart, and another not above two
inches from it. He fell upon his face in the mud and
water, with his gun under him.

[This event occurred on the I2th of August, 1676.]

By this time the enemy perceived they were waylaid
on the east side of the swamp, [and] tacked short about.
One of the enemy, who seemed to be a great, surly old
fellow, hallooed with a loud voice, and often called out,
" Jootash, Jootash" Captain Church called to his Indian,
Peter, and asked him, who that was that called so? He
answered that it was old Annawon, Philip's great captain,
calling on his soldiers to stand to it, and fight stoutly.
Now the enemy finding that place of the swamp which
was not ambushed, many of them made their escape in the
English tracks.

The man that had shot down Philip ran with all speed
to Captain Church, and informed him of his exploit, who
commanded him to be silent about it and let no man more
know it, until they had driven the swamp clean. But
when they had driven the swamp through, and found the
enemy had escaped, or at least the most of them, and the
sun now up, and so the dew gone, that they could not
easily track them, the whole company met together at the

232 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CHURCH

place where the enemy's night shelter was, and then Cap
tain Church gave them the news of Philip's death. Upon
which the whole army gave three loud huzzas.

Captain Church ordered his body to be pulled out of
the mire to the upland. So some of Captain Church's
Indians took hold of him by his stockings, and some by
his small breeches (being otherwise naked), and drew him
through the mud to the upland; and a doleful, great,
naked, dirty beast he looked like. Captain Church then
said that forasmuch as he had caused many an English
man's body to be unburied, and to rot above ground, that
not one of his bones should be buried And calling his
old Indian executioner, bid him behead and quarter him.
Accordingly he came with his hatchet and stood over him,
but before he struck he made a small speech, directing it
to Philip, and said " he had been a very great man, and
had made many a man afraid of him, but so big as he was,
he would now chop him in pieces." And so he went to
work and did as he was ordered.

Philip having one very remarkable hand, being much
scarred, occasioned by the splitting of a pistol in it for
merly, Captain Church gave the head and that hand to
Alderman, the Indian who shot him, to show to such gentle
men as would bestow gratuities upon him; and accord
ingly he got many a penny by it.

[All this is brutal enough to have been the action of Indians in
stead of whites, and shows that disposition to insult a fallen foe
which is a characteristic of the warfare of barbarous peoples, but has
happily died out in civilized nations. There was a strong spice of
savagery in the Indian-fighters of the pioneer days of America, who
looked upon the Indians as little better than wild beasts. The fall of
Philip ended the war in southern New England, the tribes suing for
peace. But hostilities were continued in Maine and New Hampshire
till 1678, when a treaty of peace was concluded with the tribes of this
locality. The forces of the Indians, and the results of the war, are

BANCROFT] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 233

summarized by Trumbull in the following statement : " When Philip
began the war, he and his kinswoman, Wetamoe, had about five hun
dred warriors, and the Narragansetts nearly two thousand. The
Nipmuck, Nashawa, Pocomtock, Hadley, and Springfield Indians
were considerably numerous. It is probable, therefore, that there
were about three thousand warriors combined for the destruction of
the New England colonies, exclusive of the eastern Indians. The
war terminated in their entire conquest and almost total extinction.
At the same time, it opened a wide door for extensive settlement and
population. This, however, in its connection with the war with the
eastern Indians, was the most impoverishing and distressing of any
that New England has ever experienced from its first settlement to
the present time. . . . About six hundred of the inhabitants of
New England, the greatest part of whom were the flower and
strength of the country, either fell in battle or were murdered by the
enemy. A great part of the inhabitants of the country were in deep
mourning. There were few families or individuals who had not lost
some near relative or friend. Twelve or thirteen towns, in Massa
chusetts, Plymouth, and Rhode Island, were utterly destroyed, and
others greatly damaged. About six hundred buildings, chiefly
dwelling-houses, were consumed with fire. An almost insuperable
debt was contracted by the colonies, when their numbers, dwellings,
goods, cattle, and all their resources were greatly diminished."]

THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT.

GEORGE BANCROFT.

[King Philip's War was followed in New England by a series of
interesting events, embracing the actions of Andros, the tyrannical
governor, and the effort to abrogate the colonial charters, the wars
with the French and Indians known as King William's and Queen
Anne's Wars, and the remarkable witchcraft delusion, the only strik
ing instance in this country of a peculiar form of persecution of which
the preceding history of Europe is full. We cannot better present
the last-named subject than by an extract from Bancroft's "History

234 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

of the United States," in which it is handled with his usual pic
turesque ability.]

IN the last year of the administration of Andros, who,
as the servant of arbitrary power, had no motive to dispel
superstition, the daughter of John Goodwin, a child of
thirteen years, charged a laundress with having stolen
linen from the family. Glover, the mother of the laun
dress, a friendless emigrant, almost ignorant of English,
like a true woman with a mother's heart, rebuked the
false accusation. Immediately the girl, to secure revenge,
became bewitched. The infection spread. Three others
of the family, the youngest a boy of less than five years
old, soon succeeded in equally arresting public attention.
They would affect to be deaf, then dumb, then blind, or all
three at once ; they would bark like dogs, or purr like so
many cats; but they ate well and slept well. Cotton
Mather went to prayer by the side of one of them, and,
lo ! the child lost her hearing till prayer was over. What
was to be done ? The four ministers of Boston and the
one of Charlestown assembled in Goodwin's house, and
spent a whole day of fasting in prayer. In consequence,
the youngest child, the little one of four years old, was
" delivered." But if the ministers could thus by prayer
deliver a possessed child, then there must have been a
witch; the honor of the magistrates required a prosecu
tion of the affair; and the magistrates, William Stoughton
being one of the judges, and all holding commissions ex
clusively from the English king, and 'being irresponsible
to the people of Massachusetts, with a " vigor " which the
united ministers commended as " just," made " a discovery
of the wicked instrument of the devil." The culprit was
evidently a wild Irish woman, of a strange tongue. Good
win, who made the complaint, " had no proof that could
have done her any hurt ; " but " the scandalous old hag,"

BANCROFT] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 235

whom some thought " crazed in her intellectuals," was
bewildered, and made strange answers, which were taken
as confessions ; sometimes, in excitement, using her native
dialect. One Hughes testified that, six years before, she
had heard one Howen say she had seen Glover come down
her chimney. It was plain the prisoner was a Roman
Catholic; she had never learned the Lord's prayer in
English ; she could repeat the paternoster fluently enough,
but not quite correctly; so the ministers and Goodwin's
family had the satisfaction of getting her condemned as a
witch, and executed.

[Boston had its sceptics as to the reality of this tale of witchcraft
but the ministers, and Cotton Mather in particular, did their utmost
to inflame the minds of the public on this subject. The Goodwin girl
continued bewitched, and Cotton Mather invited her to his house,
and made an investigation of the arts of the devil, who proved well
skilled in languages, though there was one Indian language which he
did not understand, and who could read men's thoughts, though it
appeared that " all devils are not alike sagacious." Cotton Mather
published a "Discourse" on this subject, and resolved to regard
" the denial of devils, or of witches," as an evidence " of ignorance,
incivility, and dishonest impudence."

The next prosecution for witchcraft took place in 1692, three years
later. Samuel Parris, a minister of Salem village, who had had bit
ter controversies with a part of his congregation, produced a be
witched daughter and niece. He flogged Tituba, a half Indian, half
negro, servant, into confessing herself a witch. Then he accused
Sarah Good, a poor, melancholy woman, who was put on trial for
witchcraft]

Yet the delusion, but for Parris, would have languished.
Of his own niece, the girl of eleven years of age, he de
manded the names of the devil's instruments who bewitched
the band of " the afflicted," and then became at once in
former and witness. In those days there was no prosecut
ing officer; and Parris was at hand to question his Indian
servants and others, himself prompting their answers and

236 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

acting as recorder to the magistrates. The recollection of
the old controversy in the parish could not be forgotten;
and Parris, moved by personal malice as well as by blind
zeal, " stifled the accusations of some," — such is the testi
mony of the people of his own village, — and, at the same
time " vigilantly promoting the accusations of others," was
" the beginner and procurer of the sore afflictions to Salem
village and the country." Martha Cory, who in her ex
amination in the meeting-house before a throng, with a
firm spirit, alone, against them all, denied the presence of
witchcraft, was committed to prison. Rebecca Nurse, like
wise, a woman of purest life, an object of the special hatred
of Parris, resisted the company of accusers, and was com
mitted. And Parris, filling his prayers with the theme,
made the pulpit ring with it. " Have not I chosen you
twelve," such was his text, — " and one of you is a devil ? "
At this, Sarah Cloyce, sister to Rebecca Nurse, rose up
and left the meeting-house; and she, too, was cried out
upon, and sent to prison.

The subject grew interesting; and, to examine Sarah
Cloyce and Elizabeth Procter, the deputy governor and
five other magistrates went to Salem. It was a great day ;
several ministers were present. Parris officiated; and, by
his own record, it is plain that he himself elicited every
accusation. His first witness, John, the Indian servant,
husband to Tituba, was rebuked by Sarah Cloyce, as a
grievous liar. Abigail Williams, the niece to Parris, was
also at hand with her tales; the prisoner had been at the
witches' sacrament. Struck with horror, Sarah Cloyce
asked for water, and sank down " in a dying fainting fit."
" Her spirit," shouted the band of the afflicted, " is gone
to prison to her sister Nurse." Against Elizabeth Procter
the niece of Parris told stories yet more foolish than false :
the prisoner had invited her to sign the devil's book. " Dear

BANCROFT] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT 237

child," exclaimed the accused in her agony, " it is not so.
There is another judgment, dear child ; " and her accusers,
turning towards her husband, declared that he, too, was a
wizard. All three were committed. Examinations and
commitments multiplied. Giles Cory, a stubborn old man
of more than fourscore years, could not escape the malice
of his minister and his angry neighbors, with whom he
had quarrelled. Edward Bishop, a farmer, cured the In
dian servant of a fit by flogging him; he declared, more
over, his belief that he could, in like manner, cure the
whole company of the afflicted, and, for his scepticism,
found himself and his wife in prison. Mary Easty, of
Topsfield, another sister to Rebecca Nurse, — a woman of
singular gentleness and force of character, deeply religious,
yet uninfected by superstition, — was torn from her children
and sent to jail. Parris had had a rival in George Bur
roughs, a graduate of Harvard College, who, having for
merly preached in Salem village, had had friends there
desirous of his settlement. He, too, a sceptic in witch
craft, was accused and committed. Thus far, there had
been no success in obtaining confessions, though earnestly
solicited. It had been hinted, also, that confessing was
the avenue to safety. At last, Deliverance Hobbs owned
everything that was asked of her, and was left unharmed.
The gallows were to be set up not for those who professed
themselves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion.

[A court of magistrates, appointed under the royal charter, with
Stoughton, a positive, overbearing man, for its chief judge, was now
instituted for the trial of these cases. Bridget Bishop, a poor and
friendless old woman, was the first to be tried. She had remarkable
powers. " She gave a look towards the great and spacious meeting-
' house of Salem," says Cotton Mather, " and immediately a dsemon,
invisibly entering the house, tore down a part of it" She was a
witch by all the rules and precedents, and was duly hanged. At the
next session of the court five women were condemned. Rebecca

238 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

Nurse was at first acquitted, then condemned, and afterwards re
prieved. But the influence of Parris secured her condemnation, and
she was hanged with the rest]

Confessions rose in importance. " Some, not afflicted
before confession, were so presently after it." The jails
were filled; for fresh accusations were needed to confirm
the confessions. " Some, by these their accusations of
others," — I quote the cautious apologist Hall, — " hoped to
gain time, and get favor from the rulers." ... If the con
fessions were contradictory, if witnesses uttered apparent
falsehoods, " the devil," the judges would say, " takes away
their memory, and imposes on their brain." And who
would now dare to be sceptical? Who would disbelieve
confessors? Besides, there were other evidences. A cal
lous spot was the mark of the devil: did age or amaze
ment refuse to shed tears; were threats after a quarrel
followed by the death of cattle or other harm; did an
error occur in repeating the Lord's prayer; were deeds
of great physical strength performed, — these were all signs
of witchcraft. In some instances, phenomena of somnam
bulism would appear to have been exhibited ; and " the
afflicted, out of their fits, knew nothing of what they did
or said in them."

Again, on a new session, six were arraigned, and all were
convicted. John Willard had, as an officer, been employed
to arrest the suspected witches. Perceiving the hypoc
risy, he declined the service. The afflicted immediatel}'
denounced him, and he was seized, convicted, and hanged.

At the trial of George Burroughs, the bewitched per
sons pretended to be dumb. " Who hinders these wit
nesses," said Stoughton, " from giving their testimonies ? "
" I suppose the devil," answered Burroughs. " How comes
the devil," retorted the chief judge, " so loath to have any
testimony borne against you ? " and the question was effec-

BANCROFT] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 239

tive. Besides, he had given proofs of great, if not preter
natural, muscular strength. Cotton Mather calls the evi
dence " enough : " the jury gave a verdict of guilty.

John Procter, who foresaw his doom, and knew from
whom the danger came, sent an earnest petition, not to
the governor and council, but to Cotton Mather and the
ministers. Among the witnesses against him were some
who had made no confessions till after torture. " They
have already undone us in our estates, and that will not
serve their turns without our innocent blood ; " and he
begged for a trial in Boston, or, at least, for a change of
magistrates. His entreaties were vain, as also his prayers,
after condemnation, for a respite.

Among the witnesses against Martha Carrier the mother
saw her own children. Her two sons refused to perjure
themselves till they had been tied neck and heels so long
that the blood was ready to gush from them. The con
fession of her daughter, a child of seven years old, is still
preserved.

The aged Jacobs was condemned, in part, by the evi
dence of Margaret Jacobs, his granddaughter. [She re
tracted her confession^ but] the magistrates refused their
belief, and, confining her for trial, proceeded to hang her
grandfather.

These five were condemned on the third and hanged on
the nineteenth of August; pregnancy reprieved Elizabeth
Procter. To hang a minister as a witch was a novelty ;
but Burroughs denied absolutely that there was, or could
be, such a thing as witchcraft, in the current sense. This
opinion wounded the self-love of the judges, for it made
them the accusers and judicial murderers of the innocent.
On the ladder Burroughs cleared his innocence by an ear
nest speech, repeating the Lord's prayer composedly and
exactly, and with a fervency that astonished. Tears flowed

240 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

to the eyes of many; it seemed as if the spectators would
rise up to hinder the execution. Cotton Mather, on horse
back among the crowd, addressed the people, cavilling at
the ordination of Burroughs, as though he had been no
true minister; insisting on his guilt, and hinting that the
devil could sometimes assume the appearance of an angel
of light; and the hanging proceeded.

Meantime, the confessions of the witches began to be di
rected against the Anabaptists. Mary Osgood was dipped
by the devil. The court still had work to do. On the
ninth, six women were condemned ; and more convictions
followed. Giles Cory, the octogenarian, seeing that all
who denied guilt were convicted, refused to plead, and was
condemned to be pressed to death. The horrid sentence,
a barbarous usage of English law, never again followed in
the colonies, was executed forthwith.

On the twenty-second of September eight persons were
led to the gallows. Of these Samuel Wardwell had con
fessed, and was safe; but, from shame and penitence, he
retracted his confession, and, speaking the truth boldly,
he was hanged, not for witchcraft, but for denying witch
craft. . . . The chief judge was positive that all had been
done rightly, and " was very impatient in hearing anything
that looked another way." " There hang eight firebrands
of hell," said Noyes, the minister of Salem, pointing to
the bodies swinging on the gallows.

Already twenty persons had been put to death for
witchcraft; fifty-five had been tortured or terrified into
penitent confessions. With accusations, confessions in
creased ; with confessions, new accusations. Even " the
generation of the children of God" were in danger of
" falling under that condemnation." The jails were full.
One hundred and fifty prisoners awaited trial; two
hundred more were accused or suspected. It was also

BANCROFT] THE SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 241

observed that no one of the condemned confessing witch
craft had been hanged. No one that confessed, and re
tracted a confession, had escaped either hanging or im
prisonment for trial. No one of the condemned who
asserted innocence, even if one of the witnesses confessed
perjury, or the foreman of the jury acknowledged the error
of the verdict, escaped the gallows. Favoritism was shown
in listening to accusations, which were turned aside from
friends and partisans. If a man began a career as a witch-
hunter, and, becoming convinced of the imposture, declined
the service, he was accused and hanged. Persons accused,
who had escaped from the jurisdiction in Massachusetts,
were not demanded, as would have been done in case of
acknowledged crime; so that the magistrates acted as
if witch-law did not extend beyond their jurisdiction.
Witnesses convicted of perjury were cautioned, and per
mitted still to swear away the lives of others. It was
certain that people had been tempted to become accusers
by promise of favor. Yet the zeal of Stoughton was un
abated, and the arbitrary court adjourned to the first
Tuesday in November.

[In the interval the colonial Assembly met. Remonstrances were
presented against the doings of the witch tribunal. There is no rec
ord of the discussions, but a convocation of ministers was ordered,
the special court was abrogated, and a legal tribunal established.
The meeting of this court was delayed till January of the following
year. This interval of three months gave the people time to think.]

When the court met at Salem, six women of Andover,
at once renouncing their confessions, treated the witch
craft but as something so called, the bewildered but as
" seemingly afflicted." A memorial of like tenor came
from the inhabitants of Andover.

Of the presentments, the grand jury dismissed more
than half; and, if it found bills against twenty-six, the
i— 16

242 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BANCROFT

trials did but show the feebleness of the testimony on
which others had been condemned. The minds of the
juries became enlightened before those of the judges.
The same testimony was produced, and there, at Salem,
with Stoughton on the bench, verdicts of acquittal fol
lowed : " Error died among its worshippers." Three had,
for special reasons, been convicted : one was a wife, whose
testimony had sent her husband to the gallows, and whose
confession was now used against herself. All were re
prieved, and soon set free. Reluctant to yield, the party
of superstition were resolved on one conviction. The
victim selected was Sarah Daston, a woman of eighty
years old, who for twenty years had enjoyed the undis
puted reputation of a witch; if ever there were a witch
in the world, she, it was said, was one. In the presence
of a throng the trial went forward at Charlestown : there
was more evidence against her than against any at Salem;
but the common mind was disenthralled, and asserted
itself, through the jury, by a verdict of acquittal.

[Cotton Mather endeavored to cover his confusion by getting up a
case of witchcraft in his own parish, the imposture of which was ex
posed to ridicule by Robert Calef, an unlettered but intelligent man.
Parris was indignantly driven from Salem. Others begged forgive
ness.]

Stoughton and Cotton Mather never repented. The
former lived proud, unsatisfied, and unbeloved; the latter
attempted to persuade others and himself that he had not
been specially active in the tragedy. His diary proves
that he did not wholly escape the rising impeachment
from the monitor within; and Cotton Mather, who had
sought the foundation of faith in tales of wonders, him
self " had temptations to atheism, and to the abandon
ment of all religion as a mere delusion."

The common mind of New England was more wise.

TRUMBULL] THE TYRANT OF NEW ENGLAND. 243

It never wavered in its faith ; more ready to receive every
tale from the invisible world than to gaze on the universe
without acknowledging an Infinite Intelligence. But, em
ploying a cautious spirit of search, eliminating error, re
jecting superstition as tending to cowardice and submis
sion, cherishing religion as the source of courage and the
fountain of freedom, it refused henceforward to separate
belief and reason.

THE TYRANT OP NEW ENGLAND.

BENJAMIN TRUMBULL.

[The English colonies in America, with the exception of those
of Virginia and the Carolinas, were instituted under conditions of
marked liberality, and enjoyed a degree of religious and political free
dom unknown in Europe at that day. Small groups of colonists,
far removed from European institutions, and struggling with the
difficulties of an untamed nature, could not be expected to conform
to the intricate regulations of the old nationalities which they had
left, and they at once began to govern themselves on the republican
principle, in accordance with the simplicity of their conditions.
Monarchy made itself felt most fully in Virginia and the Carolinas,
yet even here provincial Assemblies were quickly established, and
the rigidity of the earlier systems abated. Maryland and Pennsyl
vania were organized under highly-liberal constitutions, while the
New England colonies began their existence as provincial republics.

This state of affairs long continued with but spasmodic interfer
ences from England, and the spirit of republicanism had greatly
developed in the American colonies ere any serious effort was made
to deprive them of their liberties. The growth of free institutions
had been much favored by the strong republican sentiment then
prevailing in England, which resulted in the overthrow of mon
archy and the formation of the Commonwealth. After the death
of Cromwell, and the re-establishment of the monarchy, indications
of a desire to restrict the liberties of the colonies, now flourishing
and important, became manifest. Charles II. granted to his brother

244 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [TRUMBULL

James, the Duke of York, the whole territory from the Connecti
cut River to the shores of the Delaware, which grant was quickly
followed by the illegal seizure of New Amsterdam, which received
the name of New York.

The Dutch rule over this province had been to a considerable ex
tent autocratic, and this was continued by the English governors,
despite the protests of the people. In 1672, during a war between
England and Holland, the city was recaptured by the Dutch, but
was returned to the English on the conclusion of peace. The Duke
of York now obtained a new patent to confirm his title, and made
Edmund Andros governor of the province. The rule of this gov
ernor was tyrannical. He levied taxes without asking the consent
of the people, and refused them a representative Assembly. He
attempted to extend his jurisdiction over New Jersey, and as far
east as the Connecticut River, but failed in this. Under Thomas
Dongan, the succeeding governor, a representative government
was established in New York, through the advice of William Penn.
, With the accession of the Duke of York to the throne, under the
title of James II., a vigorous effort to overthrow the liberties of the
colonists was made. A direct tax was decreed, printing-presses
were forbidden, and many arbitrary edicts passed. In 1686 the late
tyrannical governor of New York, now Sir Edmund Andros, was
sent to Massachusetts, with a commission as governor of all the
New England provinces. In 1688 his rule was extended over New
York. He at once displayed the intention to act the tyrant, and
immediately on his arrival in Boston, in December, 1686, demanded
a surrender of all the charters of the colonies, while publishing
edicts which annulled the existing liberties of the people. Of the
several colonies, Connecticut alone refused to surrender its charter.
To enforce his demand Andros marched to Hartford with a body
of soldiers in October, 1687. The story of these events we quote
from the antique "History of Connecticut," by Benjamin Trumbull.]

MR. DUDLEY, while president of the commissioners, had
written to the governor and company, advising them to
resign the charter into the hands of his majesty, and
promising to use his influence in favor of the colony. Mr.
Dudley's commission was superseded by a commission to
Sir Edmund Andros to be governor of New England. He

TRUMBULL] THE TYRANT OF NEW ENGLAND. 245

arrived at Boston on the iQth of December, 1686. The
next day his commission was published, and he took on
him the administration of government. Soon after his
arrival he wrote to the governor and company that he
had a commission from his majesty to receive their charter,
if they would resign it; and he pressed them, in obedience
to the king, and as they would give him an opportunity
to serve them, to resign it to his pleasure. . . . But the
colony [of Connecticut] insisted on their charter rights,
and on the promise of King James, as well as of his royal
brother, to defend and secure them in the enjoyment of
their privileges and estates, and would not surrender their
charter to either. . . .

The Assembly met, as usual, in October, and the govern
ment continued according to charter until the last of the
month. About this time, Sir Edmund, with his suite, and
more than sixty regular troops, came to Hartford, when
the Assembly were sitting, demanded the charter, and de
clared the government under it to be dissolved. The As
sembly were extremely reluctant and slow with respect to
any resolve to surrender the charter, or with respect to
any motion to bring it forth. The tradition is that Gov
ernor Treat strongly represented the great expense and
hardships of the colonists in planting the country, the
blood and treasure which they had expended in defending
it, both against the savages and foreigners; to what hard
ships and dangers he himself had been exposed for that
purpose; and that it was like giving up his life, now to
surrender the patent and privileges so dearly bought and
so long enjoyed. The important affair was debated and
kept in suspense until the evening, when the charter was
brought and laid upon the table, where the Assembly were
sitting. By this time, great numbers of people were as
sembled, and men sufficiently bold to enterprise whatever

246 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [TRUMBULL

might be necessary or expedient. The lights were in
stantly extinguished, and one Captain Wadsworth, of Hart
ford, in the most silent and secret manner, carried off the
charter, and secreted it in a large hollow tree, fronting the
house of the Honorable Samuel Wyllys, then one of the
magistrates of the colony. The people appeared all peace
able and orderly. The candles were officiously relighted,
but the patent was gone, and no discovery could be made
of it, or of the person who had conveyed it away.

[This stirring scene which is told with more dramatic additions
by later authors, unfortunately rests upon traditional evidence only,
and is entirely unsupported by documentary testimony. While it
may have actually occurred, there is no positive proof that it did.
The documents simply tell us that Sir Edmund assumed the gov
ernment, and closed the colonial records with a statement of this
fact, and the ominous word " Finis." It was, for the time being,
" the end " of American liberty.]

Sir Edmund began his government with the most flat
tering protestations of his regard to the public safety and
happiness. He instructed the judges to administer justice,
as far as might be consistent with the new regulations,
according to the former laws and customs. It is, how
ever, well observed by Governor Hutchinson, that " Nero
concealed his tyrannical disposition more years than Sir
Edmund and his creatures did months." He soon laid a
restraint upon the liberty of the press; and then one far
more grievous upon marriage. . . . Magistrates only were
allowed to join people in the bands of wedlock. The
governor not only deprived the clergy of the perquisite
from marriages, but soon suspended the laws for their
support, and would not suffer any person to be obliged to
pay anything to his minister. Nay, he menaced the peo
ple that, if they resisted his will, their meeting-houses
should be taken from them, and that any person who

TRUMBULL] THE TYRANT OF NEW ENGLAND. 247

should give twopence to a non-conformist minister should
be punished.

The fees of all officers, under this new administration,
were exorbitant. . . . Sir Edmund, without an Assembly,
nay, without a majority of his council, taxed the people
at pleasure. He and Randolph, with four or five others
of his creatures, who were sufficiently wicked to join with
him in all his oppressive designs, managed the affairs of
government as they pleased. But these were but the be
ginnings of oppression and sorrow. They were soon
greatly increased and more extensively spread. . . .

As the charters were now either vacated, surrendered,
or the government under them suspended, it was declared
that the titles of the colonists to their lands were of no
value. Sir Edmund declared that Indian deeds were no
better than " the scratch of a bear's paw." Not the fairest
purchases and most ample conveyances from the natives,
no dangers, disbursements, nor labors in cultivating a
wilderness and turning it into orchards, gardens, and
pleasant fields, no grants by charter, nor by legislatures
constituted by them, no declarations of preceding kings,
nor of his then present majesty, promising them the quiet
enjoyment of their houses and lands, nor fifty or sixty
years' undisturbed possession, were pleas of any validity
or consideration with Sir Edmund and his minions. The
purchasers and cultivators, after fifty and sixty years' im
provement, were obliged to take out patents for their
estates. For these, in some instances, a fee of fifty pounds
was demanded. . . .

The governor, and a small number of his council, in the
most arbitrary manner, fined and imprisoned numbers of
the inhabitants of Massachusetts, and denied them the
benefit of the act of habeas corpus. All town meetings
were prohibited, except one in the month of May, for the

248 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [TRUMBULL

election of town officers. . . . No person was suffered to
go out of the country without leave from the governor,
lest complaints should be carried to England against his
administration. At the same time, he so well knew the
temper and views of his royal master that he feared little
from him, even though complaints should be carried over
against him. Hence he and his dependents oppressed the
people, and enriched themselves without restraint.

[Despite his efforts, complaints and petitions made their way to
England; yet they proved of little effect upon the king.]

In the reign of James II., petitions so reasonable and
just could not be heard. The prince at home, and his
officers abroad, like greedy harpies, preyed upon the people
without control. Randolph was not ashamed to make his
boast, in his letters, with respect to Governor Andros and
his council, " that they were as arbitrary as the Great
Turk." All New England groaned under their oppression.
The heaviest share of it, however, fell upon the inhabit
ants of Massachusetts and New Plymouth. Connecticut
had been less obnoxious to government than Massachu
setts, and, as it was further removed from the seat of
government, was less under the notice and influence of
those oppressors. . . .

All the motives to great actions, to industry, economy,
enterprise, wealth, and population, were in a manner anni
hilated. A general inactivity and languishment pervaded
the whole public body. Liberty, property, and everything
which ought to be dear to men, every day grew more
and more insecure. The colonies were in a state of gen
eral despondency with respect to the restoration of their
privileges, and the truth of that divine maxim, " When
the wicked beareth rule the people mourn," was, in a
striking manner, everywhere exemplified.

THE OLD NORTH CHURCH, BOSTON.

TRUMBULL] THE TYRANT OF NEW ENGLAND. 249

[Fortunately, this grinding tyranny was not of long continuance.
Early in 1689 tidings reached Boston that James II. was no longer
king: in November, 1688, William of Orange had landed in Eng
land and driven the tyrant from his throne. The Bostonians at
once rebelled against Andros. His tyranny was denounced by the
magistrates, and he, with several of his creatures, was seized and
imprisoned. Andros twice attempted to escape from confinement,
and once got as far as Rhode Island, but was captured and brought
back. In July he was sent to England, where he was acquitted
without trial. And so ended the most prominent early effort to
take away the liberties of the American people. Andros was sub
sequently (in 1692) made governor of Virginia. Here, however, his
rule was less arbitrary, and he became popular with the planters.

The traditions of early Connecticut present one more scene of
great dramatic interest, in which the spirit of liberty of the people,
and the energy of Captain Wadsworth, were manifested in the
same determined manner as in the incident described. This oc
curred in 1693, during King William's War. An account of it
may be quoted from Trumbull.]

Colonel Benjamin Fletcher, governor of New York,
who had arrived at the seat of his government August
29, 1692, had received a commission entirely inconsistenl
with the charter rights and safety of the colonies. He
was vested with plenary powers of commanding the whole
militia of Connecticut and the neighboring provinces. He
insisted on the command of the militia of Connecticut.
As this was expressly given to the colony, by charter, the
legislature would not submit to his requisition.

[A special Assembly met, and drew up a petition to the king, rep
resenting the true state of affairs in the colony, and the disadvan
tage and danger which might result from giving the command of
the militia to the governor of another province.]

The colony wished to serve his majesty's interest, and
as far as possible, consistently with their chartered rights,
to maintain a good understanding with Governor Fletcher.

260 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [TRUMBULL

William Pitkin, Esquire, was therefore sent to New York,
to treat and make terms with him respecting the militia,
until his majesty's pleasure should be further known. But
no terms could be made with him short of an explicit sub
mission of the militia to his command.

On the 26th of October he came to Hartford, while the
Assembly were sitting, and, in his majesty's name, de
manded their submission of the militia to his command, as
they would answer it to his majesty, and that they would
give him a speedy answer in two words, Yes, or No. . . ,%-
He ordered the militia of Hartford under arms, that he
might beat up for volunteers. It was judged expedient to
call the train-bands of Hartford together; but the Assem
bly insisted that the command of the militia was expressly
vested, by charter, in the governor and company, and that
they could by no means, consistently with their just rights
and the common safety, resign it into any other hands.

[In response Governor Fletcher made the declaration that he had
no design upon the civil rights of the colonists, and offered the
command of the militia to Governor Treat, under his commission.]

The Assembly, nevertheless, would not give up the com
mand of the militia; nor would Governor Treat receive a
commission from Colonel Fletcher.

The train-bands of Hartford assembled, and, as the tra
dition is, while Captain Wadsworth, the senior officer, was
walking in front of the companies and exercising the sol
diers, Colonel Fletcher ordered his commission and instruc-
tionstoberead. Captain Wadsworth instantly commanded,
" Beat the drums; " and there was such a roaring of them
that nothing else could be heard. Colonel Fletcher com
manded silence. But no sooner had Bayard made an at
tempt to read again, than Wadsworth commands, " Drum,
drum, I say." The drummers understood their business,

SMITH] THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK. 251

and instantly beat up with all the art and life of which
they were masters. " Silence, silence/' says the colonel.
No sooner was there a pause, than Wadsworth speaks with
great earnestness, " Drum, drum, I say; " and, turning to
his excellency, said, " If I am interrupted again I will
make the sun shine through you in a moment." He spoke
with such energy in his voice and meaning in his counte
nance that no further attempts were made to read or
enlist men. Such numbers of people collected together,
and their spirits appeared so high, tljat the governor and
his suite judged it expedient soon to leave the town and
return to New York.

THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK.

WILLIAM SMITH.

[The news of the accession of William of Orange to the English
throne produced in New York an effect very similar to that which
it produced in New England, — an uprising of the people against
their tyrannical governor. But the revolt here against the lieuten
ant of Andros grew into a rebellion against the constituted authori
ties, of sufficient interest to demand special consideration. Another
important event of the same period was the massacre of the inhab
itants of Schenectady by a party of French and Indians, — a far-
off result of the war then raging in Europe between the French
and English. We extract a description of these events from Wil
liam Smith's " History of New York," one of the oldest of Ameri
can historical works, as it was originally published in 1756.]

WHILE these things were transacting in Canada [the
massacre of the French on the island of Montreal by the
Iroquois] , a scene of the greatest importance was opening
at New York. A general dissatisfaction to the govern
ment prevailed among the people. Papists began to settle

252 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SMITH

in the colony under the smiles of the governor. The col
lector of the revenues, and several principal officers, threw
off the mask, and openly avowed their attachment to the
doctrines of Rome. A Latin school was set up, and the
teacher strongly suspected for a Jesuit. The people of
Long Island, who were disappointed in their expectation
of mighty boons, promised by the governor on his arrival,
were become his personal enemies; and, in a word, the
whole body of the people trembled for the Protestant
cause. Here the leaven of opposition first began to work.
Their intelligence from England, of the designs there in
favor of the Prince of Orange, blew up the coals of dis
content, and elevated the hopes of the disaffected. But
no man dared to spring in action till after the rupture in
Boston. Sir Edmund Andros, who was perfectly devoted
to the arbitrary measures of King James, by his tyranny
in New England had drawn upon himself the universal
odium of the people, animated with the love of liberty and
in the defence of it resolute and courageous; and, there
fore, when they could no longer endure his despotic rule,
they seized and imprisoned him, and afterwards sent him
to England. The government, in the mean time, was
vested in the hands of a committee for the safety of the
people, of which Mr. Bradstreet was chosen president.
Upon the news of this event, several captains of our militia
convened themselves to concert measures in favor of the
Prince of Orange. Among these, Jacob Leisler was the
most active. He was a man in tolerable esteem among
the people, and of a moderate fortune, but destitute of
every qualification necessary for the enterprise. Milborne,
his son-in-law, an Englishman, directed all his councils,
while Leisler as absolutely influenced the other officers.

The first thing they contrived was to seize the garrison
In New York; and the custom, at that time, of guarding

SMITH] THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK. 253

it every night by the militia, gave Leisler a fine opportu
nity of executing the design. He entered it with forty-
nine men, and determined to hold it till the whole militia
should join him. Colonel Dongan, who was about to leave
the province, then lay embarked in the bay, having a
little before resigned the government to Francis Nichol
son, the lieutenant-governor. The council, civil officers,
and magistrates of the city were against Leisler, and
therefore many of his friends were at first fearful of
openly espousing a cause disapproved by the gentlemen
of figure. For this reason, Leisler's first declaration in
favor of the Prince of Orange was subscribed only by
a few, among several companies of the trained bands.
While the people for four days successively were in
the utmost perplexity to determine what part to choose,
being solicited by Leisler on the one hand and threatened
by the lieutenant-governor on the other, the town was
alarmed with a report that three ships were coming up
with orders from the Prince of Orange. This falsehood
was very seasonably propagated to serve the interest of
Leisler; for on that day, the 3d of June, 1689, his party
was augmented by the addition of six captains and four
hundred men in New York, and a company of seventy
men from East Chester, who all subscribed a second dec
laration, mutually covenanting to hold the fort for the
prince. Colonel Dongan continued till this time in the
harbor, waiting the issue of these commotions ; and Nich
olson's party, being now unable to contend with their
opponents, were totally dispersed, the lieutenant-governor
himself absconding, the very night after the last declara
tion was signed.

[Leisler at once sent to King William an account of his proceed
ings, but Lieutenant- Governor Nicholson had previously reached
England, and had falsely represented the late actions to Leisier's

254: THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SMITH

prejudice. The authorities of the city, being opposed to the new
party in power, retired to Albany.]

Except the eastern inhabitants of Long Island, all the
southern part of the colony cheerfully submitted to Leis-
ler's command. The principal freeholders, however, by
their respectful letters, gave him hopes of their submis
sion, and thereby prevented his betaking himself to arms,
while they were privately soliciting the colony of Con
necticut to take them under its jurisdiction. They had
indeed no aversion to Leisler's authority in favor of any
other party in the province, but were willing to be incor
porated with a people from whence they had originally
colonized ; and, therefore, as soon as Connecticut declined
their request, they openly appeared to be advocates for
Leisler. . . . The people of Albany, in the mean time,
were determined to hold the garrison and city for King
William, independent of Leisler, and on the 26th of Oc
tober, which was before the packet arrived from Lord
Nottingham, formed themselves into a convention for that
purpose. . . .

Taking it for granted that Leisler at New York, and
the convention at Albany, were equally affected to the
revolution, nothing could be more egregiously foolish
than the conduct of both parties, who, by their intestine
divisions, threw the province into convulsions and sowed
the seeds of mutual hatred and animosity, which, for a
long time after, greatly embarrassed the public affairs
of the colony. When Albany declared for the Prince of
Orange, there was nothing else that Leisler could properly
require ; and, rather than sacrifice the public peace of the
province to the trifling honor of resisting a man who had
no evil designs, Albany ought in prudence to have deliv
ered the garrison into his hands, till the king's definitive
orders should arrive. But while Leisler, on the one hand,

SMITH] THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK. 255

was inebriated with his new-gotten power, so, on the
other, Bayard, Courtland, Schuyler, and others, could not
brook a submission to the authority of a man mean in his
abilities and inferior in his degree. Animated by these
principles, both parties prepared, the one to reduce, if I
may use the expression, the other to retain, the garrison
of Albany. . . .

Jacob Milborne was commissioned for the reduction of
Albany. Upon his arrival there, a great number of the in
habitants armed themselves and repaired to the fort, then
commanded by Mr. Schuyler, while many others followed
the other members of the convention to a conference with
him at the city hall. Milborne, to proselyte the crowd,
declaimed much against King James, Popery, and arbi
trary power; but his oratory was lost upon the hearers,
who, after several meetings, still adhered to the conven
tion. Milborne then advanced with a few men up to the
fort, and Mr. Schuyler had the utmost difficulty to prevent
both his own men and the Mohawks, who were then in
Albany, and perfectly devoted to his service, from firing
upon Milborne's party, which consisted of an inconsid
erable number. In these circumstances, he [Milborne]
thought proper to retreat, and soon after departed from
Albany. In the spring he commanded another party upon
the same errand, and the distress of the country upon
an Indian irruption gave him all the desired success. No
sooner was he possessed of the garrison than most of
the principal members of the convention absconded. Upon
which their effects were arbitrarily seized and confiscated,
which so highly exasperated the sufferers that their pos
terity, to this day, cannot speak of these troubles with
out the bitterest invectives against Leisler and all his
adherents.

[During these proceedings war broke out between the French ancf

256 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SMITH

the English. A French fleet was sent over, with the design of taking
New York ; but the distressed condition of the colony in Canada de
feated this project. Efforts were then made to bring over the Iro-
quois Indians to the French side.]

Among other measures to detach the Five Nations
from the British interest and raise the depressed spirit of
the Canadians, the Count de Frontenac thought proper
to send out several parties against the English colonies.
D'Aillebout, De Mantel, and Le Moyne commanded that
against New York, consisting of about two hundred
French and some Caghnuaga Indians, who, being prose
lytes from the Mohawks, were perfectly acquainted with
that country. Their orders were, in general, to attack
New York ; but, pursuing the advice of the Indians, they
resolved, instead of Albany, to surprise Schenectady, a
village seventeen miles northwest from it, and about the
same distance from the Mohawks. The people of Schenec
tady, though they had been informed of the designs of the
enemy, were in the greatest security, judging it impracti
cable for any men to march several hundred miles, in the
depth of winter, through the snow, bearing their provisions
on their backs. Besides, the village was in as much con
fusion as the rest of the province, the officers who were
posted there being unable to preserve a regular watch, or
any kind of military order. . . .

After two-and-twenty days' march, the enemy fell in
with Schenectady on the 8th of February [1690], and
were reduced to such straits that they had thoughts of
surrendering themselves prisoners of war. But their
scouts, who were a day or two in the village entirely un
suspected, returned with such encouraging accounts of the
absolute security of the people that the enemy determined
on the attack. They entered on Saturday night about
eleven o'clock, at the gates, which were found unshut, and

SMITH] THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK. 257

that every house might be invested at the same time,
divided into small parties of six or seven men. The in
habitants were in a profound sleep, and unalarmed, till
their doors were broken open. Never were people in a
more wretched consternation. Before they were risen
from their beds, the enemy entered their houses and began
the perpetration of the most inhuman barbarities. No
tongue, says Colonel Schuyler, can express the cruelties
that were committed. The whole village was instantly in
a blaze. Women with child were ripped open, and their
infants cast into the flames, or dashed against the posts of
the doors. Sixty persons perished in the massacre, and
twenty-seven were carried into captivity. The rest fled
naked towards Albany, through a deep snow that fell that
very night in a terrible storm; and twenty-five of these
fugitives lost their limbs in the flight, through the severity
of the frost. The news of this dreadful tragedy reached
Albany about break of day, and universal dread seized the
inhabitants of that city, the enemy being reported to be
one thousand four hundred strong. A party of horse was
immediately despatched to Schenectady, and a few Mo
hawks, then in the town, fearful of being intercepted, were
with difficulty sent to apprise their own castles.

The Mohawks were unacquainted with this bloody scene
till two days after it happened, our messengers being
scarce able to travel through the great depth of snow.
The enemy, in the mean time, pillaged the town of Sche
nectady till noon the next day, and then went off with
their plunder and about forty of their best horses. The
rest, with all the cattle they could find, lay slaughtered
in the streets.

[This outrage was to some extent revenged by the Mohawks, who
pursued and killed a number of the enemy, while during the year the
Canadians met with other losses at the hands of thelroquois. During
1—17

258 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SMITH

this year, also, Sir William Phipps made an expedition against Que
bec, with a fleet of thirty-two sail. His demand for a surrender was
contemned by De Frontenac, and he was quickly repulsed, with loss.
Shortly afterwards, Colonel Henry Sloughter, the newly-appointed
governor of the province, arrived at New York.]

If Leisler had delivered the garrison to Colonel Slough
ter, as he ought to have done, upon his first landing,
besides extinguishing, in a degree, the animosities then
subsisting, he would, doubtless, have attracted the favor
able notice both of the governor and the crown. But,
being a weak man, he was so intoxicated with the love of
power that, though he had been well informed of Slough-
ter's appointment to the government, he not only shut
himself up in the fort with Bayard and Nichols, whom he
had, before that time, imprisoned, but refused to deliver
them up or to surrender the garrison-. From this moment
he lost all credit with the governor, who joined the other
party against him. On the second demand of the fort,
Milborne and De Lanoy came out, under pretence of con
ferring with his excellency, but in reality to discover his
designs. Sloughter, who considered them as rebels, threw
them both into jail. Leisler, upon this event, thought
proper to abandon the fort, which Colonel Sloughter im
mediately entered. Bayard and Nichols were now re
leased from their confinement, and sworn of the priv/
council. Leisler, having thus ruined his cause, was appre
hended, with many of his adherents, and a commission of
oyer and terminer issued to Sir Thomas Robinson, Colonel
Smith, and others, for their trials.

In vain did they plead the merit of their zeal for King
William, since they had so lately opposed his governor.
Leisler, in particular, endeavored to justify his conduct,
insisting that Lord Nottingham's letter entitled him to
act in the quality of lieutenant-governor. Whether it

SMITH] THE LEISLER REVOLT IN NEW YORK. 259

was through ignorance or sycophancy, I know not, but
the judges, instead of pronouncing their own sentiments
upon this part of the prisoner's defence, referred it to the
governor and council, praying their opinion whether that
letter, " or any other letters, or papers, in the packet from
Whitehall, can be understood or interpreted to be and
contain any power or direction to Captain Leisler to take
the government of this province upon himself, or that the
administration thereof be holden good in law." The an
swer was, as might have been expected, in the negative;
and Leisler and his son [-in-law] were condemned to death
for high treason.

[Many of Leister's adherents immediately fled to the other prov
inces, in fear of being apprehended. It may be remarked here that
later historians relate that the first demand on Leisler to surrender
was made by Richard Ingoldsby, who arrived before Colonel Slough-
ter, and announced his appointment His demand was peremptorily
made, and was refused. On Sloughter's arrival Ingoldsby was again
sent to demand a surrender, Leisler's messengers to the governor be
ing detained. Leisler hesitated for a while, but the next day per
sonally surrendered the fort]

Colonel Sloughter proposed, immediately after the ses
sion [of the Assembly], to set out to Albany; but, as
Leisler's party were enraged at his imprisonment and
the late sentence against him, his enemies were afraid
new troubles would spring up in the absence of the gov
ernor: for this reason, both the Assembly and council
advised that the prisoners should be immediately exe
cuted. Sloughter, who had no inclination to favor them
in this request, chose rather to delay such a violent step,
being fearful of cutting off two men who had vigorously
appeared for the king, and so signally contributed to the
revolution. Nothing could be more disagreeable to their
enemies, whose interest was deeply concerned in their

260 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

destruction. And, therefore, when no other measures
could prevail with the governor, tradition informs us
that a sumptuous feast was prepared, to which Colonel
Sloughter was invited. When his excellency's reason
was drowned in his cups, the entreaties of the company
prevailed with him to sign the death-warrant, and before
he recovered his senses the prisoners were executed.

[Sloughter died suddenly shortly afterwards. Leisler's son made
complaint to the king, but the execution was sustained by the author
ities in England. Afterwards the attainder of treason was removed,
and the estates of Leisler and Milborne were restored to their fami
lies. The bodies of the victims were taken up, and interred with
great pomp in the old Dutch church of New York city.]

' THE BACON REBELLION.

CHARLES CAMPBELL.

[The tyranny that was instituted by Andros in New England was
paralleled by despotic proceedings in some of the other colonies. In
Virginia these led to a rebellion which was for a time successful.
Unlike the inhabitants of the more northerly colonies, the Virginians
were stanch advocates of the Church of England and partisans of
the king, and were intolerant alike of religious and democratic here
sies. When Charles I. was executed the planters of Virginia de
clared for his son, and only submitted under show of force to the
Commonwealth. They gladly welcomed Charles II. to the throne,
and accepted with acclamation a royal governor, Sir William Berke
ley. It was not long, however, ere they found reason for a change
of opinion. Despotic measures were put in force, the Assembly, in
stead of being re-elected every two years, was kept permanently in
session, and the inhabitants became the prey of venal office-holders.
Commercial laws were instituted which bore severely upon the plant
ers. Tobacco could be sent to none but English ports, and every
tobacco-laden ship had to pay a heavy duty before leaving Virgirki,

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 261

and another on reaching England. Berkeley had the true composition
of a tyrant, as is shown in his memorable utterance, " I thank God
there are no free schools, nor printing, and I hope we shall not have
these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience into the
world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best
governments. God keep us from both ! "

To the evils above mentioned were added a series of Indian depre
dations, which grew in extent till more than three hundred of the
settlers had been killed. The government showed little disposition to
repress these savage outrages, and the people grew exasperated. At
this juncture a young man named Nathaniel Bacon came forward as
a leader, and the people readily supported him in what soon assumed
the proportions of a rebellion against the constituted authorities.
The story of this outbreak is well told in Campbell's " History of
Virginia," from which we select its leading particulars.]

"ABOUT the year 1675," says an old writer, " appeared
three prodigies in that country, which, from the attending
disasters, were looked upon as ominous presages. The one
was a large comet, every evening for a week or more at
southwest, thirty-five degrees high, streaming like a horse
tail westward, until it reached (almost) the horizon, and
setting towards the northwest. Another was flights of
wild pigeons, in breadth nigh a quarter of the mid-hemi
sphere, and of their length was no visible end; whose
weights broke down the limbs of large trees whereon
these rested at nights, of which the fowlers shot abun
dance, and ate them ; this sight put the old planters under
the more portentous apprehensions because the like was
seen (as they said) in the year 1644, when the Indians
committed the last massacre; but not after, until that
present year, 1675. The third strange phenomenon was
swarms of flies about an inch long, and big as the top of
a man's little finger, rising out of spigot-holes in the earth,
which ate the new-sprouted leaves from the tops of the
trees, without other harm, and in a month left us."

262 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

[These prodigies undoubtedly appeared to the superstitious inhab
itants as omens of the disasters which at this time fell upon them in
murdering incursions of the Indians. A large body of men proceeded
against the Susquehannocks, whom they charged with these outrages.
But the violent measures which they adopted only inflamed the pas
sions of the savages, who at once broke into open hostilities.]

At the falls of the James the savages had slain a ser
vant of Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., and his overseer, to whom
he was much attached. This was not the place of Bacon's
residence : Bacon Quarter Branch, in the suburbs of Rich
mond, probably indicates the scene of the murder. Bacon
himself resided at Curies, in Henrico County, on the lower
James River. It is said that when he heard of the catas
trophe he vowed vengeance. In that time of panic, the
more exposed and defenceless families, abandoning their
homes, took shelter together in houses, where they forti
fied themselves with palisades and redoubts. Neighbors,
banding together, passed in co-operating parties from plan
tation to plantation, taking arms with them into the fields
where they labored, and posting- sentinels to give warning
of the approach of the insidious foe. No man ventured
out of doors unarmed. Even Jamestown was in danger.
The red men, stealing with furtive glance through the
shade of the forest, the noiseless tread of the moccasin
scarce stirring a leaf, prowled around like panthers in quest
of prey. At length the people at the head of the James
and the York, having in vain- petitioned the governor for
protection, alarmed at the slaughter of their neighbors,
often murdered with every circumstance of barbarity, rose
tumultuously in self-defence, to the number of three hun
dred men, including most, if not all the officers, civil and
military, and chose Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., for their leader.
According to another authority, Bacon, before the murder
of his overseer and servant, had been refused the commis-

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 263

sion, and had sworn that upon the next murder he should
hear of he would march against the Indians, " commission
or no commission." . . .

Bacon had been living in the colony somewhat less than
three years, having settled at Curies, on the lower James,
in the midst of those people who were the greatest suffer
ers from the depredations of the Indians, and he himself
had frequently felt the effects of their inroads. ... At the
breaking out of these disturbances he was a member of
the council. He was gifted with a graceful person, great
abilities, and a powerful elocution, and was the most ac
complished man in Virginia ; his courage and resolution
were not to be daunted, and his affability, hospitality, and
benevolence commanded a wide popularity throughout the
colony.

The men who had put themselves under Bacon's com
mand made preparations for marching against the Indians,
but in the mean time sent again to obtain from the gov
ernor a commission of general for Bacon, with authority
to lead out his followers, at their own expense, against the
enemy. He then stood so high in the council, and the ex
igency of the case was so pressing, that Sir William Berke
ley, thinking it imprudent to return an absolute refusal,
concluded to temporize. Some of the leading men about
him, it was believed, took occasion to foment the differ
ence between him and Bacon, envying a rising luminary
that threatened to eclipse them. This conduct is like that
of some of the leading men in Virginia who, one hundred
years later, compelled Patrick Henry to resign his post in
the army.

Sir William Berkeley sent his evasive reply to the ap
plication for a commission, by some of his friends, and
instructed them to persuade Bacon to disband his forces.
He refused to comply with this request, and, having in

264 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

twenty days mustered five hundred men, marched to the
falls of the James. Thereupon the governor, on the 2Qth
day of May, 1676, issued a proclamation declaring all such
as should fail to return within a certain time rebels.
Bacon likewise issued a declaration, setting forth the
public dangers and grievances, but taking no notice of
the governor's proclamation. Upon this the men of
property, fearful of a confiscation, deserted Bacon and
returned home; but he proceeded with fifty-seven men.
. . . The movement was revolutionary, — a miniature proto
type of the revolution of 1688 in England, and of 1776 in
America. But Bacon, as before mentioned, with a small
body of men proceeded into the wilderness, up the river,
his provisions being nearly exhausted before he discovered
the Indians. At length a tribe of friendly Mannakins were
found intrenched within a palisaded fort on the farther
side of a branch of the James. Bacon endeavoring to
procure provisions from them and offering compensation,
they put him off with delusive promises till the third day,
when the whites had eaten their last morsel. They now
waded up to the shoulder across the branch to the fort,
again soliciting provisions and tendering payment. In
the evening one of Bacon's men was killed by a shot from
that side of the branch which they had left, and, this
giving rise to a suspicion of collusion with Sir William
Berkeley and treachery, Bacon stormed the fort, burnt it
and the cabins, blew up their magazine of arms and gun
powder, and, with a loss of only three of his own party,
put to death one hundred and fifty Indians. It is difficult
to credit, impossible to justify, this massacre. . . . Bacon
with his followers returned to their homes, and he was
shortly after elected one of the burgesses for the County
of Henrico. . . . Bacon, upon being elected, going down
the James River with a party of his friends, was met by

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 265

an armed vessel, ordered on board of her, and arrested by
Major Howe, High Sheriff of James City, who conveyed
him to the governor at that place, by whom he was ac
costed thus : " Mr. Bacon, you have forgot to be a gentle
man." He replied, " No, may it please your honor." The
governor said, " Then I'll take your parole ; " which he ac
cordingly did, and gave him his liberty; but a number
of his companions, who had been arrested with him, were
still kept in irons.

On the 5th day of June, 1676, the members of the new
Assembly, whose names are not recorded, met in the
chamber over the general court, and, having chosen a
speaker, the governor sent for them down, and addressed
them in a brief abrupt speech on the -Indian disturbances,
and, in allusion to the chiefs who had been slain, exclaimed,
" If they had killed my grandfather and my grandmother,
my father and mother, and all my friends, yet if they had
come to treat of peace they ought to have gone in peace."
After a short interval, he again rose, and said, " If there be
joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that re-
penteth, there is joy now, for we have a penitent sinner
come before us. Call Mr. Bacon." Bacon, appearing, was
compelled upon one knee, at the bar of the house, to con
fess his offence, and beg pardon of God, the king, and
governor.

. . . When Bacon had made his acknowledgment, the
governor exclaimed, " God forgive you, I forgive you ; "
repeating the words thrice. Colonel Cole, of the council,
added, " and all that were with him." " Yea," echoed the
governor, " and all that were with him." Sir William
Berkeley, starting up from his chair for the third time, ex
claimed, " Mr. Bacon, if you will live civilly but till next
quarter court, I'll promise to restore you again to your
place there " (pointing with his hand to Mr. Bacon's seat),

266 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

he having, as has been already mentioned, been of the
council before those troubles, and having been deposed by
the governor's proclamation. But, instead of being obliged
to wait till the quarter court, Bacon was restored to his
seat on that very day; and intelligence of it was hailed
with joyful acclamations by the people in Jamestown.
This took place on Saturday. Bacon was also promised a
commission to go out against the Indians, to be delivered
to him on the Monday following. But, being delayed or
disappointed^ a few days after (the Assembly being en
gaged in devising measures against the Indians) he escaped
from Jamestown. He conceived the governor's pretended
generosity to be only a lure to keep him out of his seat
in the house of burgesses, and to quiet the people of the
upper country, who were hastening down to Jamestown
to avenge all wrongs done him or his friends. . . .

In a short time the governor, seeing all quiet, issued
secret warrants to seize him again, intending probably to
raise the militia, and thus prevent a rescue.

Within three or four days after Bacon's escape, news
reached James City that he was some thirty miles above,
on the James River, at the head of four hundred men.
Sir William Berkeley summoned the York train-bands to
defend Jamestown, but only one hundred obeyed the sum
mons, and they arrived too late, and one-half of them were
favorable to Bacon. Expresses almost hourly brought
tidings of his approach, and in less than four days he
marched into Jamestown unresisted, at two o'clock p. M.,
and drew up his force (now amounting to six hundred
men), horse and foot, in battle-array on the green in front
of the state-house, and within gunshot. In half an hour
the drum beat, as was the custom, for the Assembly to
meet, and in less than thirty minutes Bacon advanced,
with a file of fusileers on either hand, near to the corner

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 267

of the state-house, where he was met by the governor and
council. Sir William Berkeley, dramatically baring his
breast, cried out, " Here ! shoot me — 'fore God, fair mark ;
shoot ! " frequently repeating the words. Bacon replied,
" No, may it please your honor, we will not hurt a hair of
your head, nor of any other man's; we are come for a
commission to save our lives from the Indians, which }ou
have so often promised, and now we will have it before we
go." Bacon was walking to and fro between the files of
his men, holding his left arm akimbo, and gesticulating
violently with his right, he and the governor both like?
men distracted. In a few moments Sir William withdrew
to his private apartment at the other end of the state-
house, the council accompanying him. Bacon followed^
frequently hurrying his hand from his sword-hilt to his
hat; and after him came a detachment of fusileers, who,
with their guns cocked and presented at a window of the
Assembly chamber, filled with faces, repeated in menacing
tone, " We will have it, we will have it," for half a minute,
when a well-known burgess, waving his handkerchief out
at the window, exclaimed, three or four times, " You shall
have it, you shall have it;" when, uncocking their guns,
they rested them on the ground, and stood still, till Bacon
returning, they rejoined the main body. It was said that
Bacon had beforehand directed his men to fire in case he
should draw his sword. In about an hour after Bacon re-
entered the Assembly chamber and demanded a commis
sion authorizing him to march out against the Indians.
*******

The Assembly went on to provide for the Indian war,
and made Nathaniel Bacon, Jr., general and commander-
in-chief, which was ratified by the governor and council.
An act was also passed indemnifying Bacon and his party
for their violent acts; and a highly-applausive letter was

268 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

prepared, justifying Bacon's designs and proceedings, ad
dressed to the king and subscribed by the governor, council,
and Assembly. Sir William Berkeley at the same time com
municated to the house a letter addressed to his majesty,
saying, " I have above thirty years governed the most
flourishing country the sun ever shone over, but am now
encompassed with rebellion like waters, in every respect
like that of Masaniello, except their leader."

[The new general, who found himself strongly supported by the
Assembly and the colonists, at once proceeded with energy to fulfil
the duties of his position.]

His vigorous measures at once restored confidence to the
planters, and they resumed their occupations. Bacon, at
the head of a thousand men, marched against the Pamun-
kies, killing many and destroying their towns. Mean
while the people of Gloucester, the most populous and
loyal county, having been disarmed by Bacon, petitioned
the governor for protection against the savages. Reani
mated by this petition, he again proclaimed Bacon a rebel
and a traitor, and hastened over to Gloucester. Summon
ing the train-bands of that county and Middlesex, to the
number of twelve hundred men, he proposed to them to
pursue and put down the rebel Bacon, — when the whole
assembly unanimously shouted, " Bacon ! Bacon ! Bacon ! "
and withdrew from the field, still repeating the name of
that popular leader, the Patrick Henry of his day, and
leaving the aged cavalier governor and his attendants to
themselves. The issue was now fairly joined between the
people and the governor. . .

Bacon, before he reached the head of York River, hear
ing from Lawrence and Drummond of the governor's
movements, exclaimed, that " it vexed him to the heart
that, while he was hunting wolves which were destroying
innocent lambs, the governor and those with him should

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 269

pursue him in the rear with full cry; and that he was
like corn between two millstones, which would grind him
to powder if he didn't look to it." He marched imme
diately back against the governor, who, finding himself
abandoned, again, on the twenty-ninth of July, proclaimed
Bacon a rebel, and made his escape, with a few friends,
down York River and across the Chesapeake Bay to
Accomac, on the Eastern Shore.

[A series of events of secondary importance succeeded, which we
cannot particularize. It will suffice to say that the movement was
diverted more and more from an expedition against the Indians to
a civil war, in which the adherents of Bacon took strong ground
against Berkeley and advised his forcible deposal. A successful
operation against the Baconites induced the governor to return to
Jamestown, from which the friends of Bacon retired.]

During these events Bacon was executing his designs
against the Indians. As soon as he had despatched Bland
to Accomac, he crossed the James River at his own house,
at Curies, and surprising the Appomattox Indians, who lived
on both sides of the river of that name, a little below the
falls (now Petersburg), he burnt their town, killed a large
number of the tribe, and dispersed the rest. . . .

From the falls of the Appomattox, Bacon traversed the
country to the southward, destroying many towns on the
banks of the Nottoway, the Meherrin, and the Roanoke.
His name had become so formidable that the natives fled
everywhere before him, and, having nothing to subsist
upon, save the spontaneous productions of the country,
several tribes perished, and they who survived were so
reduced as to be never afterwards able to make any firm
stand against the Long-knives, and gradually became tribu
tary to them.

Bacon, having exhausted his provisions, had dismissed

270 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [CAMPBELL

the greater part of his forces before Lawrence, Drum-
mond, Hansford, and the other fugitives from Jamestown
joined him. Upon receiving intelligence of the govern
or's return, Bacon, collecting a force variously estimated at
one hundred and fifty, three hundred, and eight hundred,
harangued them on the situation of affairs, and marched
back upon Jamestown, leading his Indian captives in tri
umph before him. The contending parties came now to
be distinguished by the names of Rebels and Royalists.
Finding the town defended by a palisade ten paces in
width, running across the neck of the peninsula, he rode
along the work and reconnoitred the governor's position.
Then, dismounting from his horse, he animated his fatigued
men to advance at once, and, leading them close to the
palisade, sounded a defiance with the trumpet, and fired
upon the garrison. The governor remained quiet, hoping
that want of provisions would soon force Bacon to retire ;
but he supplied his troops from Sir William Berkeley's
seat, at Greenspring^ three miles distant. He afterwards
complained that " his dwelling-house at Greenspring was
almost ruined; his household goods, and others of great
value, totally plundered; that he had not a bed to lie on;
two great beasts, three hundred sheep, seventy horses and
mares, all his corn and provisions, taken away."

Bacon adopted a singular stratagem, and one hardly
compatible with the rules of chivalry. Sending out small
parties of horse, he captured the wives of several of the
principal loyalists then with the governor, and among
them the lady of Colonel Bacon, Sr., Madame Bray, Ma
dame Page, and Madame Ballard. Upon their being
brought into the camp, Bacon sends one of them into
Jamestown to carry word to their husbands that his pur
pose was to place their wives in front of his men in case
of a sally. Colonel Ludwell reproaches the rebels with

CAMPBELL] THE BACON REBELLION. 271

" ravishing of women from their homes, and hurrying them
about the country in their rude camps, often threatening
them with death." But, according to another and more
impartial authority, Bacon made use of the ladies only to
complete his battery, and removed them out of harm's
way at the time of the sortie. He raised by moon light
a circumvallation of trees, earth, and brushwood around
the governor's outworks. At daybreak next morning the
governor's troops, being fired upon, made a sortie; but
they were driven back, leaving their drum and their dead
behind them. Upon the top of the work which he had
thrown up, and where alone a sally could be made, Bacon
exhibited the captive ladies to the views of their husbands
and friends in the town, and kept them there until he
completed his works.

[As a result of these active proceedings, the followers of Berkeley,
though superior in numbers to those of Bacon, and well intrenched,
hastily retired, leaving their antagonist master of the situation. Ba
con at once determined to burn the town, so that the " rogues should
harbor there no more." It was accordingly set on fire and laid in
ashes. Jamestown, at this period, consisted of a church and some
sixteen or eighteen well-built brick houses. Its population was about
a dozen families, since all the houses were not inhabited.]

Bacon now marched to York River, and crossed at Tin-
dall's (Gloucester) Point, in order to encounter Colonel
Brent, who was marching against him from the Potomac
with twelve hundred men. But the greater part of his
men, hearing of Bacon's success, deserting their colors
declared for him, " resolving, with the Persians, to go and
worship the rising sun." Bacon, making his head-quarters
at Colonel Warmer's, called a convention in Gloucester,
and administered the oath to the people of that county,
and began to plan another expedition against the Indians,
or, as some report, against Accomac, when he fell sick of a

272 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. ' [CAMPBELL

dysentery brought on by exposure. Retiring to the house
of a Dr. Pate, and lingering for some weeks, he died.
Some of the loyalists afterwards reported that he died of
a loathsome disease, and by a visitation of God; which is
disproven by T. M.'s Account, by that published in the
Virginia Gazette, and by the Report of the King's Com
missioners. Some of Bacon's friends suspected that he
was taken off by poison; but of this there is no proof.

The place of Bacon's interment has never been dis
covered, it having been concealed by his friends, lest his
remains should be insulted by the vindictive Berkeley, in
whom old age appears not to have mitigated the fury of
the passions. According to one tradition, in order to
screen Bacon's body from indignity, stones were laid on
his coffin by his friend Lawrence, as was supposed; accord
ing to others, it was conjectured that the body had been
buried in the bosom of the majestic York, where the winds
and the waves might still repeat his requiem.

[The death of Bacon ended the rebellion, though disastrous conse
quences to his adherents followed. Berkeley sated his revengeful
spirit upon those who fell into his hands, many of whom were exe
cuted. The governor had sent to England for troops, and employed
them in executing his schemes of revenge. The Assembly at last
insisted that these executions should cease. Nothing decisive was
gained by the rebellion, yet it clearly showed the spirit of resistance
to tyranny in the Virginians.

The determination not to submit to tyranny, of which we have par
ticularized several instances in the colonies, declared itself in the
Carolinas at the same period. Several open revolts there took place,
which may be briefly described. Many of the adherents of Bacon
had taken refuge in North Carolina, where they were welcomed, and
it is probable that their influence intensified the democratic sentiment
of the people, who soon after broke out into rebellion against the ar
bitrary revenue laws. A vessel from New England was seized as a
smuggler, upon which the people flew to arms, and imprisoned the
president of the colony and six of his council. The people chose

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 273

their own governors for several years thereafter. In 1688 another
revolt occurred against Seth Sothel, one of the proprietors, and gov
ernor of the province. He was tried for oppressing the people, and
banished from the colony. Revolts of a like character took place in
South Carolina. Governor Colleton, who sought to carry out
Locke's system of government, and to collect the rents claimed by
the proprietors, drove the people into a rebellion. They took posses
sion of the public records, and held an Assembly despite the gov
ernor, who thereupon called out the militia and proclaimed martial
law. This increased the exasperation of the colonists, and the gov
ernor was impeached and banished. He was succeeded by Seth
Sothel, who had been banished from North Carolina. In 1692, after
two years of tyranny, this governor was also deposed and banished.
The " Grand Model " of government of Locke had by this time
very effectually lost its potency.]

COLONIAL HOSTILITIES.

F. X. GARNEAU.

[In previous articles we have briefly reviewed the history of the
French in Canada, down to the futile expedition of Denonville
against the Iroquois in 1687, and the severe reprisal of the Indians,
in which they massacred the inhabitants of the island of Montreal
and endangered the very existence of the colony. At this juncture
Denonville was recalled, and Count de Frontenac sent out. The suc
ceeding history of the colony is largely one of war with the English
colonists, in which the Indian allies of the hostile whites took active
part. On the English side were the Iroquois, the most warlike and
powerful of all the aborigines, of whom the French had made ene
mies upon their first entrance into the country. The French were
supported by the Hurons and other Indians of Canada, and by the
tribes of northern New England, while the southern New England
tribes were allies of the English.

The several wars which raged in Europe between France and
England roused the colonies to invasions of one another's territory,
in which the Indians gave full vent to their savage instincts in mur
dering the helpless settlers. King William's War, which continued
i — 18

274 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GARNEAU

from 1689 to 1697, was marked by several such atrocities. At the
very opening of the war, Dover, in New Hampshire, was attacked,
and revenge taken upon Major Waldron, who had acted treacher
ously towards the Indians during King Philip's War. During the
succeeding year occurred the massacre at Schenectady, which we
have already described. Other settlements were assailed, and sev
eral of the English forts taken. In reprisal, an expedition under
Sir William Phipps captured Port Royal, and essayed to conquer
•Quebec, but was driven off. At the same time a fruitless land-ex
pedition was sent from New York against Montreal. The Indian
depredations upon the English frontiers continued, the latest being
an attack on Haverhill, Massachusetts, in 1697, in which forty per
sons were killed or taken captive. Among these latter were a Mrs.
Duston, her nurse, and a boy, who on their way to Canada at
tacked their captors while sleeping, killed ten out of twelve of
them, and returned in safety to their friends. During this war the
French attempted to punish the hostile Iroquois, and Frontenac
marched into their territory, where he committed much damage.
On his return, however, he was severely harassed by the Indians.

In 1702 another war broke out between France and England,
which continued till 1713. In America it was marked by the same
atrocities as the previous war. The Iroquois were neutrals during
most of this war, and New York was preserved from danger, the
weight of the war falling on the New England colonies. In 1704
the town of Deerfield was captured by a French and Indian force,
forty of the inhabitants killed, and one hundred and twelve cap
tured, who were marched through the winter snows to Canada.
Throughout the war the frontier settlements were continually har
assed by the savage foe. In 1707 the English attacked Port Royal,
but were repulsed. In 1710 it was again assailed, and captured, its
name being changed to Annapolis, in honor of Queen Anne, and
the province of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, was permanently added
to the English possessions. In the succeeding year an extensive
invasion of Canada was projected, which met with an unfortunate
termination. The story of this expedition we select from Andrew
Bell's translation of Garneau's " L'Histoire du Canada."]

IN spring, 1711, an expedition was got up to act in con
junction with such forces as the plantations could supply

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 275

for the invasion of Canada. The fleet, under the orders
of Admiral Sir Hovenden Walker, had companies of seven
regiments of regulars on board, drafted from the army
Marlborough was leading from victory to victory. The
force was put under the charge of Brigadier-General Hill.

Walker arrived in Boston harbor, June 25, where his
presence was impatiently expected. The land-force was
now augmented by the junction of the militias of New
York, New Jersey, Connecticut, etc., which raised it to a
total of six thousand five hundred infantry. The fleet now
consisted of eighty-eight ships and transports. The army
which was intended to act simultaneously with the ascent
to Quebec by an advance on Montreal, and was now re
constituted, got ready to act, under the orders of General
Nicholson. It was composed of four thousand Massachu
setts and other militia-men, and six hundred Iroquois.
Having moved his corps to the banks of Lake George,
Nicholson there awaited the event of the attack on Que
bec. Meantime, the invading fleet sailed from Boston,
July 30.

The opposing force of the Canadians was proportionally
small, in number at least. It did not exceed five thousand
men of all ages between fifteen and seventy, and included
at the most five hundred savages. But Quebec was now
in a better state for defence than ever it had been before,
there being more than one hundred cannons mounted upon
the works. The banks of the St. Lawrence immediately
below the city were so well guarded that it would have
been perilous to an enemy to land anywhere; above it
the invaders would hardly adventure. The garrison was
carefully marshalled, and every man assigned to an ap
pointed place, with orders to repair to it as soon as the
enemy's fleet appeared.

But the elements were now the best defenders of Can-

276 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GARNEAU

ada, which Providence seemed to have taken under his
special protection. During the night of August 22, a
storm from the southwest arose, accompanied by a dense
fog, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence; and the hostile fleet
was put in imminent jeopardy for a time. The admiral's
ship barely escaped wreck upon breakers. Eight of the
transports were driven ashore on the Ile-aux-CEufs, one
of the Seven Islands, and nine hundred out of seventeen
hundred persons on board perished in the waves. Among
the corpses strewed on the beach afterwards were found
the bodies of a number of emigrants from Scotland, in
tended colonists for Anglicized Canada; and among other
waifs found at the same time were copies of a proclama
tion to the Canadians, in Queen Anne's name, asserting
the suzerainty of Britain, in right of the discovery of their
country by Cabot.

Admiral Walker now altered his course, and rendez
voused with his scattered fleet, as soon as it could be col
lected, at Cape Breton, where he called a council of war,
in which it was decided to renounce the enterprise. The
British division of the fleet left for England, and the colo
nial vessels returned to Boston. But disasters ceased not
to attend this ill-starred expedition; for the Feversham,
an English frigate of thirty-six guns, and three trans
ports, were lost when still in the Laurentian gulf; while
the Edgar, of seventy guns, Walker's flag-ship, was blown
up at Portsmouth, October 15, with four hundred men on
board.

[A strong Canadian force was now collected at Montreal, in prep
aration for Nicholson's advance. No advance was made, however,
though the militia were kept under arms, on guard against a Cana
dian invasion. But the Canadians, just now, had work enough at
home. The Outagamis, a warlike tribe from beyond Lake Michi
gan, had moved eastward to the locality of Detroit, under British

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 27?

instigation. It was their purpose to burn the settlement and kill all
the French. In this they were joined by the Mascoutins. On the
other hand, some six hundred warriors of friendly tribes were banded
in defence of the French, and forced the hostiles to take a defensive
attitude.]

The Outagamis and Mascoutins took refuge in an in
trenched camp they had formed near the French fort.
M. Dubuisson, the governor, finding that they presented
so imposing a front, was willing that they should retire
peacefully to their villages on seeing that their hostile
intents were anticipated and provided against; but his
native allies would not allow of this, and proceeded to
invest their fastness. This was so well defended, how
ever, that the assailants became dispirited, and wished to
retire from the contest; but Dubuisson, now encouraging
them to remain, turned the siege into a blockade. In a
short time provisions, even water, failed the besieged; and
when any of them issued from the enclosure to procure
the latter, they were set on by their foes, killed on the
spot, or burnt alive to make a savage holiday.

The beleaguered tried, by every means, to detach the
native auxiliaries present from the French interest; but
all in vain. They then sent envoys to the governor to
crave a truce of two days, to enable their foragers to pro
cure food. This singular request was refused, but had
better been accorded; for in revenge the Outagarnis shot
fire-arrows against the straw-roofed houses of the village,
which were thereby entirely consumed. The cannon of
the fort avenged this act of desperation. Already from
three to four score of the besieged were dead of hunger
and thirst, and the air was tainted with putrefaction. A
third deputation came to implore quarter. Pemousa, a
chief, who brought with him his wife and children as hos
tages, adjured the governor to " take pity on his flesh "
and on the other women and children about to be put at

278 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GARNEAU

French discretion. Some of the allied chiefs present at
this piteous scene, instead of being moved by it, coolly
proposed to Dubuisson to cut down four of the envoys,
who, they alleged, were the chief defenders of the place.
This much, at least, was refused.

The besieged, despairing of success, and hopeless of
quarter if they surrendered, prepared to take advantage
of any moment of relaxed vigilance in their besiegers, and
try to escape. One stormy night they succeeded in this
attempt, but, exhausted by the privations they had under
gone, halted on peninsular ground near St. Qair, whither
they were soon followed. They intrenched themselves
again, stood a siege of four days more, and then gave in.
Not one of the men escaped, and it is very doubtful
whether any of the women were spared; but the contem
porary reports of what passed at the time are in disac
cord on this point.

[The remnant of the Outagami or Fox nation, however, long car
ried on a harassing warfare with the French, and rendered the
routes between the posts in Canada and those on the Mississippi so
dangerous as to be almost impassable. The peace of Utrecht, in
I7I3> put an end to this desolating war. During the succeeding
thirty years but few events of importance occurred in the English
colonies or in Canada, It was a much-needed era of tranquillity,
during which the colonies grew rapidly in population and impor
tance. The Canadian settlements were principally confined to the
St. Lawrence region, from Quebec to Montreal. Farther west there
were detached forts and stations, with a weak settlement at Detroit,
but nothing which could properly be called a colony. Yet the spirit
of exploration of the French continued. In 1731 an effort was made
to reach the Pacific overland. M. Verendrye, a trader with the
Indians, who had learned much from the Western tribes of the
country that lay beyond, undertook an exploring expedition west
ward. He proceeded to Lake Superior, where his trading interests
kept him till 1733. Meanwhile, some of his peoplernade their way to
the Lake of the Woods, and thence to Lake Winnipeg, extending
their journey to the point of branching of the river Saskatchewan.

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 219

In 1738 the explorers reached the country of the Mandans, and in
1742 followed the upper Missouri as far as the Yellowstone. Finally,
on January i, 1743, two of the sons of M. Verendry~ found them
selves in front of the great range of the Rocky Mountains, sixty
years in advance of the discovery of this mighty mountain-system
by the American explorers Lewis and Clarke.

In 1744 another war, known in America as " King George's War,"
broke out between France and England, and at once brought the
colonists into hostile relations. The most important event of this
war was the capture of Louisburg, a powerful stronghold founded
by the French in 1720 on the island of Cape Breton and intended
to be made impregnable. The town grew until it contained several
thousand inhabitants and was a mile in length. We extract from
Garneau an account of its siege and capture.]

France and Britain were now on the eve of war, chiefly
for the good pleasure of the German king of the latter,
as the chief of a petty Continental principality, who set
about trimming what was called the "balance of power
in Europe." This had been deranged, it appeared, by the
part which the French king had taken against the Empress
Theresa when a coalition was formed against her by Prus
sia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc., in Germany, with Spain and Sar
dinia. In January, 1745, a treaty of alliance was signed
between the empress (already at war with the French),
the King of Great Britain, the King of Poland, the Elec
tor of Saxony, and the United States of Holland, against
France.

As on former occasions, the colonial dependencies of the
two great nations had perforce to go to war also, whether
they understood the points in dispute which led to hos
tilities between their mother-countries or not. There was
also a " balance of power " between New France and New
England, getting more and more difficult every year satis
factorily to adjust. Canada, however, like the snorting
war-horse, seemed to scent the coming hostilities while

280 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GARNEAU

yet distant; for her administrators had already repaired
and munitioned all the frontier posts, especially Fort St.
Frederic and Fort Niagara. The defensive works of
Quebec, also, were augmented. Other demonstrations
were made, about the same time, by the Canadian gov
ernment and its colonists, which showed that a continued
state of peace with the British plantations was neither
expected nor desired.

After the belligerents were in full tilt in Europe, for
the king of Britain and his favorite son were battling, not
with much honor to either, on that eternal fighting-ground,
Flanders, there was no appearance, for a time, of either
government sending any expedition against the North
American dependencies of the other. . . . During its early
stages the war in America between the two rival races
was carried on almost entirely without European aid.

In a few months after the declaration of war, the Amer
ican waters swarmed with French privateers. Several
were equipped at Louisburg, Cape Breton, with amazing
despatch, and made a great number of prizes before ves
sels of war could arrive to protect the British colonial
shipping. Louisburg became, in all respects, a kind of
hornets' nest in regard to New England, its trade and
fisheries, which it was now determined to dig out if pos
sible.

Meanwhile, M. Duquesnel, governor of Cape Breton,
embarked part of the garrison of Louisburg with some
militia and made a descent upon the settlement of Canso,
in Acadia, which he burnt, and made the garrison and
settlers prisoners of war. He then summoned Annapolis,
but was deterred from investing it by the arrival of a
reinforcement from Massachusetts. Duquesnel returned
to Louisburg, where he died shortly thereafter. Gov
ernor Shirley had for some time conceived the project of

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 281

taking possession of Cape Breton, now rightly regarded
as the seaward bulwark of Canada, and a highly-impor
tant post as a safeguard to the French fisheries and to
American trade. The fortifications of Louisburg, the capi
tal, even in their uncompleted state, had taken twenty-five
years to construct, at a cost, it was reported, of thirty
million livres (nearly one million five hundred thousand
pounds sterling). They comprised a stone rampart nearly
forty feet high, with embrasures for one hundred and
forty-eight cannon, had several bastions, and strong out
works; and on the land-side was a fosse fully fourscore
feet broad. The garrison, as reported afterwards by the
French, was composed of six hundred regulars and eight
hundred armed inhabitants, commanded by M. Ducham-
bois. Upon the same authority we may mention here
that at this time there were not more than one thousand
soldiers in garrison, altogether, from the lower St. Law
rence to the eastern shore of Lake Erie.

[At a council held by Governor Shirley, it was decided that an
effort to take Louisburg would be too costly and hazardous. But the
colonists, learning of the scheme, were so enthusiastic that the coun
cil was .forced into it. In a few weeks more than four thousand mili
tia were raised in the several colonies, and placed under the com
mand of a New England merchant, named Pepperel. The expedition
sailed about the last of March, and reached Canso on April 5, 1745.]

Colonel Pepperel having sent some shallops to ascertain
whether the coast was clear of ice, and the report being
favorable, the expedition resumed its voyage, and a disem
barkation on Cape Breton Island was begun at Chapeau
Rouge on the 2/th of April. The garrison was, through
the promptitude o'f the invaders, taken completely by sur
prise. The descent could not have been effected much
earlier with safety; for till the end of March or beginning
of April the ocean in that region is covered with thick

282 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [GARNEAU

fogs, while both the seaboard and the harbors of Cape
Breton are choked with thick-ribbed ice.

By this time Admiral Warren arrived with a few ships,
and more were expected. His seamen assisted during
fourteen days in dragging a siege-train of ordnance,
through marshy ground, to the neighborhood of Louis-
burg, which was thought at first to be too strongly de
fended on the seaward side to be confronted by the fleet.
Meanwhile, the garrison was in a state of revolt, having
demurred to being employed to put the works into a
proper state, a duty which had been too long postponed.
The men had other grievances besides, being ill paid, and
otherwise badly treated; but, their feelings of military honor
being appealed to, they resumed their arms and prepared
to defend the place.

During the night of May 13, Mr. Vaughan, son of the
lieutenant-governor of New Hampshire, who knew the
localities well, having visited the place the year before,
landed with four hundred men, marched to the northeast
part of the bay, and fired some buildings filled with brandy,
etc., and naval stores. A party in a neighboring fort,
thinking probably that the incendiaries were the van of
a large attacking force, quitted their post and took refuge
in the town. Next morning Vaughan was able to surprise
a battery and hold possession of it until the arrival of a
reinforcement.

A great mischance for the French now hastened the fall
of the place. La Vigilante, a ship of sixty-four guns, with
five hundred and sixty soldiers and supplies for the gar
rison on board, was captured by Admiral Warren. Had
this succor reached its destination, it is very doubtful
whether Pepperel could have captured the strongest for
tress in America, and which was reported to be impreg
nable. The next operation was not so favorable to the

GARNEAU] COLONIAL HOSTILITIES. 283

besiegers, who, having tried, with four hundred men, to
carry a battery on the island of St. John, which protected
the entry of the harbor, were driven off, leaving sixty dead,
and one hundred and sixteen of their men, wounded or
whole, in the hands of the French. But this gleam of
success only delayed the certain capture of the place, now
that all further hope of succor from without was gone, and
its defenders were as discouraged as they were malcon
tent before. In a word, Duchambois capitulated, and was
allowed to march out with the honors of war. In terms
of the capitulation, the garrison, and about two thousand
people, the entire population of Louisburg, were embarked
in British transports and landed at Brest.

Great was the exultation, naturally enough, at the suc
cess of this expedition thus admirably planned and spir
itedly executed. Messrs. Shirley and Pepperel were re
warded with baronetcies; and the British Parliament voted
a sum of money to repay the cost incurred by the colo
nists in getting up the enterprise. The discouragement
in New France for the loss of Cape Breton was commen
surate with the elation at its capture in New England and
the other Anglo-American provinces.

[An effort was made by the French to recapture the place, but
their fleet was scattered by a storm, while a deadly epidemic broke
out among the soldiers and marines. Acadia was at the same time
assailed by the Canadians, with considerable success. A force of five
hundred New England militia, sent to oppose them, was attacked by
the French and Indians, and nearly half the men killed or wounded,
and the rest forced to surrender.]

Beginning with the autumn of 1745, the frontiers of
the British plantations themselves were cruelly ravaged
in twenty-seven successive raids of the Canadians during
three years. Fort Massachusetts, fifteen miles above Fort
St. Frederic, surrendered to M. Rigaud, who, with seven

284: THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STEVENS

hundred colonists and savages, devastated the country for
fifty miles beyond. M. Corne de St. Luc attacked Fort
Clinton, and signally defeated an American corps. Sara
toga was taken, and its people massacred. Fort Bridgman
was taken by De Lery. In a word, the frontier-line, from
Boston to Albany, being no longer tenable, the inhabitants
fled into the interior, and left their lands at the discretion
of the enemy.

[A treaty of peace was concluded October 7, 1748. By its stipula
tions the British and French mutually gave up whatever territory
each had taken, and, greatly to the dissatisfaction of the English
colonists, Cape Breton, with its fortress, was surrendered to its old
masters, and the vigorous effort of the New-Englanders thus ren
dered useless. From that time peace prevailed in Europe, but hardly
in America, hostilities scarcely ceasing during the interval from the
treaty to the outbreak of the French and Indian War.]

THE SPANISH INVASION OF GEORGIA.

WILLIAM BACON STEVENS.

[While the Northern colonies were at war with the French and
their Indian allies, the Southern were similarly at war with the Span
iards of Florida, and the Indian wars of the North had their coun
terparts in the South. The troubles with the Indians of Virginia we
have already described. Of the Indians of North Carolina, those in
contact with the settlers rapidly disappeared, destroyed by strong
drink and other accompaniments of civilization. The settlers came
next into collision with more remote tribes, the Tuscaroras and the
Corees, who showed decided symptoms of hostility and organized a
secret attack. On the night of October 2, 1711, they suddenly fell
upon the settlements and massacred one hundred and thirty persons.
A war ensued, the whites being aided by a large body of friendly In
dians from the more southern tribes. In 1713 the Tuscaroras were
besieged in their fort, and eight hundred taken prisoners. The re-

STEVENS] THE SPANISH INVASION OF GEORGIA. 285

mainder migrated north, and joined their kindred, the Iroquois of
New York. Peace was concluded with the Corees in 1715.

South Carolina, when settled, contained comparatively few of the
aborigines. A long and destructive war between two tribes, and a
fatal epidemic which afterwards prevailed, had decimated the In
dians, and left their lands open to the settlers. In 1702, during the
war of England against France and Spain which broke out that year,
Governor Moore of Carolina organized an expedition against the
Spanish settlement of St. Augustine in Florida. He proceeded by
sea, while Colonel Daniel led a land-expedition of twelve hundred
men, half of whom were Indians. The Spanish fortification proving
too strong for their means of assault, Daniel was sent to Jamaica for
siege-guns. During his absence two Spanish ships appeared off the
harbor, and Moore, in a panic, abandoned his fleet and hastily re
treated. Daniel, on his return, stood in towards the harbor, and nar
rowly escaped capture. This useless and expensive expedition gave
great dissatisfaction to the people of Carolina. It was followed by a
successful expedition against the Appalachian Indians, allies of
Spain. They were completely defeated, their towns burned, and
their whole province made English territory.

In 1706 a French and Spanish fleet appeared before Charleston.
But the city was valiantly defended, and the invaders driven off with
loss. A general Indian war broke out in 1715, comprising numerous
tribes, the Yamassees at their head. For a while the colony was
threatened with destruction. The frontier settlements were ruined,
Port Royal abandoned, and Charleston in serious peril. At length
the settlers made head, drove back the enemy, and on the banks of
the Salkehatchie gained a complete victory. The Yamassees were
driven from their territory, and retired to Florida. In 1719 a revolu
tion against the Proprietors broke out in South Carolina ; the settlers
refused to pay their exorbitant claims, and in the name of the king
proclaimed James Moore governor. The difficulty was settled in
1729, when seven of the eight Proprietors sold out to the king, and
the two Carolinas were separated and became royal governments.

The colony of Georgia was first devised in 1732, by James Ogle-
thorpe, an English philanthropist, as an asylum for the poor of Eng
land and for the oppressed Protestants of all countries. He reached
America in February, 1733, with one hundred and twenty emigrants,
and planted a settlement on the site of Savannah. A treaty of peace
and friendship was at once concluded with the Creek Indians, a power-

286 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STEVENS

ful neighboring confederacy. The colony rapidly increased in num
bers. But trouble soon arose with the Spaniards of Florida, who
claimed that the English were intruding on their territory. Hostili
ties being threatened, Oglethorpe returned to England, and brought
out a regiment of six hundred men for the defence of his frontier.
Soon afterwards, in 1739, war broke out between England and Spain,
and Oglethorpe invaded Florida. He had with him five hundred men
of his regiment, with other troops, and Indian allies. Several Span
ish forts were taken, but St. Augustine was boldly defended, and,
after being nearly reduced by famine, obtained supplies from vessels
that ran the blockade of the English fleet This destroyed all hopes
of success, and Oglethorpe returned to Georgia. Two years later, the
Spaniards, in reprisal, invaded Georgia with a large fleet and a
numerous army. Oglethorpe, with a much smaller force, withdrew to
his fort at Frederica, on St. Simon's Island, near the mouth of the
Altamaha River. The interesting story of this invasion we extract
from the " History of Georgia," by Rev. William Bacon Stevens.]

IN May [1742] the armament destined for the conquest
of Georgia, oonsisting of fifty-six vessels and about seven
thousand men, left Havana for St. Augustine. One of
their large vessels, with one hundred and fifty men, was
lost in passing the Moro castle; and soon after the fleet
was dispersed by a storm. ... Of the arrival of this force
in St. Augustine, Oglethorpe was informed by his Indian
spies, deserters, and the letters of Captain Hamar; and
he addressed himself at once to the task of preparing for
their attack.

[The Spanish fleet was unsuccessful in its first efforts against the
English forts.]

On the 28th [of June] the Spanish fleet, largely rein
forced, again appeared off St. Simon's bar, and, having
taken the bearings and soundings, lay off and on, waiting
for a fair wind, to run up to Frederica. All was now
activity on St. Simon's. The general raised another troop
of rangers, armed the planters, extended his fortifications,
dismantled many of the small vessels and from them

STEVENS] THE SPANISH INVASION OF GEORGIA. 287

rigged out a merchant-ship, called the Success, with an
armament of twenty-two guns, which he placed under the
command of Captain Thompson. . . .

The following day [July 5], favored by a strong easterly
wind and a flood tide, the squadron of thirty- [fifty-] six
vessels, comprising one of twenty-four guns, two ships
of twenty guns, two large scows of fourteen guns, four
schooners, four sloops, and the rest half-galleys, entered
St. Simon's harbor. . . . For four hours the vessels and
two small batteries of the English maintained the unequal
contest ; but the fleet was too numerous, and they passed
up the river with a leading breeze, sinking one guard
schooner and disabling several of the trading-craft.

[The English now spiked the guns and destroyed the munitions at
Fort St. Simon's, and withdrew to Frederica. The Spanish vessels
passed up the river, and landed about five thousand men four miles
below Frederica. These marched down and took possession of the
dismantled fort.]

They made their camp at the fort which he [Oglethorpe]
had abandoned, and, hoisting the bloody flag on the com
modore's ship, erected a battery and planted in it twenty
eighteen-pounders. Among the troops landed were a
regiment of artillery, a regiment of dismounted dragoons,
a regiment of negroes, officered by negroes, in the style
and pay of grenadiers, and a regiment of mulattoes, besides
the Havana battalion, the Havana militia, and the St.
Augustine forces. On the seventh a part of this force was
put in motion, and reached within a mile of Frederica,
when they were discovered by the rangers, and the alarm
given. Oglethorpe immediately advanced with a party
of Indians, rangers, and the Highland company, that were
then on parade, ordering the regiment to follow, being
resolved to engage them in the defiles of the wood before
they could get out and deploy in the open savannah. He

288 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STEVENS

charged at the head of his force with such effect that
nearly all of the party, consisting of one hundred and
twenty-five of their best woodsmen, and forty-five Indians,
were either killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. . . . The
pursuit was continued several miles, to an open meadow
or savannah, upon the edge of which he posted three
platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland foot,
so as to be covered by the woods from the enemy, who
were obliged to pass through the meadow under the
English fire. Hastening back to Frederica, he got in
readiness the rangers and marines ; but scarcely were they
in marching order when he heard firing in the direction
of his ambushed troops, and, speeding thither, met two of
the platoons, who, in the smoke and drifting rain, had
retreated before the advance of Don Antonio Barba, who,
with one hundred grenadiers and two hundred infantry,
consisting of Indians and negroes, had pushed into the
meadow and drove out the ambuscade with loud huzzas
and rolling drums. The soldiers informed Oglethorpe that
all his force was routed; but, finding one platoon and a
company of rangers missing, and still hearing firing in the
direction of the woods, he ordered the officers to rally
their men and follow him.

In the mean time this platoon and company of rangers,
under the command of Lieutenants Sutherland and Mac-
kay, instead of retreating with their comrades, no sooner
reached the wood than by a skilfully-executed detour they
gained the rear of the pursuing enemy, and, at a point
where the road passed from the forest to the open marsh
across a small semi-circular cove, planted themselves in
ambuscade in the thick palmettoes by which this narrow
pass was nearly surrounded.

Scarcely had they secreted themselves near this defile,
when the Spaniards, on their return, marched out of the

STEVENS] THE SPANISH INVASION OF GEORGIA. 289

wood, and, supposing themselves secure from attack, pro
tected as they were on the one side by an open morass
and on the other by the crescent-shaped hedge of palmet-
toes and underwood, they stacked their arms and yielded
themselves to repose. Sutherland and Mackay, who from
their hiding-places had anxiously watched all their move
ments, now raised the signal of attack, — a Highland cap
upon a sword, — and the soldiers poured in upon the un
suspecting enemy a well-delivered and most deadly fire.
Volley succeeded volley, and the sand was strewed with
the dead and dying. A few of the Spanish officers at
tempted, though in vain, to re-form their broken ranks ;
discipline was gone, orders were unheeded, safety alone
was sought; and when, with a Highland shout of triumph,
the platoon burst among them with levelled bayonet and
flashing claymore, the panic-stricken foe fled in every di-i
rection, — some to the marsh, where they mired, and were
taken, — some along the defile, where they were met by
the tomahawk and the broadsword, — and some into the
thicket, where they became entangled and lost ; and a few
only escaped to their camp. Their defeat was complete.
Barba was taken, after being mortally wounded; another
captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, two drummers, and
one hundred and sixty privates, were killed, and a captain
and nineteen men were taken prisoners. This was a feat
of arms as brilliant as it was successful, and won for the
gallant troops the highest praise. Oglethorpe, with the
two platoons, did not reach the scene of this action, which
has ever since borne the appropriate name of " Bloody
Marsh," until the victory was achieved; and, to show his
sense of their services, he promoted the brave young offi
cers who had gained it, on the very field of their valor.

[The retreating enemy were pursued into their camp. On the next
day Oglethorpe withdrew his forces to Erederica. The misfortunes
1—19

290 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [STEVENS

of the Spaniards caused dissensions among their leaders, learning of
which, Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them by a night attack.]

For this purpose he marched down, on the twelfth July,
five hundred men, and, leaving them within a mile of the
Spanish quarters, went forward at night with a small party
to reconnoitre, intending to surprise them, but was pre
vented by the treachery of a Frenchman among Captain
Carr's marines, who, firing his musket, sounded the alarm,
and, favored by the darkness, deserted to the enemy.
Finding himself thus discovered, the general distributed
the drums about the wood, to represent a large force, and
ordered them to beat the grenadiers' march, which they
did for half an hour, and then, all being still, noiselessly
returned to Frederica.

Aware of his weakness, and fearing that the disclosures
which the Frenchman might make would embolden them
to surround and destroy him, which their superior force
by land and sea easily enabled them to do, he devised an
ingenious stratagem to defeat his information and retrieve
the effects of his desertion. The next day he prevailed
with a prisoner, and gave him a sum of money, to carry
a letter privately and deliver it to that Frenchman who
had deserted. This letter was written in French, as if
from a friend of his, telling him he had received the money ;
that he should strive to make the Spaniards believe the
English were weak; that he should undertake to pilot up
their boats and galleys, and then bring them under the
woods where he knew the hidden batteries were; and
that if he could bring that about, he should have double
the reward he had already received ; but if he failed in thus
decoying them under the guns of the water-battery, to use
all his influence to keep them at least three days more at
Fort St. Simon's, as within that time, according to advices
just received, he should be reinforced by two thousand in-

STEVENS] THE SPANISH INVASION OF GEORGIA. £91

fantry and six men-of-war, which had already sailed from
Charleston; and, by way of postscript, he was cautioned
against mentioning that Admiral Vernon was about to
make a descent upon St. Augustine. The Spanish prisoner
got into the camp, and was immediately carried before the
general, Don Manuel de Montiano. He was asked how
he escaped, and whether he had any letters, but, denying
his having any, was strictly searched, and the letter found
in his possession. Under a promise of pardon, he confessed
that he had received money to deliver it to the Frenchman,
for the letter was not directed. The Frenchman denied
his knowing anything of its contents, or having received
any money, or having had any correspondence with Ogle-
thorpe, and vehemently protested that he was not a spy.

[The contents of the captured letter seriously perplexed the Span
ish commander, for whom the Frenchman had acted as a spy among
the English. Most of the council looked on him as a double spy, be
lieved the information of the letter, and advised an immediate re
treat. While the council grew warm in their debate, word was
brought to the commander that three vessels had been seen off the
bar. Supposing this to be part of the threatened fleet, the council no
longer doubted the truth of the letter, and resolved to fly before they
should be hemmed in by sea and land. They set fire to the fort, and
hastily embarked, abandoning a quantity of their military stores in
their hurry to escape. Oglethorpe followed them with the vessels at
his command, and hastened the rapidity of their flight.]

Thus the vigilance of Oglethorpe, the skilfulness of his
plans, the determined spirit of resistance, the carnage of
Bloody Marsh, the havoc done to the enemy's ships, and
his ingenious stratagem to defeat the designs of the French
deserter, saved Georgia and Carolina from falling into the
hands of the Spaniards. The force employed by the Span
iards in this invasion comprised . . . over five thousand
men, commanded by Montiana, governor of St. Augustine,
and brought to Georgia in fifty-six vessels. The command

292 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BOOTH

of Oglethorpe consisted of only six hundred and fifty-two
men, including Indians and militia. The triumph of Ogle
thorpe was complete. For fifteen days, with only two
ships and six hundred men, he had baffled the Spanish gen
eral with fifty-six vessels and five thousand men, and at
last compelled him to retreat, with the loss of several sail,
scores of his best troops, and much of his provisions, mu
nitions, and artillery. The repulse of such a formidable
invasion by such a handful of troops is unparalleled in
colonial history.

[The news of this victory was received with universal joy in the
North, and Oglethorpe was warmly congratulated on his victory by
the governors of the other English provinces. In the succeeding
year an attack was made on St. Augustine by an army under Ogle
thorpe. This expedition proved unsuccessful. There were no further
movements of invasion, though Georgia experienced annoyance from
the Florida Indians, who were stirred up by Spanish hostility.]

THE NEGRO PLOT IN NEW YORK.

MARY L. BOOTH.

[The witchcraft delusion of Salem had its counterpart in an equally
baseless epidemic of suspicion and cruelty in New York, of sufficient
importance to call for special consideration. The only other event of
marked importance in that city, between the Leisler rebellion and the
French and Indian War, was a conflict between the democratic and
aristocratic parties in 1732. These parties divided the province, and
were in violent opposition. The editor of a popular journal was im
prisoned and sued for libel for an attack upon the measures of the
governor and council. He was acquitted upon trial, and Andrew
Hamilton, one of his defenders, was presented with an elegant gold
box by the magistrates, for his defence of popular rights and the lib
erty of the press. The other occurrence referred to the negro plot

BOOTH] THE NEGRO PLOT IN NEW YORK. 293

of 1741, which for a while threw the city into an unreasoning panic,
is fully described in Mary L. Booth's " History of the City of New
York," from which we extract its leading particulars.]

THE negro plot of the city of New York will long con
tinue to be classed in the foremost rank of popular delu
sions, even exceeding in its progress and its fearful dfnoue-
ment the celebrated Popish Plot concocted by Titus Oates.
At this distance, it is difficult to ascertain how many
grains of truth were mingled in the mass of prejudice, or
to discover the wild schemes which may have sprung up
in the brains of the oppressed and excitable negroes, but
certain it is that nothing can justify the wholesale panic
of a civilized community, or the indiscriminate imprison
ment and execution of scores of ignorant beings without
friends or counsel, on no other evidence than the incohe-
rencies of a few wretches more degraded than they, sup
ported by the horror of a terror-struck imagination. We
shall endeavor to follow the development of this singular
plot clearly and simply, leaving the reader to draw his
own inference from the facts and to determine how much
credence should be given the testimony.

At this time New York contained about ten thousand
inhabitants, nearly one-fifth of whom were negro slaves.
Since the first introduction of slavery into the province in
the days of Wilhelm Kieft, it had increased and flourished
to an alarming extent. Every householder who could
afford it was surrounded by negroes, who were contemptu
ously designated as " the black seed of Cain," and deprived
not only of their liberty, but also of the commonest rights
of humanity. . . . The ordinances [against them] wtre of
the most stringent character. "All blacks were slaves,"
says a late historian, "and slaves could not be witnesses
against a freeman. They were incapable of buying any
thing, even the minutest necessary of life ; they were pun-

294 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BOOTH

ishable by master or mistress to any extent short of life or
limb ; as often as three of them were found together, they
were punished with forty lashes on the bare back ; and the
same legal liability attended the walking with a club out
side the master's grounds without a permit. Two justices
might inflict any punishment short of death or amputation
for a blow or the smallest assault upon a Christian or a
Jew." Such was the spirit of the laws of the times.

It had been the constant policy, both of the Dutch and
English governments, to encourage the importation of
slaves as much as possible; the leading merchants of the
city were engaged in the traffic, which was regarded by the
public as strictly honorable, and at the time of which we
speak New York was literally swarming with negroes, and
presented all the features of a present* Southern city,
with its calaboose on the Commons and its market-place
at the foot of Wall Street. The people were not blind to
the possible danger from this oppressed yet powerful host
that was silently gathering in their midst, and the slight
est suspicious movement on the part of the negroes was
sufficient to excite their distrust and alarm. Since the
supposed plot of 1712, of which we have already spoken,
a growing fear of the slaves had pervaded the city, and
the most stringent measures had been adopted to prevent
their assemblages and to keep them under strict surveil
lance. But it was difficult to restrain the thieving pro
pensities of the negroes; petty thefts were constantly
committed, and it was one of these that first paved the
way to the real or supposed discovery of a plot to murder
the inhabitants and take possession of the city.

On the I4th of March, 1741, some goods and silver were
stolen from the house of a merchant named Robert Hogg,

1859.

BOOTH] THE NEGRO PLOT IN NEW YORK. 295

on the corner of Broad and Mill or South William Streets.
The police immediately set to work to discover the thieves,
and, suspicion having fallen upon John Hughson, the
keeper of a low negro tavern on the shores of the North
River, his house was searched, but to no effect. Soon after,
an indentured servant-girl of Hughson's, by the name of
Mary Burton, told a neighbor that the goods were really
hidden in the house, but that Hughson would kill her if he
knew she had said so. This rumor soon came to the ears
of the authorities, who at once arrested Mary Burton and
lodged her in the city jail, promising her her freedom if

she would confess all that she knew about the matter.

•

[On a hearing, Mary Burton charged a negro named Caesar with
complicity in the robbery, and he and another slave, named Prince,
were arrested and imprisoned. Shortly afterwards the governor's
house at the fort took fire and burned to the ground. Other fires
took place in rapid succession, and there spread among the alarmed
inhabitants a rumor that the negroes had plotted to burn the city.
This suspicion soon took the form of certainty. Some free negroes
had recently been brought into the port, as the crew of a Spanish
prize vessel, and had been sold as slaves. They were exasperated
by this harsh usage, and indulged in murmurs and threats. One of
them b.eing questioned about a fire, his answers seemed evasive,
and " Take up the Spanish negroes! " became the instant cry. They
were at once arrested and thrown into prison.]

The magistrates met the same afternoon to consult
about the matter, and while they were still in session
another fire broke out in the roof of Colonel Philipse's
storehouse. The alarm became universal; the negroes
were seized indiscriminately and thrown into prison, —
among them many who had just helped to extinguish the
fire. People and magistrates were alike panic-struck, and
the rumor gained general credence that the negroes had
plotted to burn the city, massacre the inhabitants, and
effect a general revolution.

296 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BOOTH

On the nth of April, 1741, the Common Council as
sembled, and offered a reward of one hundred pounds
and a full pardon to any conspirator who would reveal his
knowledge of the plot, with the names of the incendiaries.
Many of the terrified inhabitants removed with their
household goods and valuables from what they began to
deem a doomed city, paying exorbitant prices for vehicles
and assistance. The city was searched for strangers and
suspicious persons, but none were found, and the negroes
were examined without effect. Cuff Philipse,* who had
been among those arrested, was proved to have been
among the most active in- extinguishing the fire at his
master's house, yet he was held in prison to await further
developments.

[Before the grand jury, which soon after met, Mary Burton de
posed that she had overheard a plot to burn the city and kill the
whites. Hughson was then to be governor, and Cuff king. Peggy
Carey, an Irishwoman who lived in Hughson's house, was charged
with complicity in the plot. She was convicted of having received
and secreted the stolen goods, and was sentenced to death along
with Prince and Caesar.]

Terrified at the prospect of a speedy death, the wretched
Peggy endeavored to avert her fate by grasping the means
of rescue wrhich had before been offered her, and begged
for a second examination, and, this being granted her,
confessed that meetings of negroes had been held in the
last December at the house of John Romme, a tavern-
keeper near the new Battery, of the same stamp with
Hughson, at which she had been present, and that Romme
had told them that if they would set fire to the city, mas
sacre the inhabitants, and bring the plunder to him, he
would carry them to a strange country and give them all

*The negroes were familiarly called by the surnames of their
masters.

BOOTH] THE NEGRO PLOT IN NEW YORK. 297

their liberty. This confession was so evidently vamped
up to save herself from the gallows that even the magis
trates hesitated to believe it. Yet Cuff Philipse, Brash
Jay, Curaqoa Dick, Caesar Pintard, Patrick English, Jack
Beasted, and Cato Moore, all of whom she had named in
her confession, were brought before her and identified as
conspirators. Romme absconded, but his wife was arrested
and committed to prison, and the accused were locked up
for further examination. Upon this, the terrified negroes
began to criminate each other, hoping thereby to save
themselves from the fate that awaited them. But these
efforts availed them nothing, any more than did the con
fession of the miserable Peggy, who was executed at last,
vainly denying with her dying breath her former accu
sations. In the mean time several fires had occurred at
Hackensack, and two negroes, suspected of being the in
cendiaries, were condemned and burnt at the stake, though
not a particle of evidence was found against them.

On Monday, the nth of May, Caesar and Prince, the
first victims of the negro plot, were hung on a gallows
erected on the little island in the Fresh Water Pond, de
nying to the last all knowledge of the conspiracy, though
they admitted that they had really stolen the goods.

Hughson and his wife were tried and found guilty, and,
with Peggy Carey, were hanged on a gibbet erected on
the East River shore, near the corner of Cherry and
Catharine Streets. . . . Cuff Philipse and Quack were
next brought to trial, a negro boy named Sawney appear
ing as witness against them. This boy was at first ar
rested and brought before the magistrates, when he denied
all knowledge of the conspiracy. He was told, in reply,
that if he would tell the truth he would not be hanged.
To tell the truth had now come to be generally understood
to mean the confession of a plot for burning the town.

298 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BOOTH

[The frightened boy told a tissue of doubtful tales, on the strength
of which the accused negroes were tried for their lives. All the
lawyers of the city were on the side of the prosecution, leaving
the prisoners without counsel.]

Ignorant of the forms of law, and terrified at the pros
pect of their impending danger, it is not strange that their
bewildered and contradictory statements were construed
by their learned adversaries into evidences of their guilt.
Quack and Cuffee were found guilty, and sentenced to be
burned at the stake on the 3d of June.

On the day appointed, the fagots were piled in a grassy
valley in the neighborhood of the present Five Points,
and the wretched victims led out to execution. The spot
was thronged with impatient spectators, eager to witness
the terrible tragedy. Terrified and trembling, the poor
wretches gladly availed themselves of their last chance
for life, and, on being questioned by their masters, con
fessed that the plot had originated with Hughson, that
Quack's wife was the person who had set fire to the fort,
he having been chosen for the task by the confederated
negroes, and that Mary Burton had spoken the truth and
could name many more conspirators if she pleased. As a
reward, they were reprieved until the further pleasure of
the governor should be known. But the impatient popu
lace, which had come out for a spectacle, would not so
easily be balked of its prey. Ominous mutterings re
sounded round the pile, with threats of evil import, and
the sheriff was ordered to proceed with his duty. Terri
fied by these menaces, he dared not attempt to take the
prisoners back to the jail; and the execution went on.
Despite their forced confessions, the terrible pile was
lighted, and the wretched negroes perished in the flames,
knowing that, with their last breath, they had doomed
their fellows to share their fate in vain.

BOOTH] THE NEGRO PLOT IN NEW YORK. 299

On the 6th of June, seven other negroes, named Jack,
Cook, Robin, Caesar, Cuff ee, Cuffee, and Jamaica, were tried
and found guilty on the dying evidence of Quack and Cuf"
fee, with the stories of Mary Burton and the negro boy
Sawney. All were executed the next day, with the ex
ception of Jack, who saved his life by promising furthet
disclosures. These disclosures implicated fourteen others,
one of whom, to save his life, confessed and accused still
more.

. On the nth of June, Francis, one of the Spanish negroes,
Albany, and Curaqoa Dick were sentenced to be burned at
the stake. Ben and Quack were condemned to the same
fate five days after. Three others were at the same time
sentenced to be hanged, and five of the Spanish negroes
were also convicted.

[On June ig the governor proclaimed pardon to all who should
confess and reveal the names of their accomplices before July I,
The accusations at once multiplied. Mary Burton, who had de
clared that Hughson was the only white man in the plot, now
accused John Ury, a schoolmaster and reputed Catholic priest. To
the negro plot were now added rumors of a Popish plot. The evi
dence against Ury was of the most improbable character, yet he was
condemned, and sentenced to be hanged.]

The arrest of Ury was the signal for the implication of
others of the whites. It was a true foreshadowing of the
Reign of Terror. Every one feared his neighbor, and has
tened to be the first to accuse, lest he himself should be
accused and thrown into prison. Fresh victims were daily
seized, and those with whom the jails were already full to
overflowing were transported or hanged with scarcely the
form of a trial in order to make room for the new-comers.
So rapid was the increase that the judges feared that the
numbers might breed an infection, and devised short meth
ods of ridding themselves of the prisoners, sometimes by

300 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [BOOTH

pardoning, but as often by hanging them. From the nth
of May to the 29th of August, one hundred and fifty-four
negroes were committed to prison, fourteen of whom were
burned at the stake, eighteen hanged, seventy-one trans
ported, and the rest pardoned or discharged for the want
of sufficient evidence. In the same time, twenty-four
whites were committed to prison, four of whom were
executed.

The tragedy would probably have continued much longer,
had not Mary Burton, grown bolder by success, begun to
implicate persons of consequence. This at once aroused
the fears of the influential citizens, who had been the fore
most when only the negroes were in question, and put a
stop to all further proceedings. The fearful catalogue of
victims closed on the 2Qth of August with the execution
of John Ury. The 24th of September was set apart as a
day of general thanksgiving for the escape of the citizens
from destruction; Mary Burton received the hundred
pounds that had been promised her as the price of blood,
and the city fell back into a feeling of security.

Whether this plot ever had the shadow of an existence
except in the disordered imaginations of the citizens can
never with certainty be known. . . . The witnesses were
persons of the vilest character, the evidence was contra
dictory, inconsistent, and extorted under the fear of death,
and no real testimony was adduced that could satisfy any
man in the possession of a clear head and a sound judg
ment. Terror was really the strongest evidence, and the
fear of the Jesuits the conclusive proof. The law passed
in 1700 for hanging every Catholic priest who voluntarily
came within the province still disgraced the statute-book,
while the feeling of intolerance which had prompted it
remained as bitter and unyielding as ever.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 301

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

THE three colonial wars between the French and Eng
lish, which we have described, arose from events taking
place on the other side of the Atlantic, and were nearly
fruitless in results, so far as America was concerned. The
bloodshed, torture, and other horrors which accompanied
them might all have been spared, since neither of the
contestants gained any important advantages from them.
The war which we have yet to describe differed from the
others in both the particulars mentioned. It had its ori
gin in America, and it ended in a very decided change in
the relative positions of the contestants.

The progress of the colonies had by the middle of the
eighteenth century aroused conflicting claims to territory
which could scarcely fail to result in a struggle. The
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle had endeavored to adjust the
relative claims to North American territory by the three
powers of England, France, and Spain. But as yet these
powers occupied only a narrow strip along the Atlantic
coast, and though they claimed, by their charters, the
whole country from ocean to ocean, yet their ignorance
of the vast region thus appropriated on paper was very
sure to bring them into disputes concerning boundaries.
The English claimed the whole sea-coast from Newfound-

302 THE GREAT REPUBLIC.

land to Florida, in virtue of the discovery by the Cabots,
and their grants of territory were assumed as extending
westward to the Pacific. This claim to the interior was
partly based on treaties with the Iroquois Indians, who,
on the pretence that they had at some former time con
quered all the territory from the Alleghanies to the Mis
sissippi, ceded this territory to the English, without heed
to the rights of the tribes actually occupying it.

The French, on the other hand, based their claims to
the Mississippi region on actual discovery and exploration.
In their view, the half of New York, and the greater
portion of New England, fell within the limits of New
France and Acadia; while their western provinces of
Upper and Lower Louisiana were held to include the
entire valley of the Mississippi and its tributaries.

The original basis of the war which now arose between
the French and the English was a dispute as to the owner
ship of the territory bordering on the Ohio. The first
step towards it was a grant from the English government
to a company of merchants, called the Ohio Company.
The movements of this company towards a settlement of
the territory assigned them at once roused the apprehen
sions of the French that the English were seeking to de
prive them of their trade with the western Indians and
to sever their line of communication between Canada and
Louisiana. They immediately took active measures to
secure their claim to this territory.

As for the aboriginal owners of the land, not the slight
est attention was paid to their rights of possession. Two
sachems sent a messenger to Mr. Gist, an agent sent out
by the Ohio Company, to inquire of him " where the In
dians' land lay, for the French claimed all the land on
one side of the Ohio River, and the English on the other."
This pertinent question forcibly shows the real merits of

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 30,

the case, and that neither of the colonial contestants had
the slightest claim in equity to the territory.

Yet, disregarding all Indian rights, the pioneer settlers
of the two nations proceeded to make good their claims.
The first act of hostility was committed by the French, in
1753. Three British traders, who had advanced into the
disputed territory, were seized by a party of French and
Indians and carried prisoners to Presque Isle, on Lake
Erie, where the French were then erecting a fort. In
reprisal, the Twightwees, a tribe in alliance with the
English, seized several French traders, whom they sent to
Pennsylvania.

These evident hostilities between the whites aroused
the Indians, ever ready for war and bloodshed. Insti
gated, as is supposed, by French emissaries, they began
inroads upon the borders. The settlers of the Shenan-
doah Valley, who were suffering from these savage raids,
called upon Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, for aid. A
messenger was sent out to ascertain the temper of the
Indians and the intentions of the French. He returned
in alarm at the hostility discovered. Orders now arrived
from the British ministry to the governor of Virginia,
directing him to build two forts near the Ohio, intended
to hold in check the Indians and to prevent French en
croachments. The orders -arrived too late. The French
had already taken possession of the territory, and were
securing it by the erection of forts.

Such were the instigating causes of the Seven Years*
War in America, a conflict which continued for several
years before any declaration of hostilities was made by
the mother-countries, and which resulted in a radical
change in the relations of the colonists of America.

304 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SPARKS

THE OPENING OP THE WAR.

JARED SPARKS.

[It was deemed desirable, before taking any more active measures,
to send a messenger to the commander of the French forces on the
Ohio and demand his authority for invading the territory of Vir
ginia, and with what designs he was there. Governor Dinwiddie
selected for this important mission George Washington, then but
twenty-one years of age, yet already holding a commission of major
in the Virginia militia, and a man of note in the colony. In addition
to his ostensible mission, he was instructed to learn all he could in
regard to the disposition of the Indians, the number of French troops
in the country, and what reinforcements were expected, with all
possible information as to the location, strength, and garrisons
of the French forts. Provided with credentials from the governor,
he set out from Williamsburg on October 31, 1753. His journey,
which was in great part through a wilderness, mainly mountain
ous, covered a distance of five hundred and sixty miles. Reaching
Will's Creek, beyond Winchester, he induced Mr. Gist, an experi
enced woodsman, to accompany him as guide. The party that
there left the extreme limit of civilization and plunged into the
primeval forest consisted of eight persons. The season proved
severe, and the mountains difficult to cross, but they at length
reached the Ohio at the point of junction of its two affluents. The
military advantages of this place were perceived by Major Washing
ton, and he advised the erection of the fortification which was soon
begun there, and which was destined to prove famous in the coming
war. Twenty miles farther, at Logstown, he called together some
of the Indian chiefs, with whom he sought to make an alliance, and
whom he asked for an escort. In neither was he fully successful,
only four Indians accompanying him. A journey of one hundred
and twenty miles farther took him to the station of the French com
mandant, at a fort situated on French Creek, about fifteen miles
south of Lake Erie. The journey had occupied forty-one days. He
was received with great politeness by M. de St.-Pierre, the com
mandant, and delivered his letters, which expressed surprise at the
French encroachments, demanded their authority, and urged a
speedy and peaceful departure. While the French officers were in
consultation, Washington took the opportunity to inspect the fort

SPARKS] THE OPENING OF THE WAR. 305

thoroughly. Finally he received the answer that the French were
there by authority and could not retire, and that the message should
have been sent to the governor of Canada.

The return of the party proved a difficult one. They proceeded
by canoe to the French post of Venango, at the mouth of French
Creek, on the Ohio. Here their horses proved so emaciated as to
be fit only to carry the provisions and baggage, and the party de
termined to proceed on foot. After three days more the horses
grew so feeble that Major Washington and Mr. Gist left the rest
of the party, and started alone through the woods by a more direct
route. They had some exciting adventures, and in crossing the
Alleghany, which was full of drifting ice, they narrowly escaped
drowning. They managed to escape from their raft to an island,
and reached the opposite shore the next morning; but Mr. Gist's
hands and feet were frozen by the intense cold, and the night was
one of extreme suffering. Washington finally reached Williams-
burg on January 16, after an absence of eleven weeks.

As the intentions of the French were now evident, no time was
lost in preparing for energetic action. Efforts to raise a colonial
army were at once made, but Virginia had mainly to depend upon
herself, the other colonies taking little interest in the matter. At
length, in April, 1754^ Washington, now colonel, set out with two
companies of recruits, and reached Will's Creek on the 2Oth. The
account of the subsequent events we extract from " The Life of
George Washington," by Jared Sparks.]

A PARTY of Captain Trent's men had already gone to
the Ohio, and begun to build a fort. Just before Colonel
Washington reached Will's Creek, a rumor came from the
interior that these men were taken by the French; and
two days afterwards the alarming intelligence was con
firmed by the ensign of Captain Trent's company. He
reported that, while they were at work, forty-one in num
ber, a body of French troops descended the river from
Venango, consisting of one thousand men, with eighteen
pieces of cannon, sixty bateaux, and three hundred canoes,
under the command of Captain Contrecceur, and summoned
them to surrender, threatening to take forcible possession

1—20

306 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SPARKS

of the fort if this summons were not immediately obeyed.
No alternative remained, and, the captain and lieutenant
being absent, Ensign Ward acceded to articles of capitu
lation, and gave up the fort, but was permitted to retire
with his men. He came to Will's Creek, and brought the
news of the disaster. His statement, however, as to the
numbers of the French, their cannon and boats, turned
out to be very much exaggerated. This was the first open
act of hostility in the memorable war of seven years that
followed. The French enlarged and completed the fort,
which they called Fort Duquesne, in compliment to the
governor of Canada.

[The position of Colonel Washington was now a somewhat criti
cal one. His small force of ill-disciplined recruits might easily be
surrounded and cut off. But he determined to advance, to construct
a road as he did so, and, if he could reach the Monongahela, to
build a fort at the mouth of Redstone Creek. The progress was a
slow one. Great difficulties had to be overcome, and provisions
grew scarce. Washington attempted to find a passage by water
down the Youghiogheny, but failed, from obstructions in the river.
On his return he received word from the Half-King, a friendly
sachem, that a party of French were marching towards him, de
termined to attack the first English they should meet.]

Not knowing their number, or at what moment they
might approach, he hastened to a place called the Great
Meadows, cleared away the bushes, threw up an intrench-
ment, and prepared, as he expressed it, " a charming field
for an encounter." He then mounted some of the soldiers
on wagon-horses, and sent them out to reconnoitre. They
came back without having seen any traces of the enemy;
but the camp was alarmed in the night, the sentries fired,
and all hands were kept under arms till morning. Mr.
Gist came to the camp, also, and reported that a French
detachment, consisting of fifty men, had been at his settle-

SPARKS] THE OPENING OF THE WAR. 307

ment the day before, and that he had observed their tracks
within five miles of the Great Meadows.

The approach of the French with hostile designs was
now deemed certain; and the best preparation was made to
receive them which circumstances would permit. In the
mean time, about nine o'clock at night, another express
came from the Half-King, who was then with a party of
his warriors about six miles from the camp, stating that
he had seen the tracks of two Frenchmen, and that the
whole detachment was near that place. Colonel Wash
ington immediately put himself at the head of forty men,,
leaving the rest to guard the camp, and set off to join the
Half- King. The night was dark, the rain fell in torrents,
the paths through the woods were narrow and intricate,
and the soldiers often lost their way, groping in the bushes,
and clambering over rocks and fallen trees.

The whole night was spent in the march, and they got
to the Indian encampment just before sunrise. A council
was held with Tanacharison [the Half-King] and his chief
warriors, and it was agreed that they should march in
concert against the French. Two Indians went out to
ascertain the position of the enemy, which was discovered
to be in an obscure retreat, surrounded by rocks, half a
mile from the road. The plan of attack was then formed.
Colonel Washington and his men were to advance on the
right, and the Indians on the left. The march was pur
sued in single file, according to the Indian manner, till
they came so near as to be discovered by the French, who
instantly seized their arms and put themselves in an atti
tude of defence.

At this moment the firing commenced on both sides. A
smart skirmish ensued, which was kept up for a quarter
of an hour, when the French ceased to resist. M. de Ju-
monville, the commander of the French party, and ten of

308 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SPARKS

his men, were killed. Twenty-two were taken prisoners,
one of whom was wounded. A Canadian made his escape
during the action. One of Colonel Washington's men was
killed, and two or three wounded. No harm happened to
the Indians, as the enemy's fire was directed chiefly against
the English. This event occurred on the 28th of May.
The prisoners were conducted to the Great Meadows, and
thence, under a guard, to Governor Dinwiddie.

[This actior, the opening conflict of arms in the war, acquired a
notoriety far beyond its importance. When the news of the event
reached Paris it was greatly misrepresented. Jumonville was con
sidered a messenger bearing a civil summons, who had been way
laid and assassinated; and an able French poet, named Thomas,
made it the foundation of an epic poem entitled " Jumonville," and
his fiction has become to some extent the fact of modern French
historians. Jumonville did bear a summons, but it was an order
for the English to retire, with a threat of compulsion if they failed
to obey.. This summons he did not show, but approached the
English camp stealthily, and brought on himself, by his imprudence,
the fate which he experienced.

Some reinforcements soon after reached Virginia, consisting of
three hundred and fifty men from North Carolina, one hundred
from South Carolina, and two companies from New York. Of
these only those from South Carolina arrived at Great Meadows.]

It was foreseen by Colonel Washington that when the
French at Fort Duquesne should get the news of Ju-
monville's defeat a strong detachment would be sent out
against him. As a preparation for this event, he set all
his men at work to enlarge the intrenchment at the Great
Meadows, and to erect palisades. To the structure
thus hastily thrown up he gave the name of Fort Neces
sity.

The Indians, who leaned to the English interest, fled
before the French and flocked to the camp, bringing along
their wives and children and putting them under his pro-

SPARKS] THE OPENING OF THE WAR. 309

tection. Among them came Tanacharison and his people,
Queen Aliquippa and her son, and other persons of dis
tinction, till between forty and fifty families gathered
around him and laid his magazine of supplies under a
heavy contribution. It may be said, once for all, that the
burden of supporting these sons of the forest during this
campaign, and the perplexities of managing them, were
by no means counterbalanced by any advantage derived
from their aid. As spies and scouts they were of some
service; in the field they did nothing.

The forces at the Great Meadows, including Captain
Mackay's [South Carolina] company, had now increased
to about four hundred men. But a new difficulty arose,
which threatened disagreeable consequences. Captain
Mackay had a royal commission, which in his opinion put
him above the authority of Colonel Washington, who was
a colonial officer, commissioned by the governor of Vir
ginia. He was a man of mild and gentlemanly manners,
and no personal difference interrupted the harmony be
tween them; but still he declined receiving the orders of
the colonel, and his company occupied a separate encamp
ment. . . .

To avoid altercation, and prevent the contagious exam
ple of disobedience from infecting the troops, Colonel
Washington resolved to advance with a large part of his
army, and, if not obstructed by the enemy, to go on by
the shortest route to the Monongahela River. Captain
Mackay's company was left at Fort Necessity, as a guard
to that post. The road was to be cleared and levelled for
artillery-carriages; and the process was so laborious that
it took two wreeks to effect a passage through the gorge
of the mountains to Gist's settlement, a distance of only
thirteen miles. . . . Due vigilance was practised, and
scouts were kept abroad, even as far as the neighborhood

610 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SPARKS

of Fort Duquesne, so that the first motions of the enemy
might be detected.

[It was soon discovered that Fort Duquesne had been reinforced
from Canada, and that a force was preparing to march against the
English. It was at first decided to make a stand at Gist's settlement,
and Mackay's company was ordered up. But another council decided
that the enemy's force was too large, and that a retreat was neces
sary. It was achieved with great difficulty and exertion, the horses
being few and weak, and the burden of labor falling on the men.]

In two days they all got back to the Great Meadows.
It was not the intention at first to halt at this place, but
the men had become so much fatigued from great labor
and a deficiency of provisions that they could draw the
swivels no farther, nor carry the baggage on their backs.
They had been eight days without bread, and at the Great
Meadows they found only a few bags of flour. . . .

Colonel Washington set his men to felling trees, and
carrying logs to the fort, with a view to raise a breast
work and enlarge and strengthen the fortification in the
best manner that circumstances would permit. The space
of ground called the Great Meadows is a level bottom,
through which passes a small creek, and is surrounded by
hills of a moderate and gradual ascent. This bottom, or
glade, is entirely level, covered with long grass and bushes,
and varies in width. At the point where the fort stood,
it is about two hundred and fifty yards wide, from the
base of one hill to that of the opposite. The position of
the fort was well chosen, being about one hundred yards
from the upland, or wooded ground, on the one side, and
one hundred and fifty on the other, and so situated on
the margin of the creek as to afford an easy access to
water. . . .

On the 3d of July, early in the morning, an alarm was
received from a sentinel, who had been wounded by the

SPARKS] THE OPENING OF THE WAR. 311

enemy; and at nine o'clock intelligence came that the
whole body of the enemy, amounting, as was reported, to
nine hundred men, was only four miles off. At eleven
o'clock they approached the fort, and began to fire, at the
distance of six hundred yards, but without effect. Colonel
Washington had drawn up his men on the open and level
ground outside of the trenches, waiting for the attack,
which he presumed would be made as soon as the enemy's
forces emerged from the woods; and he ordered his men
to reserve their fire till they should be near enough to
do execution. . . . He maintained his post till he found
the French did not incline to leave the woods and attack
the fort by an assault, as he supposed they would, con
sidering their superiority of numbers. He then drew
his men back within the trenches, and gave them orders
to fire according to their discretion, as suitable oppor
tunities might present themselves. The French and In
dians remained on the side of the rising ground which
was nearest to the fort, and, sheltered by the trees, kept
up a brisk fire of musketry, but never appeared in the
open plain below. The rain fell heavily through the day,
the trenches were filled with water, and many of the arms
of Colonel Washington's men were out of order and used
with difficulty. #

In this way the battle continued from eleven in the morn
ing till eight at night, when the French called and re
quested a parley. Suspecting this to be a feint to procure
the admission of an officer into the fort, that he might
discover their condition, Colonel Washington at first de
clined to listen to the proposal.

[He afterwards agreed to it, and, articles of capitulation being pro
posed by the French commander, they were accepted and signed by
both parties.]

312 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [SPARKS

By the terms of the capitulation, the whole garrison
was to retire, and return without molestation to the in
habited parts of the country; and the French commander
promised that no embarrassment should be interposed,
either by his own men or the savages. The English were
to take away everything in their possession, except their
artillery, and to march out of the fort the next morning
with the honors of war, their drums beating and colors
flying. As the French had killed all the horses and cattle,
Colonel Washington had no means of transporting his
heavy baggage and stores; and it was conceded to him
that his men might conceal their effects, and that a guard
might be left to protect them, till horses could be sent up
to take them away. Colonel Washington agreed to restore
the prisoners who had been taken at the skirmish with
Jumonville; and, as a surety for this article, two hostages,
Captain Vanbraam and Captain Stobo, were delivered up
to the French, and were to be retained till the prisoners
should return. It was, moreover, agreed that the party
capitulating should not attempt to build any more estab
lishments at that place, or beyond the mountains, for the
space of a year.

Early the next morning Colonel Washington began to
march from the fort in good order, but he had proceeded
only a short distance when a body of one hundred Indians,
being a reinforcement to the French, came upon him, and
could hardly be restrained from attacking his men. They
pilfered the baggage, and did other mischief. He marched
forward, however, with as much speed as possible in the
weakened and encumbered condition of his army, there
being no other mode of conveying the wounded men and
the baggage than on the soldiers' backs. As the provi
sions were nearly exhausted, no time was to be lost; and,
leaving much of the baggage behind, he hastened to Will's

MMBHtfi

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

FROST] BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 313

Creek, where all the necessary supplies were in store.
Thence Colonel Washington and Captain Mackay pro
ceeded to Williamsburg, and communicated in person to
Governor Dinwiddie the events of the campaign.

[The narration here given is of especial importance, as recording
the first military event in the life of George Washington, who was
afterwards to become so famous in the annals of war. Although but
a youth, unskilled in war, he had shown remarkable prudence, cour
age, and ability. His conduct, as well as that of his troops, was
highly approved by the authorities, and the House of Burgesses
passed a vote of thanks to Colonel Washington and his officers " for
their bravery and gallant defence of their country."]

BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT.

JOHN FROST.

[As it was now becoming apparent that war with France was in
evitable, and as the continued advances of the French upon what was
claimed by the English colonists as their territory demonstrated the
necessity of co-operation in the colonies, the English government rec
ommended that a convention should be held at Albany, for the
double purpose of forming a league with the Iroquois and of devis
ing a plan of general defence against the common enemy. The dele
gates from the colonies met in June, 1754, made a treaty of peace
with the Six Nations, and considered the subject of colonial union.
Among the delegates was Benjamin Franklin, of Philadelphia, who,
starting in life as a printer's boy, was now postmaster-general of
America, and was looked upon by many as the ablest of American
thinkers. He proposed a plan of union, which the convention
adopted on July 4. There was to be a general government of the
colonies, presided over by a governor-general appointed by the
crown, and conducted by a council chosen by the colonial legisla
tures. The council was to have the power to raise troops, declare
war, make peace, collect money, and pass all measures necessary for
the public safety. The governor-general was to have the power to

314 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [FROST

veto its ordinances, while all laws were required to be ratified by the
king. This plan was favored by all the delegates except those of
Connecticut, who objected to the veto power of the governor-general
and to the authority to lay general taxes. But when submitted to the
colonial Assemblies and to the British government it was rejected by
both, the colonies considering that it gave too much power to the
king, and the king that it gave too much power to the people. As
this plan had failed, the British ministry determined to take the con
trol of the war into their own hands, and to send out an army strong
enough to force the French to keep within their own territory. The
story of the ensuing events we select from Frost's " Life of General
Washington."]

IN January, 1755, General Braddock was despatched
from Ireland, with two regiments of infantry, to co-operate
with the Virginian forces in recovering the command of
the Ohio. The arrival of Braddock excited enthusiastic
hopes among the colonists. The different provinces
seemed to forget their disputes with each other and with
Great Britain, and to enter into a resolution to chastise
the French, at whatever cost. At the request of the Brit
ish commander, a meeting of the governors of five of the
colonies was held at Alexandria, at which they determined
to undertake three simultaneous expeditions. The first
of these was to be conducted by Braddock, with the Brit
ish troops, against Fort Duquesne; the second, under the
command of Governor Shirley, now honored with the com
mission of a general from the king, was intended for the
reduction of the French fort of Niagara, and was composed
of American regulars and Indians; the third was an expe
dition against Crown Point, to be undertaken by a regi
ment of militia.

[The orders brought by Braddock divested the colonial generals
and field-officers of all rank while serving with British officers of the
same grade, and made company officers subordinate to those of the
regular army. This left Washington without rank in the new army ;

FROST] BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 315

yet he was eager to take part in the expedition, and at Braddock's re
quest he joined him with the rank of aide-de-camp. The army pro
ceeded by way of Frederic Town and Winchester to Will's Creek,
which was reached about the middle of May. Here a long halt was
made, to obtain wagons and horses, though Washington strongly op
posed the delay, and recommended an immediate advance, before the
French could reinforce their posts on the Ohio. Finally the wagons
were obtained, through the strenuous exertions of Benjamin Frank
lin and his personal influence with the farmers of Pennsylvania. On
the loth of June the army recommenced its march. As it proceeded
very slowly, Washington advised a rapid advance of a portion of
the troops, leaving the rear division, with the baggage, heavy artil
lery, etc., to follow more slowly.]

This advice prevailed in the council, and, being approved
by the general, he advanced on the iQth of June, with
twelve hundred chosen men, and officers from all the dif
ferent corps, leaving the remainder, with most of the
wagons, under the command of Colonel Dunbar, with in
structions to follow as fast as he could. Notwithstanding
this arrangement, Braddock advanced very slowly, " halt
ing to level every mole-hill and to erect bridges over every
brook, by which means he was four days in advancing
twelve miles."

[Washington was now prostrated with a severe fever, and was
obliged to remain with the rear division. He rejoined the general
on the day before the battle, and was then able to sit on horseback,
though still very weak.]

On joining Braddock's division on the 8th, at the mouth
of the Youghiogheny, Washington was surprised to find
them, though within fifteen miles of the fort, marching in
regular European order, in as perfect security as if they
were on the wide plains of the Eastern Hemisphere, or
in a peaceful review, on a field-day, in England. They
marched without advanced guards or scouts; and the offer
of Washington to scour the woods, in front and on

316 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [FROST

the flanks, with his Virginian provincials, was haughtily
rejected.

A considerable bend in the Monongahela River, and the
nature of the banks, made it necessary for the army to
cross it twice before they reached the fort. On the morn
ing of the pth of July, everything being in readiness, the
whole train crossed the river in perfect order, a short dis
tance below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and took
up their line of march along its southern bank, in high
spirits. The garrison of the fort was understood to be
small, and quite inadequate to resist the force now brought
to bear upon it; exulting hope filled every heart; and no
one doubted that he should see the British flag waving,
next day, over the battlements, and the enemy obliged
to retire to Canada or surrender themselves prisoners of
war. The march on that morning is described as a splen
did spectacle, being made in full military array, in exact
order, the sun glancing from the burnished bayonets to
the scarlet uniform of the regulars, with a majestic river
on the right, and dark, deep woods on the left. Not an
enemy appeared, and the most profound silence reigned
over this wild territory. The only countenance among
them which was clouded with care or concern was that
of Washington, who, as he rode beside the general, vainly
represented that the profound silence and apparent soli
tude of the gloomy scenes around them afforded no se
curity in American warfare against deadly and imminent
danger. Again, and still vainly, did he offer to scour the
woods in front and on the left with the provincial troops.
The general treated his fears as the effects of fever on his
brain, and the provincials were ordered to form the rear
guard of the detachment.

About noon they reached the second crossing-place,
within ten miles of Fort Duquesne, and at one o'clock

FROST] BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 317

had all crossed the river in safety. Three hundred men
under Colonel Gage formed the advance party, which
was closely followed by a party of two hundred; and last
of all followed the general with the main body, consisting
of about seven hundred men, the artillery and baggage.

After crossing the river, the road along which they
marched led for about half a mile through a low plain,
and then commenced a gradual ascent of about three
degrees, the prospect being shut in by hills in the distance.
About a hundred and fifty yards from the bottom of this
inclined plain, and about equidistant from the road leading
to the fort, commenced two ravines, from eight to ten feet
deep, which led off in different directions until they ter
minated in the plain below. Covered as these ravines
were with trees and long grass, and the British having no
scouts, it was impossible for them to discover their exist
ence without approaching within a few feet of them. Up
this inclined plain, between these ravines, General Brad-
dock led his army on the afternoon of the Qth of July.

While the English were thus leisurely advancing, the
scouts of the French kept the commandant at Fort Du-
quesne accurately informed of their motions and their
numbers. Believing the small force under his command
wholly inadequate to the defence of the fort against three
thousand men, with a formidable park of artillery, as his
scouts had represented them, he was hesitating what
course to pursue, when Captain de Beaujeu offered to lead
a small party of French and Indians to meet the enemy
and harass his march. It required a great deal of persua
sion to induce the Indians to engage in what they con
sidered an impossible undertaking; but, possessing their
confidence, he finally subdued their unwillingness, and
induced about six hundred of them to accompany him.
With these and about two hundred and fifty French and

318 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [FROST

Canadians, he intended to occupy the banks of the Monon-
gahela and harass the English as they crossed the river.
It was only on the morning of the 9th that he was ready to
start on this expedition, and when he arrived near the
river his spies reported that Braddock had already crossed.
Finding that he was too late to pursue his original plan,
de Beaujeu placed his followers in the ravines before men
tioned, between which the English were seen advancing
along the road.

When the three hundred under Gage came near the
head of the ravines, a heavy discharge of musketry was
poured in upon their front, and immediately after another
upon their left flank. This was the first notice which they
had of the presence of an enemy. Braddock was com
pletely surprised. Gage ordered his men to fire, and
though no enemy was visible, yet they poured such a
discharge upon the spot where the smoke of the first fire
was still to be seen, that the Indians, believing that it pro
ceeded from artillery, were upon the point of retreating.
Their indecision was but for an instant, for the advance,
falling back upon the main body, threw them into con
fusion; and instead of following the example of the In
dians and taking to the trees, or opening upon their
invisible foe a discharge of grape, they were ordered by
Braddock to maintain their ranks and advance. Captain
de Beaujeu was killed by the first discharge of Gage's
men, and Captain Dumas, who succeeded him in the com
mand, immediately rallied the Indians, and, sending them
down the ravines, ordered them to attack the enemy on
each flank, while he, with the French and Canadians,
maintained his position in front. Then commenced a ter
rible carnage. The British, panic-struck and bewildered,
huddled together in squads, heeded not the commands of
their officers, who were riding about madly urging them

FROST] BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 319

to advance, but they only fled from one side of the field to
be met by the fire of an invisible foe on the other side ; and
then they would gather in small parties as if they hoped
to shield themselves behind the bodies of their friends,
firing without aim, oftener shooting down their own offi
cers and men than Indians. Their only hope would now
have been to separate, rush behind the trees, and fight
man to man with their assailants; but Braddock insisted
on forming them into platoons and columns, in« order to
make regular discharges, which struck only the trees or
tore up the ground in front. The Virginians alone seemed
to retain their senses. Notwithstanding the prohibition
of the general, they no sooner knew the enemy with whom
they had to deal, than they adopted the Indian mode of
fighting, and each for himself, behind a tree, manifested
bravery worthy of a better fate.

Meanwhile the French and Indians, secure behind their
natural breastworks, aimed deliberately first at the officers
on horseback, and then at others, each shot bringing down
a man. The leaders, selected by unerring aim, fell first.
Captains Orme and Morris, two of the three aides-de
camp, were wounded early in the action, and Washington
was the only person left to distribute the general's orders,
which he was scarcely able to do, as he was not more than
half recovered from his illness. Notwithstanding the neg
lect with which his warnings had been treated, he still
aided the general with his mental as well as his physical
powers ; though the troops lay thick around him in slaugh
tered heaps, he still gave the aid of salutary counsel to his
ill-fated chief, and urged it with all the grace of eloquence
and all the force of conviction. Riding in every direction,
his manly form drew the attention of the savages, and
they doomed him to destruction. The murdering rifles
were levelled, the quick bullets flew winged with death,

320 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [FROST

and pierced his garments; but, obedient to the Sovereign
.will, they dared not shed his blood. One chieftain es
pecially singled Washington out as a conspicuous mark,
fired his rifle at him many times, and ordered his young
warriors to do the same, until they became convinced
that he was under the special protection of the Great
Spirit, and would never die in battle, when they desisted.
Although four balls passed through Washington's coat,
and two horses were shot under him, he escaped unhurt.

Washington's conduct in the action is described by an
eye-witness whose verbal account is thus given by Mr.
Paulding : " I saw him take hold of a brass field-piece as
if it had been a stick. He looked like a fury; he tore the
sheet-lead from the touch-hole ; he placed one hand on the
muzzle, the other on the breach ; he pulled with this, and
he pushed with that, and wheeled it around as if it had
been nothing. It tore the ground like a barshare. The
powder-monkey rushed up with the fire, and then the can
non began to bark, I tell you. They fought and they
fought, and the Indians began to holla, when the rest of
the brass cannon made the bark of the trees fly, and the
Indians come down. That place they call Rock Hill, and
there they left five hundred men dead on the ground."

After the slaughter had thus continued for three hours,
General Braddock, after having three horses killed under
him, received a shot through the right arm and the lungs,
and was borne from the field by Colonel Gage. More
than one-half of the soldiers who had so proudly crossed
the river three hours before were now killed or wounded,
and the rest, on the fall of the general, fled precipitately.
The provincials, who were among the last to leave the
ground, were kept in order by Washington, and served to
cover the retreat of the regulars. The officers in general
remained on the field while there seemed any hope of ral-

FROST] BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 321

lying their troops, and consequently, out of eighty-six
engaged, sixty-three were killed or wounded. Of the pri
vates, seven hundred and fourteen fell. The rout was
complete, and the more disgraceful in that it was before
an inferior enemy, who attacked without the least hope of
such success, and during the whole battle lost but forty
men. Most of these were Indians killed in venturing out
of the ravine to take scalps.

Captain Dumas thought his force too weak to pursue
the fugitives, who fled precipitately until they had re-
crossed the Monongahela, when, being no longer in immi
nent danger, they again formed. Colonel Washington
hastened forward to bring up wagons and other convey
ances for the wounded.

General Braddock, under the particular charge of Cap
tain Stewart of the Virginia forces, was at first conveyed
in a tumbril ; afterwards he was placed on horseback, but,
being unable to ride, he was obliged to be carried by
soldiers. In this way he was transported until the night
of the 1 3th, when they arrived within a mile of Fort
Necessity, where he died, and was buried in his cloak,
in the road, to elude the search of the Indians. Wash
ington, by the light of a torch, read the funeral service
over his remains.

The news of the defeat soon reached the rear division
under Colonel Dunbar. The greatest confusion for a time
reigned in his camp. The artillery stores were destroyed,
the heavy baggage burned, and as soon as the fugitives
arrived he took up the line of march with all speed for
Philadelphia. Colonel Washington proceeded to Mount
Vernon, justly indignant at the conduct of the regulars in
the late engagement, though his own bravery and good
conduct in the action gained him the applause of all his
countrymen.

I— 21

322 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE.

FRANCIS PARKMAN.

[Of the three principal operations laid out for the year 1755, that
against Fort Duquesne ended, as we have seen, in a disastrous de
feat for the English. The news of this defeat put an end to the
expedition against Fort Niagara, through the discouragement which
it produced. The third expedition, that against Crown Point, was
more successful, and led to an engagement of such importance as
to merit a special description. The forces selected for this purpose
were militia-men from New England and New York, under the
command of a prominent New-Yorker named William Johnson, a
man of great influence with the Five Nations. All his influence and
endeavors, however, only induced about three hundred of them to
enlist for the expected battle. From Parkman's spirited history,
entitled " Montcalm and Wolfe," we select an account of the events
of this campaign.]

WHILE the British colonists were preparing to attack
Crown Point, the French of Canada were preparing to
defend it. Duquesne, recalled from his post, had resigned
the government to the Marquis de Vaudreuil, who had at
his disposal the battalions of regulars that had sailed in
the spring from Brest under Baron Dieskau. His first
thought was to use them for the capture of Oswego ; but
the letters of Braddock, found on the battle-field, warned
liim of the design against Crown Point, while a reconnoi
tring party which had gone as far as the Hudson brought
back news that Johnson's forces were already in the field.
Therefore the plan was changed, and Dieskau was ordered
to lead the main body of his troops, not to Lake Ontario,
but to Lake Champlain. He passed up the Richelieu, and
embarked in boats and canoes for Crown Point. The
veteran knew that the foes with whom he had to deal
were but a mob of countrymen. He doubted not of put
ting them to rout, and meant never to hold his hand till

PARKMAN] THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE. 323

he had chased them back to Albany. " Make all haste,"
Vaudreuil wrote to him ; " for when you return we shall
send you to Oswego to execute our first design."

Johnson, on his part, was preparing to advance. In
July about three thousand provincials were encamped near
Albany, some on the " Flats " above the town, and some
on the meadows below. Hither, too, came a swarm of
Johnson's Mohawks, — warriors, squaws, and children.
They adorned the general's face with war-paint, and he
danced the war-dance; then with his sword he cut the
first slice from the ox that had been roasted whole for
their entertainment. " I shall be glad," wrote the surgeon
of a New England regiment, " if they fight as eagerly as
they ate their ox and drank their wine."

[Though promptness was of great importance, there was much
delay in bringing the troops together. The army, though crude in
its makeup, had in it much good material. Among the men were
two who were destined to make their names well known in Ameri
can history, — Israel Putnam, a private in a Connecticut regiment,
and John Stark, a New Hampshire lieutenant, the future hero of
Bennington.]

The soldiers were no soldiers, but farmers and farmers'
sons who had volunteered for the summer campaign. One
of the corps had a blue uniform faced with red. The rest
wore their daily clothing. Blankets had been served out
to them by the several provinces, but the greater part
brought their own guns; some under the penalty of a
fine if they came without them, and some under the in
ducement of a reward. They had no bayonets, but car
ried hatchets in their belts as a sort of substitute. At
their sides were slung powder-horns, on which, in the lei
sure of the camp, they carved quaint devices with the
points of their jack-knives. They came chiefly from plain
New England homesteads, — rustic abodes, unpainted and
dingy, with long well-sweeps, capacious barns, rough fields

324: THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

of pumpkins and corn, and vast kitchen-chimneys, above
which in winter hung squashes to keep them from frost,
and guns to keep them from rust.

[Mohawk scouts who had been sent to Canada returned with the
report that eight thousand men were marching to defend Crown
Point. Indecision followed, but it was finally resolved to march to
Lake George.]

The train of Dutch wagons, guarded by the homely
soldiery, jolted slowly over the stumps and roots of the
newly-made road, and the regiments followed at their
leisure. The hardships of the way were not without
their consolations. The jovial Irishman who held the
chief command made himself very agreeable to the New
England officers. " We went on about four or five miles/'
says Pomeroy in his Journal, " then stopped, ate pieces
of broken bread and cheese, and drank some fresh
lemon-punch and the best of wine with General Johnson
and some of the field-officers." It was the same on the
next day. " Stopped about noon and dined with General
Johnson by a small brook under a tree ; ate a good dinner
of cold boiled and roast venison ; drank good fresh lemon-
punch and wine."

That afternoon they reached their destination, fourteen
miles from Fort Lyman. The most beautiful lake in
America lay before them; then more beautiful than now,
in the wild charm of untrodden mountains and virgin
forests. " I have given it the name of Lake George,"
wrote Johnson to the Lords of Trade, " not only in honor
of His Majesty, but to ascertain his undoubted dominion
here." His men made their camp on a piece of rough
ground by the edge of the water, pitching their tents
among the stumps of the newly-felled trees. In their
front was a forest of pitch-pine; on their right, a marsh,

PARKMAN] THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE. 325

choked with alders and swamp-maples; on their left, the
low hill where Fort George was afterwards built; and at
their rear, the lake. Little was done to clear the forest in
front, though it would give excellent cover to an enemy.
Nor did Johnson take much pains to learn the movements
of the French in the direction of Crown Point, though he
sent scouts towards South Bay and Wood Creek. Every
day stores and bateaux, or flat-boats, came on wagons
from Fort Lyman; and preparation moved on with the
leisure that had marked it from the first. About three
hundred Mohawks came to the camp, and were regarded
by the New England men as nuisances. . . .

While Johnson lay at Lake George, Dieskau prepared a
surprise for him. The German baron had reached Crown
Point at the head of three "thousand five hundred and
seventy-three men, regulars, Canadians, and Indians. He
had no thought of waiting there to be attacked. The
troops were told to hold themselves ready to move at a
moment's notice. Officers — so ran the order — will take
nothing with them but one spare shirt, one spare pair of
shoes, a blanket, a bearskin, and provisions for twelve
days; Indians are not to amuse themselves by taking
scalps till the enemy is entirely defeated, since they can
kill ten men in the time required to scalp one. Then
Dieskau moved on, with nearly all his force, to Carillon,
or Ticonderoga, a promontory commanding both the
routes by which alone Johnson could advance, that of
Wood Creek and that of Lake George.

The Indian allies were commanded by Legardeur de
Saint-Pierre, the officer who had received Washington
on his embassy to Fort Le Bceuf. These unmanageable
warriors were a constant annoyance to Dieskau, being a
species of humanity quite new to him. " They drive us
crazy," he says, " from morning till night. There is no

326 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

end to their demands. They have already eaten five oxen
and as many hogs, without counting the kegs of brandy
they have drunk. In short, one needs the patience of an
angel to get on with these devils; and yet one must al
ways force himself to seem pleased with them."

[Dieskau, being falsely informed by a prisoner that Fort Lyman
was indefensible, resolved on a rapid movement to seize it. He
passed down Lake Champlain to the site of Whitehall, by canoe,
and then took up the line of march through the forest. Word came
in now that there was a large force encamped on Lake George, and
the Indians decided that they would not attack the fort, but were
ready to proceed against the camp. This movement was determined
onj

They moved rapidly on through the waste of pines, and
soon entered the rugged valley that led to Johnson's camp.
On their right was a gorge where, shadowed in bushes,
gurgled a gloomy brook; and beyond rose the cliffs that
buttressed the rocky heights of French Mountain, seen by
glimpses between the boughs. On their left rose gradually
the lower slopes of West Mountain. All was rock, thicket,
and forest; there was no open space but the road along
which the regulars marched, while the Canadians and In
dians pushed their way through the woods in such order
as the broken ground would permit.

They were three miles from the lake, when their scouts
brought in a prisoner who told them that a column of
English troops was approaching. Dieskau's preparations
were quickly made. While the regulars halted on the
road, the Canadians and Indians moved to the front, where
most of them hid in the forest along the slopes of West
Mountain, and the rest lay close among the thickets on the
other side. Thus, when the English advanced to attack
the regulars in front, they would find themselves caught
in a double ambush. No sight or sound betrayed the
snare; but behind every bush crouched a Canadian or a

PARKMAN] THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE. 327

savage, with gun cocked and ears intent, listening for the
tramp of the approaching column.

The wagoners who escaped the evening before had
reached the camp about midnight, and reported that there
was a war-party on the road near Fort Lyman. Johnson
had at this time twenty-two hundred effective men, besides
his three hundred Indians. He called a council of war in
the morning, and a resolution was taken which can only
be explained by a complete misconception as to the forces
of the French. It was determined to send out two detach
ments of five hundred men each, one towards Fort Lyman,
and the other towards South Bay, the object being, accord
ing to Johnson, " to catch the enemy in their retreat."
Hendrick, chief of the Mohawks, a brave and sagacious
warrior, expressed his dissent after a fashion of his own.
He picked up a stick and broke it; then he picked up
several sticks, and showed that together they could not be
broken. The hint was taken, and the two detachments
were joined in one. Still the old savage shook his head.
" If they are to be killed," he said, " they are too many ; if
they are to fight, they are too few." Nevertheless, he re
solved to share their fortunes; and, mounting on a gun-
carriage, he harangued his warriors with a voice so ani
mated and gestures so expressive that the New England
officers listened in admiration, though they understood not
a word. One difficulty remained. He was too old and fat
to go afoot; but Johnson lent him a horse, which he be
strode, and trotted to the head of the column, followed by
two hundred of his warriors as fast as they could grease,
paint, and befeather themselves. . . .

It was soon after eight o'clock when Ephraim Williams
left the camp with his regiment, marched a little distance,
and then waited for the rest of the detachment under
Lieutenant-Colonel Whiting. Thus Dieskau had full time

328 THE GREAT REPUBLIC [PARKMAN

to lay his ambush. When Whiting came up, the whole
moved on together, so little conscious of danger that no
scouts were thrown out in front or flank; and, in full
security, they entered the fatal snare. Before they were
completely involved in it, the sharp eye of old Hendrick
detected some sign of an enemy. At that instant, whether
by accident or design, a gun was fired from the bushes.
It is said that Dieskau's Iroquois, seeing Mohawks, their
relatives, in the van, wished to warn them of danger. If
so, the warning came too late. The thickets on the left
blazed out a deadly fire, and the men fell by scores. In
the words of Dieskau, the head of the column " was
doubled up like a pack of cards." Hendrick's horse was
shot down, and the chief was killed with a bayonet as he
tried to rise. Williams, seeing a rising ground on his right,
made for it, calling on his men to follow ; but as he climbed
the slope, guns flashed from the bushes, and a shot through
the brain laid him dead. The men in the rear pressed
forward to support their comrades, when a hot fire was
suddenly opened on them from the forest along their
right flank. Then there was a panic; some fled outright,
and the whole column recoiled. The van now became the
rear, and all the force of the enemy rushed upon it, shout
ing and screeching. There was a moment of total confu
sion ; but a part of Williams's regiment rallied under com
mand of Whiting, and covered the retreat, fighting behind
trees like Indians, and firing and falling back by turns,
bravely aided by some of the* Mohawks and by a detach
ment which Johnson sent to their aid. " And a very
handsome retreat they made," writes Pomeroy ; " and so
continued till they came within about three-quarters of a
mile of our camp. This was the last fire our men gave
our enemies, which killed great numbers of them; they
were seen to drop as pigeons." So ended the fray long

PARKMAN] THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE.

known in New England fireside story as the " bloody
morning scout." Dieskau now ordered a halt, and
sounded his trumpets to collect his scattered men. His
Indians, however, were sullen and unmanageable, and the
Canadians also showed signs of wavering. The veteran
who commanded them all, Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, had
been killed. At length they were persuaded to move again,
the regulars leading the way.

About an hour after Williams and his men had begun
their march, a distant rattle of musketry was heard at the
camp ; and as it grew nearer and louder, the listeners knew
that their comrades were on the retreat. Then, at the
eleventh hour, preparations were begun for defence. A
sort of barricade was made along the front of the camp,
partly of wagons, and partly of inverted bateaux, but
chiefly of the trunks of trees hastily hewn down in the
neighboring forest and laid end to end in a single row.
The line extended from the southern slopes of the hill on
the left across a tract of rough ground to the marshes on
the right. The forest, choked with bushes and clumps
of rank ferns, was within a few yards of the barricade,
and there was scarcely time to hack away the inter
vening thickets. Three cannon were planted to sweep the
road that descended through the pines, and another was
dragged up to the ridge of the hill. The defeated party
began to come in: first, scared fugitives, both white and
red ; then, gangs of men bringing the wounded ; and at
last, an hour and a half after the first fire was heard, the
main detachment was seen marching in compact bodies
down the road.

Five hundred men were detailed to guard the flanks of
the camp. The rest stood behind the wagons or lay flat
behind the logs and inverted bateaux, the Massachusetts
men on the right, and the Connecticut men on the left

330 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

Besides Indians, this actual fighting force was between
sixteen and seventeen hundred rustics, very few of whom
had been under fire before that morning. They were
hardly at their posts when they saw ranks of white-coated
soldiers moving down the road, and bayonets that to them
seemed innumerable glittering between the boughs. At
the same time a terrific burst of war-whoops rose along
the front ; and, in the words of Pomeroy, " the Canadians
and Indians, helter-skelter, the woods full of them, came
running with undaunted courage right down the hill upon
us, expecting to make us flee." Some of the men grew
uneasy ; while the chief officers, sword in hand, threatened
instant death to any who should stir from their posts. If
Dieskau had made an assault at that instant, there could
be little doubt of the result

This he well knew; but he was powerless. He had his
small force of regulars well in hand ; but the rest, red and
white, were beyond control, scattering through the woods
and swamps, shouting, yelling, and firing from behind trees.
The regulars advanced with intrepidity towards the camp
where the trees were thin, deployed, and fired by platoons,
till Captain Eyre, who commanded the artillery, opened on
them with grape, broke their ranks, and compelled them
to take to cover. The fusillade was now general on both
sides, and soon grew furious. " Perhaps," Seth Pomeroy
wrote to his wife, two days after, " the hailstones from
heaven were never much thicker than their bullets came;
but, blessed be God! that did not in the least daunt or
disturb us." Johnson received a flesh-wound in the thigh,
and spent the rest of the day in his tent. Lyman took
command ; and it is a marvel that he escaped alive, for he
was four hours in the heat of the fire, directing and ani
mating the men. " It was the most awful day my eyes
ever beheld," wrote Surgeon Williams to his wife ; " there

PARKMAN] THE BATTLE AT LAKE GEORGE. 331

seemed to be nothing but thunder and lightning and per
petual pillars of smoke." . . .

Dieskau had directed his first attack against the left and
centre of Johnson's position. Making no impression here,
he tried to force the right, where lay the regiments of
Titcomb, Ruggles, and Williams. The fire was hot for
about an hour. Titcomb was shot dead, a rod in front of
the barricade, firing from behind a tree like a common
soldier. At length Dieskau, exposing himself within short
range of the English line, was hit in the leg. His adju
tant, Montreuil, himself wounded, came to his aid, and was
washing the injured limb with brandy, when the unfortu
nate commander was hit again in the knee and thigh. He
seated himself behind a tree, while the adjutant called two
Canadians to carry him to the rear. One of them was in
stantly shot down. Montreuil took his place ; but Dieskau
refused to be moved, bitterly denounced the Canadians and
Indians, and ordered the adjutant to leave him and lead
the regulars in a last effort^against the camp.

It was too late. Johnson's men, singly or in small squads,
were already crossing their row of logs ; and in a few mo
ments the whole dashed forward with a shout, falling upon
the enemy with hatchets and the butts of their guns. The
French and their allies fled. The wounded general still
sat helpless by the tree, when he saw a soldier aiming at
him. He signed to the man not to fire; but he pulled
trigger, shot him across the hips, leaped upon him, and
ordered him in French to surrender. " I said," writes
Dieskau, " ' You rascal, why did you fire ? You see a man
lying in his blood on the ground, and you shoot him ! ' He
answered, ' How did I know that you had not got a pistol ?
I had rather kill the devil than have the devil kill me.'
' You are a Frenchman ? ' I asked. * Yes,' he replied ; * it
is more than ten years since I left Canada ; ' whereupon

332 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [PARKMAN

several others fell on me and stripped me. I told them to
carry me to their general, which they did. On learning
who I was, he sent for surgeons, and, though wounded
himself, refused all assistance till my wounds were dressed."
It was near five o'clock when the final rout took place.
Some time before, several hundred of the Canadians and
Indians had left the field and returned to the scene of
the morning fight, to plunder and scalp the dead. They
were resting themselves near a pool in the forest, close
beside the road, when their repose was interrupted by
a volley of bullets. It was fired by a scouting party
from Fort Lyman, chiefly backwoodsmen, under Captains
Folsom and McGinnis. The assailants were greatly out
numbered; but after a hard fight the Canadians and In
dians broke and fled. McGinnis was mortally wounded.
He continued to give orders till the firing was over, then
fainted, and was carried, dying, to the camp. The bodies
of the slain, according to tradition, were thrown into the
pool, which bears to this day the name of Bloody Pond.

[Johnson had great difficulty in preserving the life of Dieskau,
the Mohawks, who were furious at the death of Hendrick, making
several efforts to kill him. The wounded baron, however, survived
to reach England, where he recovered sufficiently to live for several
years, though wretchedly shattered by his wounds.

The success attained by Johnson was not improved. He failed to
follow the flying foe, on the excuse that his men were tired. Yet
five hundred of them had stood still all day, and there were boats
enough to transport them to where Dieskau had left his canoes and
provisions, ten miles down the lake. Nor did he send out scouts
to Ticonderoga till a week afterwards. On the contrary, he in
trenched himself against a possible assault, and let two weeks pass
away, by the end of which time the enemy was intrenched at Ti
conderoga in force enough to defy him. Thus the expedition against
Crown Point, though attended with such an incidental success,
proved a failure. Johnson remained a month longer at the lake,
when he sent his army home. With the art of the courtier, he

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 333

changed the name of Fort Lyman to Fort Edward after one of the
king's grandsons, and called his new fort at Lake George William
Henry, after another. As a result of his victory and his policy he
received five thousand pounds from Parliament and was made a
baronet by the king.]

THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS.

JAMES HANNAY.

[The year of the conflicts last described was marked by another
event of great importance, and one which has aroused more feeling
than any other circumstance of the war. This was the removal of
the French settlers from Acadia, and their dispersion through the
English settlements. This event has been treated mainly from the
stand-point of sentiment, the cruelty of the deportation strongly
dwelt on, and the action of the English regarded as indefensible. A
calmer and fuller review of the circumstances gives a new face to the
situation, and shows that the English action, though it proved of
little utility, had much warrant in the circumstances of the case. We
extract an account of this deportation from Hannay's valuable " His
tory of Acadia."

It was preceded by certain military events which need to be out
lined. About the last of May, 1755, Colonel Monckton sailed from
Boston, with three thousand troops, with the design of reducing the
French settlements on the Bay of Fundy, which were considered as
encroachments on the English province of Nova Scotia. This prov
ince, the Acadia of a former period, had been taken by the English
in 1710, and was ceded to the English government by the treaty of
Utrecht in 1713. The French, however, had steadily encroached upon
the peninsula, and had strengthened themselves by forts on its New
Brunswick border, from which a hostile influence disseminated itself
through the French population of the peninsula. Monckton's expedi
tion was successful in reducing these forts. A block-house on Chig-
necto Bay was first carried by assault, and then Fort Beausejour, a
strong post on the neck of the peninsula, was invested, and taken
after a four days' siege. Fort Gaspereau, on Green Bay, was next
captured, after which the French abandoned their post on the St

334 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HANNAY

John's River. As the hostility of the Acadians to British rule con
tinued unabated, and as their presence endangered the security of the
province, it was resolved to remove them and endeavor to replace
them by settlers loyal to the British government. The circumstances
of this removal we append in the words of Mr. Hannay.]

THE English, after a possession of Acadia which lasted
nearly forty years, had not succeeded in founding a single
English settlement or adding to the English-speaking popu
lation of the province. The French Acadians, on the other
hand, had gone on increasing and spreading themselves
over the land. They were strong and formidable, not only
by reason of their number, but because of their knowledge
of wood-craft, of the management of canoes, and of many
other accomplishments which are essential to those who
would live in a forest country, and which were almost
indispensable qualifications for soldiers in such a land as
Acadia. All that the English had to show for their thirty-
nine years' occupation of the country were the fortifica
tions of Annapolis and a ruined fishing-station at Canso.
All the substantial gains of that time belonged to France,
for the Acadians were nearly three times as numerous as
when Port Royal fell, and they were quite as devoted to
the interests of France as their fathers had been. Acadia
in 1749 was as much a French colony as it had been forty
years before. The only difference was that the English
were at the expense of maintaining a garrison instead of
the French, and that they sometimes issued orders to the
inhabitants, which the latter verv seldom chose to obey.

[Of the various schemes to give Acadia an English population all
proved failures, except that of 1749, in which a large colony was es
tablished at a point hitherto unoccupied, where a town rapidly arose
from which has sprung the present city of Halifax. The Acadians,
however, steadily refused to take the oath of allegiance to Great
Britain, and, while professing to be neutral between the English and

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 335

the French, secretly abetted the latter. Three hundred of them were
found in Fort Beausejour when captured, and their hostility to the
English was pronounced.]

The event for which the year 1755 will be ever memo
rable in the history of this continent was not the capture
of Beausejour, nor the defeat of Braddock. These were
results which occurred in the ordinary course of warfare,
and which grew naturally out of the struggle which Eng
land and France were waging in America. Our interest
in them is merely the interest of patriotism; we feel no
sympathy for the individual soldier who lays down his
life for his country, for it is the business of the soldier to
fight and to die, and to some a death on the field of battle
which is lighted by the sun of victory seems the happiest
death of all. The event which gives the year 1755 a sad
pre-eminence over its fellows — the expulsion of the Aca-
dians — was an occurrence of a very different character.
The sufferers were men who were, or ought to have been,
non-combatants, and in the common ruin which overtook
them their wives and children were involved. The break
ing up of their domestic hearths, their severance from
their property, the privations they endured when driven
among strangers, and the numberless ills which overtook
them as the result of their first misfortune, have an inter
est for the people of every nation, for they appeal to our
common humanity. It seems at the first view of the case
an outrage on that humanity and a grievous wrong that
such an occurrence as the expulsion of the Acadians
should have taken place merely from political motives.
The misfortunes and sufferings of the Acadians stand out
prominently, and appeal to every eye; a great poet has
sung of their sorrows ;* innumerable writers of books have

* Longfellow, in " Evangeline."

336 THE GREAT REPUBLIC [HANNAY

referred to their expulsion in terms of condemnation; and
so the matter has grown until it came to be almost a set
tled opinion that the expulsion of the Acadians was some
thing which could not be justified, and of which its au
thors should have been ashamed. That is the view which
one historian of Nova Scotia gives of the affair. Perhaps
those who examine the whole matter impartially, in the
light of all the facts, will come to the conclusion that it
would have been a real cause for shame had the Acadians
been permitted longer to misuse the clemency of the gov
ernment, to plot against British power, and to obstruct
the settlement of the province by loyal subjects.

One statement has been very industriously circulated by
French writers with a view to throw odium on the trans
action. They say that the Acadians were expelled " be
cause the greedy English colonists looked upon their fair
farms with covetous eyes," and that the government was
influenced by these persons. A more flagrant untruth
never was told. . . . None of the lands of the Acadians
were settled by the English until several years after the
French were .expelled, and not until most of the lands had
gone back to a state of nature in consequence of the break
ing of the dikes. . . . Five, years elapsed after the ex
pulsion before the noble diked lands of Grand Pre were
occupied by English settlers, and the lands of Annapolis
were not occupied by the English until nine or ten years
after the French had left them. . . . From motives of
economy, if for no other reason, it was considered highly
desirable that the Acadians should remain on their lands,
in order that they might supply the garrisons with pro
visions at a fair price, and so reduce the cost of maintain
ing them. It was also felt that the French, if they could
be induced to become loyal subjects, would be a great
source of strength to the colony, from their knowledge

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 337

of wood-craft and from their friendly relations with the
Indians. It was, therefore, on no pretext that this desire
to keep the French in the province — which is attested by
more than forty years of forbearance — was succeeded by
a determination to remove them from it. ... It must be
remembered that in 1755 England was entering on a great
war with France, which, although it ended disastrously for
the latter power, certainly commenced with the balance
of advantage in her favor. In such a death-struggle, it
was evident that there was no room for half-way measures,
and that a weak policy would almost certainly be fatal to
British power. Ever since the treaty of Utrecht, a period
of more than forty years, the Acadians had lived on their
lands without complying with the terms on which they
were to be permitted to retain them, which was to become
British subjects. Although the soil upon which they lived
was British territory, they claimed to be regarded as
" Neutrals," not liable to be called upon to bear arms
either for or against the English. Their neutrality, how
ever, did not prevent them from aiding the French to the
utmost of their power and throwing every possible em
barrassment in the way of the English. It did not pre
vent many of them from joining with the Indians in attacks
on the garrison at Annapolis and on other English forti
fied posts in Acadia. It did not prevent them from carry
ing their cattle and grain to Louisburg, Beausejour, and
the river St. John, instead of to Halifax and Annapolis,
when England and France were at war. It did not pre
vent them from maintaining a constant correspondence
with the enemies of England, or from acting the part of
spies on the English and keeping Vergor at Beausejour
informed of the exact state of their garrisons from time
to time. It did not prevent them from being on friendly
terms with the savages, who beset the English so closely
i — 22

338 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HANNAY

that an English settler could scarcely venture beyond his
barn, or an English soldier beyond musket-shot of his
fort, for fear of being killed and scalped.

[The Acadians seem to have been badly advised. No interference
was attempted with their religion, yet some of their priests acted as
political agents of France, used all their influence to keep alive hos
tility to the English, and induced many of the inhabitants to emigrate
from the province. Several thousand Acadians in all thus emigrated,
fourteen hundred of whom, led by a French officer, remained on the
borders of the province, armed, and reinforced by a large body of In
dians. This fact made the authorities more persistent in their efforts
to force the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance, and induced
them to adopt measures to disarm them. Acadian deputies soon after
came to Halifax, demanding that their guns should be restored, but
persistently refusing to take the oath " to be faithful and loyal to his
majesty George Second." Other negotiations ensued, but the depu
ties were determined to take no oath except one with a reservation
that they should not be obliged to take up arms. Governor Lawrence
insisted that they should become full British subjects, or they could
not be permitted to remain in the country, declaring that they had
always secretly aided the Indians, and many of them openly taken up
arms against the British. To this they replied that they were deter
mined, one and all, to quit their lands rather than take any other oath
than that they had already taken.

On Monday, the 28th of July, the final memorial of the inhabitants
was received. They all firmly refused to take the unconditional
oath of allegiance to the British government In consequence, it
was decided to expel them from the province.]

The determination to remove the Acadians having been
taken, it only remained to make such arrangements as
seemed necessary to carry out the object effectually. The
council decided that, in order to prevent them from re
turning and again molesting the English settlers, they
should be distributed amongst the colonies from Massa
chusetts to Virginia. On the 3ist July, Governor Law
rence wrote to Colonel Monckton, stating the determina-

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 339

tion of the government with reference to the Acadians, and
informing him that as those about the isthmus had been
found in arms, and were therefore entitled to no favor
from the government, it was determined to begin with
them first. He was informed that orders had been given
to send a sufficient number of transports up the bay to
take the Acadians of that district on board. Monckton
was ordered to keep the measure secret until he could get
the men into his power, so that he could detain them until
the transports arrived. He was directed to secure their
shallops, boats, and canoes, and to see that none of their
cattle was driven away, they being forfeited to the crown.
He was told that the inhabitants were not to be allowed
to carry away anything but their ready money and house
hold furniture. He likewise received explicit directions
as to the supply of provisions for the inhabitants while on
the voyage.

Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow, who was commanding the
troops at Mines, received instructions relative to the re
moval of the Acadians in that district, dated the nth
August. He was told to collect the inhabitants together,
and place them on board the transports, of which there
would be a number sufficient to transport two thousand
persons, five hundred of whom were to be sent to North
Carolina, one thousand to Virginia, and five hundred to
Maryland. After the people were shipped he was ordered
to march overland to Annapolis with a strong detachment
to assist Major Handfield in removing the inhabitants of
that river. Handfield's instructions were similar to those
of Winslow, and he was informed that vessels sufficient to
transport one thousand persons would be sent to Annapo
lis. Of these, three hundred were to be sent to Phila
delphia, two hundred to New York, three hundred to
Connecticut, and two hundred to Boston.

340 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HANNAY

[Each master of a transport bore a circular letter from Governor
Lawrence to the governor of the province to which he was destined,
giving his reasons for this extreme measure. These reasons were
those already given, that the Acadians had persistently refused to
take the oath prescribed by treaty forty years before, that their claim
of neutrality was a false one, that they had continually furnished the
French and Indians with intelligence, provisions, and aid in annoy
ing the English, that part of them had acted treacherously and part
had broken into armed rebellion, that to drive them into Canada
would but strengthen the enemy, and that the step taken was indis
pensably necessary to the security of the colony.]

The work of removing the Acadians met with no success
at Chignecto, where the population was large and com
paratively warlike. Boishebert, after being driven from the
St. John, had betaken himself to Shediac, and from there
he directed the movements of the Acadians of the isthmus.
When the English tried to collect the inhabitants for the
purpose of removing them, they found that they had fled
to the shelter of the woods, and when they attempted to
follow them they were met by the most determined resist
ance. On the 2d September, Major Frye was sent with
two hundred men from the garrison at Fort Cumberland
[formerly Fort Beausejour] to burn the villages of Shep-
ody, Petitcodiac, and Memramcook. At Shepody they
burnt one hundred and eighty-one buildings, but found no
inhabitants, except twenty-three women and children,
whom they sent on board the vessel they had with them.
They sailed up the Petitcodiac River on the following day
and burnt the buildings on both sides of it for miles. At
length the vessel was brought to anchor, and fifty men
were sent on shore to burn the chapel and some other
buildings near it, when suddenly they were attacked by
three hundred French and Indians under Boishebert and
compelled to retreat with a loss of twenty-three men
killed and wounded, including Dr. March, who was killed,

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF. THE ACADIANS. 341

and Lieutenant Billings, dangerously wounded. Boishe-
bert was found to be too strong to be attacked even with
the aid of the main body of troops under Major Frye, so
the party had to return to Fort Cumberland, after having
destroyed in all two hundred and fifty-three buildings and
a large quantity of wheat and flax.

At Mines Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow succeeded in ac
complishing his unpleasant duty without resistance. On
the 2d September he issued an order to the inhabitants of
the districts of Grand Pre, Mines, River Canard, and vi
cinity, commanding all the males from ten years upward
to attend at the church in Grand Pre on the following
Friday, the 5th September, to hear what his majesty had
authorized him to communicate to them. The inhabitants
attended in obedience to this summons to the number of
upwards of four hundred, and were informed by Winslow
that, in consequence of their disobedience, their lands and
tenements, cattle, live-stock, and all their effects, except
their money and household goods, were forfeited to the
crown, and they themselves were to be removed from the
province. He told them, however, that he would take in
the vessels with them as large a portion of their household
effects as could be carried, and that families would not be
separated, but conveyed in the same vessel. Finally, he
told them that they should remain prisoners at the church
until the time came for them to embark. At Piziquid,
Captain Murray collected the male inhabitants in the same
way to the number of nearly two hundred, and kept them
in confinement. Considering the situation in which they
were placed, they manifested but little emotion, and offered
no resistance worthy of the name. The task of getting so
many families together, and embarking them with their
household effects, proved tedious, but finally it was accom
plished, and the inhabitants of Mines and Piziquid, to the

342 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HANNAY

number of more than nineteen hundred persons, were got
on board the transports, and carried away from their
homes in Acadia to lands of which they knew nothing1, and
where their presence was not desired.

At Annapolis many families took the alarm when the
transports arrived, and fled to the woods for safety, and
much difficulty was experienced in collecting them. Hun
ger finally compelled most of them to surrender them
selves, and upwards of eleven hundred were placed on
board the vessels and sent away. One vessel with two
hundred and twenty-six Acadians on board was seized by
them in the Bay of Fundy, and taken into St. John, and
the passengers she carried were not afterwards recaptured.
The total number removed from Acadia in 1755 was some
what in excess of three thousand souls. Some of them
were taken to Massachusetts, some to Pennsylvania, some
to Virginia, some to Maryland, some to North and South
Carolina, and some even to the British West Indies,
Wherever they were taken they became for the time a
public charge upon the colony, and were the occasion of
much correspondence between the governments which
were obliged to maintain them and that of Nova Scotia.
Many of those who went to Georgia and South Carolina
hired small vessels and set out to return to Acadia, and the
governors of those colonies were very glad to facilitate
their movements northward by giving them passes to voy
age along their coasts. Several hundred of those who
landed in Virginia were sent by the government of that
colony to England, where they remained for seven years,
finally taking the oath of allegiance, and many of them re
turning to Acadia. A number of these people went from
Virginia to the French West Indies, where they died in
large numbers. The great bulk of the Acadians, however,
finally succeeded in returning to the land of their birth.

HANNAY] THE EXPULSION OF THE ACADIANS. 343

Some got back in the course of a few months, others did
not succeed in returning until many years had elapsed, yet
they succeeded, nevertheless, and the ultimate loss of popu
lation by their enforced emigration in 1755 was much less
than would be supposed.

[It must be admitted that the preceding narrative is, to a consider
able extent, a case of special pleading, by a writer determined to put
the best face on a bad matter. The deportation of a whole people,
against their consent, of which there are many cases in history, is
necessarily attended with hardship and suffering which only the most
extreme need can justify. It cannot fairly be said that this need ex
isted in the case of the Acadians. Though some of them were
actively hostile to the English, the bulk of the people were quiet, in
dustrious, and inoffensive, and the extent of their crime was that
they refused to take an oath that would oblige them to bear arms
against their countrymen. The expulsion was one of those instances
in which, it being difficult to distinguish between the sheep and the
wolves, they are made to suffer together. The position of the
English was an awkward one, and their action, though it occasioned
much suffering and proved of no special utility, had much good argu
ment in its favor.

The resistance of the Acadians continued for twelve years longer,,
and not till 1767 did any considerable number of them consent to
take the oath of allegiance required, though the whole country had
long been English. Many of them had emigrated to the French
West Indies. Of these a considerable number returned, disgusted
with the government of those islands, and fully ready to take the
oath. Others, who were surrounded by English colonies, did like
wise. Each family, on doing so, received a grant of land from the
government, and soon there arose an eagerness to take the oath of
allegiance to England equal to the former determination to resist it.]

344 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

THREE YEARS OF WARFARE.

ABIEL HOLMES.

[The succeeding events of the war between the colonies we shall
describe with more brevity, lest the reader grow wearied with the
details of battle and bloodshed which constitute all there is to offer.
The year 1755 had ended with a balance of advantages between the
two contestants. In the two years succeeding all the advantage lay
with the French, and it was not until 1758 that the English began to
make head against their opponents, in preparation for the decisive
operations of the following year. The events of the years 1756, 1757,
and 1758 are briefly but clearly described in Holmes's " Annals of
America," a useful old work from which we make our present
selection.

Although the war had continued for two years in America, and
been actively aided by the home powers, no declaration of war was
made until 1756, the English king declaring war against France on
May 17, and the French king replying with a like declaration in the
following month. Both powers now took more active measures to
support the war. The Earl of Loudoun was appointed commander-
in-chief of the British forces in America, while the Marquis de Mont-
calm took command of the French forces in Canada. General Aber-
crombie was sent over in advance of Lord Loudoun, to take imme
diate command. Three expeditions were planned for the year's cam
paign, one of ten thousand men against Crown Point, one of six
thousand against Niagara, and one of three thousand against Fort
Duquesne. In addition, two thousand men were to advance up the
Kennebec River and keep Canada in alarm. These forces were con
siderably greater than had hitherto been employed in America.]

THE command of the expedition against Crown Point
was given to Major-General Winslow, who, on reviewing
the provincial troops destined for that service, found them
not much to exceed seven thousand men, — a number
which, after deducting from it the necessary garrisons,
was declared inadequate to the enterprise. The arrival of
British troops with General Abercrombie, while it relieved

« «
SS I

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g 1
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HOLMES] THREE YEARS OF WARFARE. 345

this difficulty, created a new one, which occasioned a tem
porary suspension of the projected expedition. The regu
lations of the crown respecting military rank had excited
great disgust in America; and Winslow, when consulted
on this delicate subject by Abercrombie, expressed his
apprehensions that, if the result of a junction of British
and provincial troops should be the placing of provincials
under British officers, it would produce very general dis
content, and perhaps desertion. To avoid so serious an
evil, it was finally agreed that British troops should suc
ceed the provincials in the posts then occupied by them, so
as to enable the whole colonial force to proceed under
Winslow against Crown Point. . . . Scarcely was this
point of honor satisfactorily adjusted, when the attention
of both British and provincial soldiers was arrested to a
more serious subject.

M. Montcalm, who succeeded the baron Dieskau in the
chief command of the French forces in Canada, approached
Fort Ontario at Oswego on the loth of August with more
than five thousand regulars, Canadians, and Indians.
Having made the necessary dispositions, he opened the
trenches on the I2th at midnight, with thirty-two pieces
of cannon, besides several brass mortars and howitzers.
The garrison having fired away all their shells and ammu
nition, Colonel Mercer, the commanding officer, ordered
the cannon to be spiked up, and crossed the river to Little
Oswego Fort, without the loss of a single man. The
enemy, taking immediate possession of the deserted fort,
began a fire from it which was kept up without intermis
sion. About four miles and a half up the river was Fort
George, the defence of which was committed to Colonel
Schuyler. On the abandonment of the first fort by Colonel
Mercer, about three hundred and seventy of his men had
joined Colonel Schuyler, in the intention of having an

346 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

intercourse between his fort and that to which their own
commander retreated; but a body of twenty-five hundred
Canadians and Indians boldly swam across the river in the
night between the I3th and I4th and cut off that commu
nication. On the 1 3th, Colonel Mercer was killed by a
cannon-ball. The garrison, deprived of their commander,
who was an officer of courage and experience, frustrated
in their hope of aid, and destitute of a cover to their fort,
demanded a capitulation on the following day, and surren
dered as prisoners of war. They were the regiments of
Shirley and Pepperell, and amounted to fourteen hundred
men. The conditions required, and acceded to, were that
they should be exempted from plunder, conducted to Mon
treal, and treated with humanity. No sooner was Mont-
calm in possession of the two forts at Oswego than, with
admirable policy, he demolished them in presence of the
Indians of the Six Nations, in whose country they had
been erected, and whose jealousy they had excited.

On this disastrous event, every plan of offensive opera
tion was immediately relinquished.

[All the forces which had been raised remained on the defensive,
in anticipation of possible advances by the French. The only active
operation was against the Indians of western Pennsylvania, who,
since the event of Braddock's defeat, had severely raided the out
lying settlements.]

Fort Granby, on the confines of Pennsylvania, was sur
prised by a party of French and Indians, who made the
garrison prisoners. Instead of scalping the captives, they
loaded them with flour, and drove them into captivity.
The Indians on the Ohio, having killed above a thousand
of the inhabitants of the western frontiers, were soon
chastised with military vengeance. Colonel Armstrong,
with a party of two hundred and eighty provincials,

HOLMES] THREE YEARS OF WARFARE. 347

marched from Fort Shirley, which had been built on the
Juniata River, about one hundred and fifty rniles west of
Philadelphia, to Kittanning, an Indian town, the rendez
vous of those murdering Indians, and destroyed it. Cap
tain Jacobs, the Indian chief, defended himself through
loop-holes of his log-house. The Indians refusing the
quarter which was offered them, Colonel Armstrong or
dered their houses to be set on fire; and many of the
Indians were suffocated and burnt; others were shot in
attempting to reach the river. The Indian captain, his
squaw, and a boy called the King's Son were shot as they
were getting out of the window, and were all scalped. It
was computed that between thirty and forty Indians were
destroyed. Eleven English prisoners were released.

[The plan of proceedings for the year 1757 was less complex than
that for the preceding year, but was no more successful. Leaving
the frontier posts strongly garrisoned, Lord Loudoun determined
on the siege of the highly-important fortress of Louisburg, on Cape
Breton, with all his disposable force. But after reaching Halifax
with his fleet and army he learned that Louisburg was garrisoned
with six thousand French regulars, in addition to the provincials,
and that seventeen line-of-battle ships were in the harbor. This
destroyed all hope of success, and the expedition was abandoned.
In September, the British fleet, cruising off Louisburg, narrowly
escaped destruction from a violent gale, which drove one frigate
ashore and seriously injured most of the others. The only military
advantage of the year was gained by the French under Moi»tcalm,
in an expedition against Fort William Henry, which had been
erected by Johnson at the scene of his victory two years befo^e.l

The Marquis de Montcalm, availing himself of the ab
sence of the principal part of the British force, advanced
with an army of nine thousand men and laid siege to Fort
William Henry. The garrison at this fort consisted -of
between two thousand and three thousand regulars, and
its fortifications were strong and in very good order. For

348 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

the further security of this important post, General Webb
was stationed at Fort Edward with an army of four thou
sand men. The French commander, however, urged his
approaches with such vigor that, within six days after the
investment of the fort, Coloned Monroe, the commandant,
after a spirited resistance, surrendered by capitulation.
The garrison was to be allowed the honors of war, and to
be protected against the Indians until within the reach of
Fort Edward; but no sooner had the soldiers left the
place than the Indians in the French army, disregarding
the stipulation, fell upon them and committed the most
cruel outrages.

The British officers complained that the troops were pil
laged, and that the men were dragged out of the ranks
and tomahawked, before the exertions of the Marquis de
Montcalm to restrain the savages were effectual. Carver
says the captured troops were, by the capitulation, to be
allowed covered wagons to transport their baggage to.
Fort Edward, and a guard to protect them ; that the prom
ised guard was not furnished ; and that fifteen hundred per
sons were either killed or made prisoners by the Indians.
. . . Minot says, " The breach of this capitulation, whether
voluntary or unavoidable on the part of the French, was a
most interesting subject of reproach at the time, and long
continued to fill the British colonists with indignation and
horror." A great part of the prisoners, he observes, were
pillaged and stripped, and many of them murdered, by the
savages ; some reached Fort Edward in a scattering man
ner, and others returned again to the French.

[This disastrous event has seriously tarnished the fair fame of the
Marquis de Montcalm. To what extent he and his officers inter
vened to stop the butchery is uncertain, but there is good reason
to believe that the French in general permitted the massacre to go
on with scarce an effort to stop it. General Webb is also severely

HOLMES] THREE YEARS OF WARFARE. 349

blamed by historians for not reinforcing Monroe, and is accused of
cowardice, for which accusation his behavior gave abundant war
rant. The massacre was the more terrible in that there were many
women and children in the retreating column, who were killed in
discriminately with the men. The Indians present with the English
were taken prisoners by their foes and reserved for the more hor
rible fate of death by torture.

The year 1758 opened gloomily for the British colonies. The suc
cesses of the year before had all been in favor of the French, and
they now occupied positions which gave them special advantages in
the continuance of the war. The taking of Oswego had destroyed
all English control of the Northern lakes; the capture of Fort Wil
liam Henry gave the French possession of Lakes Champlain and
George, and a position in the heart of the British territory; and the
retention of Fort Duquesne gave them possession of the country
west of the Alleghanies, and enabled them to exert a powerful in
fluence over the Indians. Yet, despite this gloomy aspect of af
fairs, the British prepared for the next year's campaign with un
abated energy and courage. William Pitt, now prime minister of
England, put all his vigor and ability into the prosecution of the
war. Twelve thousand troops were sent over under General Am-
herst, and General Abercombie, who was now made commander-
in-chief of the British forces, was at the head of much the greatest
army as yet ever seen in America, consisting of fifty thousand men,
of whom twenty-two thousand were regular troops.]

Three expeditions were proposed for this year : the first,
against Louisburg; the second, against Ticonderoga and
Crown Point ; and the third, against Fort Duquesne. On
the first expedition, Admiral Boscawen sailed from Hali
fax on the 28th of May, with a fleet of twenty ships of
the line and eighteen frigates, and an army of fourteen
thousand men under the command of General Amherst,
and arrived before Louisburg on the 2d of June. The gar
rison of that place, commanded by the Chevalier de Dra-
court, an officer of courage and experience, was composed
of two thousand five hundred regulars, aided by six hun
dred militia. The harbor being secured by five ships of

350 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

the line, one fifty-gun ship, and five frigates, three of
which were sunk across the mouth of the basin, it was
found necessary to land at some distance from the town.
When, with some difficulty but little loss, the landing was
effected at the creek of Cormoran, and the artillery and
stores were brought on shore, General Wolfe was de
tached with two thousand men- to seize a post occupied by
the enemy at the Lighthouse point, from which the ships
in the harbor and the fortifications in the town might be
greatly annoyed. On the approach of that gallant officer,
the post was abandoned ; and several very strong batteries
were erected there. Approaches were also made on the
opposite side of the town, and the siege was pressed with
resolute but slow and cautious vigor. A very heavy can
nonade being kept up against the town and the vessels in
the harbor, a bomb at length set on fire and blew up one
of the great ships, and the flames were communicated to
two others, which shared the same fate. The English
admiral now sent six hundred men in boats into the har
bor, to make an attempt on the two ships of the line
which still remained in the basin; and one of them, that
was aground, was destroyed, and the other was towed off
in triumph. This gallant exploit putting the English in
complete possession of the harbor, and several breaches
being made practicable in the works, the place was deemed
no longer defensible, and the governor offered to capitu
late. His terms, however, were refused; and it was re
quired that the garrison should surrender as prisoners
of war, or sustain an assault by sea and land. These hu
miliating terms, though at first rejected, were afterwards
acceded to; and Louisburg, with all its artillery, provi
sions, and military stores, as also Island Royal, St. John's,
and their dependencies, were placed in the hands of the
English, who, without further difficulty, took entire pos-

HOLMES] THREE YEARS OF WARFARE. 351

session of the island of Cape Breton. In effecting this
conquest about four hundred of the assailants were killed
or wounded. The conquerors found two hundred and
twenty-one pieces of cannon and eighteen mortars, with
a very large quantity of stores and ammunition. The in
habitants of Cape Breton were sent to France in English
ships; but the garrison, sea-officers, sailors, and marines,
amounting collectively to five thousand six hundred and
thirty-seven, were carried prisoners to England. The gar
rison lost upwards of fifteen hundred men, and the town
was left " almost a heap of ruins."

The armies intended for the execution of the plans
against Ticonderoga and Fort Duquesne were to rendez
vous at Albany and Philadelphia. The first was com
manded by General Abercrombie, and consisted of up
wards of fifteen thousand men, attended by a formidable
train of artillery. On the 5th of July the general embarked
his troops on Lake George, on board of one hundred and
twenty-five whale-boats and nine hundred bateaux. His
first operations were against Ticonderoga. After debarka
tion at the landing-place in a cove on the west side of the
lake, the troops were formed into four columns, the British
in the centre and the provincials on the flanks. In this
order they marched towards the advanced guard of the
French, which, consisting of one battalion only, posted in a
logged camp, destroyed what was in their power and made
a precipitate retreat. While Abercrombie was continuing
his march in the woods, towards Ticonderoga, the columns
were thrown into confusion, and in some degree entan
gled with each other. At this juncture, Lord Howe, at the
head of the right centre column, fell in with a part of the
advanced guard of the enemy which was lost in the wood
in retreating from Lake George, and immediately attacked
and dispei sed it, killing a considerable number, and taking

352 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

one hundred and forty-eight prisoners. In this skirmish,
Lord Howe fell on the first fire.

The English army, without further opposition, took pos
session of a post within two miles of Ticonderoga. Aber-
crombie, having learned from the prisoners the strength
of the enemy at that fortress, and from an engineer the
condition of their works, resolved on an immediate storm,
and made instant disposition for an assault. The troops,
having received orders to march up briskly, rush upon the
enemy's fire, and reserve their own till they had passed a
breastwork, marched to the assault with great intrepidity.
Unlooked-for impediments, however, occurred. In front
of the breastwork, to a considerable distance, trees had
been felled with their branches outward, many of which
were sharpened to a point, by means of which the as
sailants were not only retarded in their advance, but, be
coming entangled among the boughs, were exposed to a
very galling fire. Finding it impracticable to pass the
breastwork, which was eight or nine feet high, and much
stronger than had been represented, General Abercrombie,
after a contest of nearly four hours, ordered a retreat, and
the next day resumed his former camp on the south side
of Lake George. In this ill-judged assault nearly two
thousand of the assailants were killed and wounded, of
which number towards four hundred were provincials.
Almost half of the Highland regiment, commanded by
Lord John Murray, with twenty-five of its officers, were
either killed or desperately wounded. The loss of the
enemy, who were covered during the whole action, was
inconsiderable.

[This severe defeat put an end to the expedition against Crown
Point. One success, however, was gained. Abercrombie detached
three thousand men under Colonel Bradstreet on an expedition
which the colonel had proposed against Fort Frontenac, an impor-

HOLMES] THREE YEARS OF WARFARE. 353

tant post on the western shore of the outlet of Lake Ontario, at the
site of the present city of Kingston. Bradstreet marched to
Oswego, embarked on the lake, and landed near the fort on August
25. Two days' siege compelled a surrender, and the post with all
its contents fell into his hands. Having destroyed it, and the ves
sels in the harbor, he withdrew his forces.]

The demolition of Fort Frontenac facilitated the reduc
tion of Fort Duquesne. General Forbes, to whom this
enterprise was intrusted, had marched early in July from
Philadelphia at the head of the army destined for the
expedition; but such delays were experienced, it was not
until September that the Virginia regulars, commanded
by Colonel Washington, were ordered to join the British
troops at Raystown. Before the army was put in motion,
Major Grant was detached with eight hundred men, partly
British and partly provincials, to reconnoitre the fort and
the adjacent country. Having invited an attack from the
French garrison, this detachment was surrounded by the
enemy ; and after a brave defence, in which three hundred
men were killed and wounded, Major Grant and nineteen
other officers were taken prisoners. General Forbes, with
the main army, amounting to at least eight thousand men,
at length moved forward from Raystown, but did not
reach Fort Duquesne until late in November. On the
evening preceding his arrival, the French garrison, de
serted by their Indians, and unequal to the maintenance
of the place against so formidable an army, had abandoned
the fort, and escaped in boats down the Ohio. The Eng
lish now took possession of that important fortress, and,
in compliment to the popular minister, called it Pittsburg.
No sooner was the British flag erected on it than the nu
merous tribes of the Ohio Indians came in and made their
submission to the English. General Forbes, having con
cluded treaties with these natives, left a garrison of pro-
1—23

354: THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [HOLMES

vincials in the fort, and built a block-house near Loyal
Hannan; but, worn out with fatigue, he died before he
could reach Philadelphia.

[Other advantages were gained by the English, and, despite the
repulse at Ticonderoga, the balance of success in the year's opera
tions was decidedly on the side of the British forces. One remark
able personal adventure of the war we may select, in conclusion,
its hero being the afterwards celebrated general Israel Putnam.]

While the intrenchments of Abercrombie enclosed him
in security, M. de Montcalm was active in harassing the
frontiers, and in detaching parties to attack the convoys
of the English. Two or three convoys having been cut
off by these parties, Major Rogers and Major Putnam
made excursions from Lake George to intercept them.
The enemy, apprised of their movements, had sent out
the French partisan Molang, who had laid an ambuscade
for them in the woods. While proceeding in single file in
three divisions, as Major Putnam, who was at the head of
the first, was coming out of a thicket, the enemy rose,
and with discordant yells and whoops attacked the right
of his division. Surprised, but not dismayed, he halted,
returned the fire, and passed the word for the other divi
sions to advance for his support. Perceiving it would be
impracticable to cross the creek, he determined to main
tain his ground. The officers and men, animated by his
example, behaved with great bravery. Putnam's fusee
at length missing fire, while the muzzle was presented
against the breast of a large and well-proportioned In
dian, this warrior, with a tremendous war-whoop, instantly
sprang forward with his lifted hatchet and compelled him
to surrender, and, having disarmed him and bound him
fast to a tree, returned to the battle The enemy were
at last driven from the field, leaving their dead behind

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 355

them; Putnam was untied by the Indian who had made
him prisoner, and carried to the place where they were to
encamp that night. Besides many outrages, they inflicted
a deep wound with a tomahawk upon his left cheek. It
being determined to roast him alive, they led him into
a dark forest, stripped him naked, bound him to a tree,
piled combustibles at a small distance in a circle round
him, and, with horrid screams, set the pile on fire. In
the instant of an expected immolation, Molang rushed
through the crowd, scattered the burning brands, and
unbound the victim. The next day Major Putnam was
allowed his moccasins, and permitted to march without
carrying any pack; at night the party arrived at Ticon-
deroga, and the prisoner was placed under the care of a
French guard. After having been examined by the Mar
quis de Montcalm, he was conducted to Montreal by a
French officer, who treated him with the greatest indul
gence and humanity. The capture of Fort Frontenac
affording occasion for an exchange of prisoners, Major
Putnam was set at liberty.

WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC.

WASHINGTON IRVING.

[According to the plan of operations for 1759, General Wolfe,
whose bravery at Louisburg had gained him great favor, was to
ascend the St. Lawrence with a fleet of war-vessels and an army of
eight thousand men, as soon as the river should be clear of ice, and
lay siege to Quebec. General Amherst was to advance by the often-
attempted road of Lake George, with the purpose of reducing Ti-
conderoga and Crown Point, then to cross Lake Champlain and
push on to co-operate with Wolfe. A third expedition, under Gen-

356 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

eral Prideaux, assisted by Sir William Johnson and his Indians, was
to attack Fort Niagara. Amherst's expedition consisted of nearly
twelve thousand men. The forts threatened had no hope of a suc
cessful resistance against such a force, and they were deserted as the
English army advanced, their garrisons retiring towards Montreal.
Instead of pursuing, Amherst stopped to repair the works at Ticon-
deroga and build a new fort at Crown Point, useless measures just
then, and causing a delay which deprived Wolfe of very desirable
assistance. The expeditions of Prideaux and Wolfe proved more
valuable in their results. We select a description of them from
Irving's " Life of Washington," in which the exploits of Wolfe are
described with all the clearness and rhetorical beauty of this ex
cellent historian.]

GENERAL PRIDEAUX embarked at Oswego on the ist of
July, with a large body of troops, regulars and provincials,
— the latter partly from New York. He was accompanied
by Sir William Johnson and his Indian braves of the Mo
hawk. Landing at an inlet of Lake Ontario, within a few
miles of Fort Niagara, he advanced, without being op
posed, and proceeded to invest it. The garrison, six hun
dred strong, made a resolute defence. The siege was car
ried on by regular approaches, but pressed with vigor.
On the 2Oth of July, Prideaux, in visiting his trenches, was
killed by the bursting of a cohorn. Informed by express
of this misfortune, General Amherst detached from the
main army Brigadier-General Gage, the officer who had
led Braddock's advance, to take the command.

In the mean time the siege had been conducted by Sir
William Johnson with courage and sagacity. He was des
titute of military science, but had a natural aptness for
warfare, especially for the rough kind carried on in the
wilderness. Being informed by his scouts that twelve
hundred regular troops, drawn from Detroit, Venango,
and Presque Isle, and led by D'Aubry, with a number of
Indian auxiliaries, were hastening to the rescue, he de
tached a force of grenadiers and light infantry, with some

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 357

of his Mohawk warriors, to intercept them. They came
in sight of each other on- the road between Niagara Falls
and the fort, within the thundering sound of the one and
the distant view of the other. Johnson's " braves " ad
vanced to have a parley with the hostile red-skins. The
latter received them with a war-whoop, and Frenchman
and savage made an impetuous onset. Johnson's regulars
and provincials stood their ground firmly, while his red
warriors fell on the flanks of the enemy. After a sharp
conflict, the French were broken, routed, and pursued
through the woods, with great carnage. Among the pris
oners taken were seventeen officers. The next day Sir
William Johnson sent a trumpet, summoning the garrison
to surrender, to spare the effusion of blood and prevent
outrages by the Indians. They had no alternative; were
permitted to march out with the honors of war, and were
protected by Sir William from his Indian allies.

[This victory secured the key of communication between Lakes
Ontario and Erie, and to the vast interior region surrounding. But
more important events were to follow.]

Wolfe, with his eight thousand men, ascended the St.
Lawrence in the fleet, in the month of June. With him
came Brigadiers Monckton, Townshend, and Murray,
youthful and brave like himself, and, like himself, already
schooled in arms. Monckton, it will be recollected, had
signalized himself, when a colonel, in the expedition in
1755 in which the French were driven from Nova Scotia.
The grenadiers of the army were commanded by Colonel
Guy Carleton, and part of the light infantry by Lieutenant-
Colonel William Howe, both destined to celebrity in after-
years, in the annals of the American Revolution. Colonel
Howe was a brother of the gallant Lord Howe, whose fall
in the preceding year was so generally lamented. Among

358 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

the officers of the fleet was Jervis, the future admiral,
and ultimately Earl St. Vincent, and the master of one of
the ships was James Cook, afterwards renowned as a dis
coverer.

About the end of June, the troops debarked on the large,
populous, and well-cultivated Isle of Orleans, a little below
Quebec, and encamped in its fertile fields. Quebec, the
citadel of Canada, was strong by nature. It was built
round the point of a rocky promontory, and flanked by
precipices. The crystal current of the St. Lawrence swept
by it on the right, and the river St. Charles flowed along
on the left before mingling with that mighty stream. The
place was tolerably fortified, but art had not yet rendered
it, as at the present day, impregnable.

Montcalm commanded the post. His troops were more
numerous than the assailants; but the greater part were
Canadians, many of them inhabitants of Quebec; and he
had a host of savages. His forces were drawn out along
the northern shore below the city, from the river St.
Charles to the Falls of Montmorency, and their position
was secured by deep intrenchments.

The night after the debarkation of Wolfe's troops a
furious storm caused great damage to the transports, and
sank some of the small craft. While it was still raging, a
number of fire-ships, sent to destroy the fleet, came driving
down. They were boarded intrepidly by the British sea
men, and towed out of the way of doing harm. After
much resistance, Wolfe established batteries at the west
point of the Isle of Orleans, and at Point Levi, on the
right (or south) bank of the St. Lawrence, within cannon-
range of the city, — Colonel Guy Carleton commander at
the former battery, Brigadier Monckton at the latter.
From Point Levi bomb-shells and red-hot shells were dis
charged ; many houses were set on fire in the upper town ;

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 359

the lower town was reduced to rubbish; the main fort,
however, remained unharmed.

Anxious for a decisive action, Wolfe, on the Qth of July,
crossed over in boats from the Isle of Orleans to the north
bank of the St. Lawrence, and encamped below the Mont-
morency. It was an ill-judged position, for there was still
that tumultuous stream, with its rocky banks, between
him and the camp of Montcalm; but the ground he had
chosen was higher than that occupied by the latter, and
the Montmorency had a ford below the falls, passable at
low tide. Another ford was discovered, three miles within
land, but the banks were steep, and shagged with forest.
At both fords the vigilant Montcalm had thrown up breast
works and posted troops.

On the 1 8th of July, Wolfe made a reconnoitring expe
dition up the river with two armed sloops and two trans
ports with troops. He passed Quebec unharmed, and care
fully noted the shores above it. Rugged cliffs rose almost
from the water's edge. Above them, he was told, was an
extent of level ground, called the Plains of Abraham, by
which the upper town might be approached on its weakest
side; but how was that plain to be attained, when the
cliffs, for the most part, were inaccessible, and every prac
ticable place fortified?

He returned to Montmorency disappointed, and resolved
to attack Montcalm in his camp, however difficult to be
approached, and however strongly posted. Townshend
and Murray, with their brigades, were to cross the Mont
morency at low tide, below the falls, and storm the redoubt
thrown up in front of the ford. Monckton, at the same
time, was to cross with part of his brigade, in boats from
Point Levi. The ship Centurion, stationed in the channel,
was to check the fire of a battery which commanded the
ford; a train of artillery, planted on an eminence, was to

360 THE GREAT REPUBLIC.

enfilade the enemy's intrenchments ; and two armed flat-
bottomed boats were to be run on shore, near the redoubt,
and favor the crossing of the troops.

As usual in complicated orders, part were misunder
stood or neglected, and confusion was the consequence.
Many of the boats from Point Levi ran aground on a
shallow in the river, where they were exposed to a severe
fire of shot and shells. Wolfe, who was on the shore,
directing everything, endeavored to stop his impatient
troops until the boats could be got afloat and the men
landed. Thirteen companies of grenadiers and two hun
dred provincials were the first to land. Without waiting
for Brigadier Monckton and his regiments, without wait
ing for the co-operation of the troops under Townshend,
without waiting even to be drawn up in form, the grena
diers rushed impetuously towards the enemy's intrench
ments. A sheeted fire mowed them down, and drove
them to take shelter behind the redoubt, near the ford,
which the enemy had abandoned. Here they remained,
unable to form under the galling fire to which they were
exposed whenever they ventured from their covert.
Monckton's brigade at length was landed, drawn up in
order, and advanced to their relief, driving back the
enemy. Thus protected, the grenadiers retreated as pre
cipitately as they had advanced, leaving many of their
comrades wounded on the field, who were massacred and
scalped in their sight by the savages. The delay thus
caused was fatal to the enterprise. The day was advanced ;
the weather became stormy; the tide began to make; at
a later hour retreat, in case of a second repulse, would
be impossible. Wolfe, therefore, gave up the attack, and
withdrew across the river, having lost upwards of four
hundred men through this headlong impetuosity of the
grenadiers. The two vessels which had been run aground

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 361

vere set on fire, lest they should fall into the hands of
the enemy.

Brigadier Murray was now detached with twelve hun
dred men, in transports, to ascend above the town and
co-operate with Rear-Admiral Holmes in destroying the
enemy's shipping and making descents upon the north
shore. The shipping was safe from attack ; some stores
and ammunition were destroyed, some prisoners taken,
and Murray returned with the news of the capture of
Fort Niagara, Ticonderoga, and Crown Point, and that
Amherst was preparing to attack the Isle aux Noix.

Wolfe, of a delicate constitution and sensitive nature,
had been deeply mortified by the severe check sustained
at the Falls of Montmorency, fancying himself disgraced;
and these successes of his fellow-commanders in other
parts increased his self-upbraiding. The difficulties multi
plying around him, and the delay of General Amherst in
hastening to his aid, preyed incessantly on his spirits ; he
was dejected even to despondency, and declared he would
never return without success, to be exposed, like other
unfortunate commanders, to the sneers and reproaches of
the populace. The agitation of his mind, and his acute
sensibility, brought on a fever, which for some time in
capacitated him from taking the field.

In the midst of his illness he called a council of war, in
which the whole plan of operations was altered. It was
determined to convey troops above the town, and endeavor
to make a diversion in that direction, or draw Montcaim
into the open field. Before carrying this plan into effect,
Wolfe again reconnoitred the town in company with
Admiral Saunders, but nothing better suggested itself.

The brief Canadian summer was over; they were in the
month of September. The camp at Montmorency was
broken up. The troops were transported to Point Levi,

362 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

leaving a sufficient number to man the batterie& on the
Isle of Orleans. On the 5th and 6th of September the
embarkation took place above Point Levi, in transports
which had been sent up for the purpose. Montcalm de
tached De Bougainville with fifteen hundred men to keep
along the north shore above the town, watch the move
ments of the squadron, and prevent a landing. To deceive
him, Admiral Holmes moved with the ships of war three
leagues beyond the place where the landing was to be
attempted. He was to drop down, however, in the night,
and protect the landing. Cook, the future discoverer, also,
was employed with others to sound the river and place
buoys opposite the camp of Montcalm, as if an attack
were meditated in that quarter.

Wolfe was still suffering under the effects of his late
fever. " My constitution/' writes he to a friend, " is en
tirely ruined, without the consolation of having done any
considerable service to the state, and without any prospect
of it." Still he was unremitting in his exertions, seeking
to wipe out the fancied disgrace incurred at the Falls of
Montmorency. It was in this mood he is said to have
composed and sung at his evening mess that little cam
paigning song still linked with his name :

"Why, soldiers, why

Should we be melancholy, boys?
Why, soldiers, why, —
Whose business 'tis to die? "

Even when embarked in his midnight enterprise, the
presentiment of death seems to have cast its shadow over
him. A midshipman who was present used to relate that,
as Wolfe sat among his officers, and the boats floated down
silently with the current, he recited, in low and touching
tones, Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, then just

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 363

published. One stanza may especially have accorded with
his melancholy mood:

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave,
Await alike the inevitable hour:

The paths of glory lead but to the grave."

" Now, gentlemen," said he, when he had finished, " I
would rather be the author of that poem than take
Quebec."

The descent was made in flat-bottomed boats, past mid
night, on the 1 3th of September. They dropped down
silently with the swift current. " Qui va Ihf " (Who goes
there?) cried a sentinel from the shore. "La France," re
plied a captain in the first boat, who understood the French
language. " A quel regiment? " was the demand. " De la
Reine " (The queen's), replied the captain, knowing that
regiment was in De Bougainville's detachment. Fortu
nately, a convoy of provisions was expected down from
De Bougainville, which the sentinel supposed this to be.
" Passe," cried he, and the boats glided on without further
challenge. The landing took place in a cove near Cape
Diamond, which still bears Wolfe's name. He had marked
it in reconnoitring, and saw that a cragged path straggled
up from it to the Heights of Abraham, which might be
climbed, though with difficulty, and that it appeared to be
slightly guarded at top. Wolfe was among the first that
landed and ascended up the steep and narrow path, where
not more than two could go abreast, and which had been
broken up by cross-ditches. Colonel Howe, at the same
time, with the light infantry and Highlanders, scrambled
up the woody precipices, helping themselves by the roots
and branches, and putting to flight a sergeant's guard
posted at the summit. Wolfe drew up the men in order

364 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

as they mounted, and by the break of day found himself
in possession of the fateful Plains of Abraham.

Montcalm was thunderstruck when word was brought
to him in his camp that the English were on the heights,
threatening the weakest part of the town. Abandoning
his intrenchments, he hastened across the river St. Charles
and ascended the heights which slope up gradually from
its banks. His force was equal in number to that of the
English, but a great part was made up of colony troops and
savages. When he saw the formidable host of regulars
he had to contend with, he sent off swift messengers to
summon De Bougainville with his detachment to his aid,
and De Vaudreuil to reinforce him with fifteen hundred
men from the camp. In the mean time he prepared to
flank the left of the English line and force them to the
opposite precipices. Wolfe saw his aim, and sent Briga
dier Townshend to counteract him with a regiment which
was formed en potence, and supported by two battalions,
presenting on the left a double front.

The French, in their haste, thinking they were to repel
a mere scouting-party, had brought but three light field-
pieces with them; the English had but a single gun, which
the sailors had dragged up the heights. With these they
cannonaded each other for a time, Montcalm still waiting
for the aid he had summoned. At length, about nine
o'clock, losing all patience, he led on his disciplined troops
to a close conflict with small-arms, the Indians to support
them with a galling fire from thickets and corn-fields.
The French advanced gallantly, but irregularly, firing rap
idly, but with little effect. The English reserved their
fire until their assailants were within forty yards, and
then delivered it in deadly volleys. They suffered, how
ever, from the lurking savages, who singled out the offi
cers. Wolfe, who was in front of the line, a conspicuous

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 365

mark, was wounded by a ball in the wrist. He bound his
handkerchief round the wound and led on the grenadiers,
with fixed bayonets, to charge the foe, who began to
waver. Another ball struck him in the breast. He felt
the wound to be mortal, and feared his fall might dis
hearten his troops. Leaning on a lieutenant for support,
" Let not my brave fellows see me drop," said he, faintly.
He was borne off to the rear; water was brought to quench
his thirst, and he was asked if he would have a surgeon.
" It is needless," he replied; " it is all over with me." He
desired those about him to lay him down. The lieutenant
seated himself upon the ground, and supported him in his
arms. "They run! they run! see how they run!" cried
one of the attendants. " Who run? " demanded Wolfe,
earnestly, like one aroused from sleep. "The enemy, sir;
they give way everywhere." The spirit of the expiring
hero flashed up. " Go, one of you, my lads, to Colonel
Burton ; tell him to march Webb's regiment with all speed
down to Charles River, to cut off the retreat by the
bridge." Then, turning on his side, " Now, God be praised,
I will die in peace!" said he, and expired, — soothed in
his last moments by the idea that victory would obliterate
the imagined disgrace at Montmorency.

Brigadier Murray had indeed broken the centre of the
enemy, and the Highlanders were making deadly havoc
with their claymores, driving the French into the town or
down to their works on the river St. Charles. Monckton,
the first brigadier, was disabled by a wound in the lungs,
and the command devolved on Townshend, who hastened
to re-form the troops of the centre, disordered in pursuing
the enemy. By this time De Bougainville appeared at a
distance in the rear, advancing with two thousand fresh
troops, but he arrived too late to retrieve the day. The
gallant Montcalm had received his death-wound near St.

366 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

John's Gate, while endeavoring to rally his flying troops,
and had been borne into the town.

Townshend advanced with a force to receive De Bou
gainville; but the latter avoided a combat, and retired into
woods and swamps, where it was not thought prudent to
follow him. The English had obtained a complete victory,
slain about five hundred of the enemy, taken above a
thousand prisoners, and among them several officers, and
had a strong position on the Plains of Abraham, which
they hastened to fortify with redoubts and artillery, drawn
up the heights.

The brave Montcalm wrote a letter to General Town
shend, recommending the prisoners to British humanity.
When told by his surgeon that he could not survive above
a few hours, " So much the better," replied he ; "I shall
not live to see the surrender of Quebec." To De Ramsey,
the French king's lieutenant, who commanded the garri
son, he consigned the defence of the city. " To your keep
ing," said he, " I commend the honor of France. I'll
neither give orders, nor interfere any further. I have
business to attend to of greater moment than your ruined
garrison and this wretched country. My time is short:
I shall pass this night with God, and prepare myself for
death. I wish you all comfort, and to be happily extri
cated from your present perplexities." He then called for
his chaplain, who, with the bishop of the colony, remained
with him through the night. He expired early in the
morning, dying like a brave soldier and a devout Catholic.
Never did two worthier foes mingle their life-blood on the
battle-field than Wolfe and Montcalm.

[This victory was quickly followed by a surrender of the city,
whose garrison made no effort to defend it. It capitulated on the
i/th of September, and was at once strongly occupied by the British,
who hastened to put it in a strong defensive condition. Had Amherst

IRVING] WOLFE AND MONTCALM AT QUEBEC. 367

followed up Wolfe's success by a prompt advance, the subjugation
of Canada would have been completed that year. His delay gave the
French time to rally, and enabled De Levi, the successor of Mont-
calm, to make a vigorous effort to recover the lost city.]

In the following spring, as soon as the river St. Law
rence opened, he approached Quebec, and landed at Point
au Tremble, about twelve miles off. The garrison had
suffered dreadfully during the winter from excessive cold,
want of vegetables and of fresh provisions. Many had
died of scurvy, and many more were ill. Murray, san
guine and injudicious, and hearing that De Levi was ad
vancing with ten thousand men and five hundred Indians,
sallied out with his diminished forces of not more than
three thousand. English soldiers, he boasted, were habitu
ated to victory; he had a fine train of artillery, and stood
a better chance in the field than cooped up in a wretched
fortification. If defeated, he would defend the place to
the last extremity, and then retreat to the Isle of Orleans
and wait for reinforcements. More brave than discreet,
he attacked the vanguard of the enemy. The battle which
took place was fierce and sanguinary. Murray's troops
had caught his own headlong valor, and fought until nearly
a third of their number were slain. They were at length
driven back into the town, leaving their boasted train of
artillery on the field.

De Levi opened trenches before the town the very even
ing of the battle. Three French ships, which had de
scended the river, furnished him with cannon, mortars, and
ammunition. By the nth of May he had one bomb bat
tery and three batteries of cannon. Murray, equally alert
within the walls, strengthened his defences and kept up a
vigorous fire. His garrison was now reduced to two hun
dred and twenty effective men, and he himself, with all
his vaunting spirit, was driven almost to despair, when

368 THE GREAT REPUBLIC. [IRVING

a British fleet arrived in the river. The whole scene was
now reversed. One of the French frigates was driven on
the rocks above Cape Diamond; another ran on shore and
was burnt; the rest of their vessels were either taken or
destroyed. The besieging army retreated in the night,
leaving provisions, implements, and artillery behind them;
and so rapid was their flight that Murray, who sallied forth
on the following day, could not overtake them.

[A last stand was made at Montreal. But a force of nearly ten
thousand men, with a host of Indians, gathered around the town,
which was forced to capitulate on the 8th of September, including in
the surrender not only Montreal, but all Canada.]

Thus ended the contest between France and England for
dominion in America, in which, as has been said, the first
gun was fired in Washington's encounter with De Jumon-
ville. A French statesman and diplomatist consoled him
self by the persuasion that it would be a fatal triumph to
England. It would remove the only check by which her
colonies were kept in awe. " They will no longer need
her protection," said he; " she will call on them to con
tribute towards supporting the burdens they have helped
to bring on her, and they will answer by striking off all
dependence"*

* Count de Vergennes, French ambassador at Constantinople.

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