USA > Virginia > The history of Virginia, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 3
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Let us now take a retrospective glance at the busy scene which exhibited itself to the eyes of the wondering savages on the 13th of May, 1607, a day to be remembered for ever in the annals of the American nation.
Close in to the bank, for the depth of water admits of this proximity, are moored three ves- sels, the largest of which is not superior to the common bay craft which now navigate its river. Two of these, Newport's ship of one hundred tons, and another of forty, after disembarking the im- migrants and unloading the stores, are to return
1607.]
CHARGES AGAINST SMITH. . 37
to England freighted with such articles as the country will immediately yield. The third, a pinnace of twenty tons, is to remain in Virginia for the use of the colonists.
ยท The latter are already disembarked, and with a vigour which will soon suffer abatement, are busily employed in felling timber, defending their provisions from the chances of the weather, and securing their arms in dry vats. In among the tall and stately trees, tents, the first temporary habitations of the settlers, are seen whitely gleam- ing. After a while the men break from their work, and congregating together, listen, beneath the overarching greenery of the sylvan wilder- ness, to an oration from Mr. Wingfield, who has been appointed governor, explaining the reason why Captain Smith-though so nominated in England-is not admitted as one of the coun- cil.
Even while on shipboard, the superiority of the young man Smith to the rest of his com- panions had so manifested itself as to excite the base fears and malignant envy of a few well-con- ditioned, but feeble-spirited men, who were am- bitious of supreme rule in the new land to which they were then bound.
During the voyage he had been suddenly seized and imprisoned, and upon the landing of the colonists, he was charged by Wingfield, who appears to have been his principal enemy, with
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [1607.
an intention of usurping the government, murder- ing the council, and making himself king.
Fearing to bring a charge of so heinous a nature to open proof, Wingfield and his confede- rates affected, from a merciful disposition, to re- frain from rying their prisoner in the colony for a crime which, if substantiated, would involve the taking of his life, and strenuously insisted upon sending him back to England, to undergo merely the milder censure of the superior council.
These efforts Smith as strongly resented. He demanded to be confronted with the unknown witnesses of his accusers; and as the public voice sympathized with the justness of his demand, Wingfield was compelled to acquiesce. After many shifts and delays, the trial was commenced ; the result of which was, that all the company saw through the malice of Smith's enemies : those suborned to accuse him, accused their employers of subornation ; Wingfield incurred the general hatred of the colony, and was mulcted in a fine of two hundred pounds, as a compensation to Smith for his sufferings. This fine, the latter immediately made over to the public store for the general use of the immigrants.
By the exhortations of Mr. Hunt, a pious clergyman, who was much beloved by the colo- nists, a reconciliation took place soon afterward between Smith and his adversaries, and Smith was admitted a member of the council. The
39
POWHATTAN.
1607.]
next day all received the communion. Between energy and uprightness on the one hand, and weakness and malignity on the other, no perma- nent harmony was to be expected.
Such was the first episode which distinguished the settlement of Jamestown; others of a more fearful character were soon to follow.
In the mean while, however, and pending the day set apart for his trial, Smith was permitted to accompany Newport in the pinnace to discover the head of the river. Cautiously exploring the creeks and inlets on their way, they reached on the sixth day a village of twelve houses or wigwams, within a mile of the falls of James River, and a little below where the town of Rich- mond now stands.
This village, pleasantly situated on a hill, with three fertile isles before it, and surrounded by a corn-field, was called Powhattan. The name of its chief in the Indian tongue was Wahunsano- cock. He was called by the English Powhattan, from the chief seat and metropolis of his heredi- tary dominion ; and, by way of eminence, the emperor.
When the English landed in Virginia, its native population was broken up into a number of petty tribes, numbering some eight thousand souls, generally at war with each other, and yet loosely united into a sort of confederacy, of which Wahunsanocock, or Powhattan, as he
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
[1607.
was subsequently called, was the acknowledged chief.
In the times of the first European settlers, the construction of the wigwams of the natives and the arrangement of their towns differed very ma- terially from those of their descendants at the present day.
Most of the Indian villages in Virginia, were enclosed by a palisade of strong upright poles, firmly planted in the ground near to each other, and penetrated only by a single narrow entrance. Within and around this circular area, the houses were disposed, leaving a clear open space in the centre. Upon some part of this open space was a smaller circle, enclosed by six or seven posts, somewhat higher than a man, rudely carved with human faces of a hideous or grotesque character. Here it was, at certain seasons of the year, they assembled with their neighbours to celebrate their solemn feasts with songs and dances. On the opposite side from this place, set apart for the purposes of festivity, were as many other posts set low in the ground, in the midst of which their sacred fire was kept always burning. Near to the latter was the sepulchre of their chiefs, an oblong building with a semicircular roof, similar in appearance without to the better class of dwell- ings. Internally the arrangements were very different. Entering this gloomy structure, the first thing that the eye rested upon was a raiser
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ABORIGINAL CUSTOMS.
1607.]
platform, some nine or ten feet in height, on which, side by side in extended rows, lay the dead bodies of their chiefs, whose bowels and fleshy parts had been removed, dried, and en- closed in boxes, at the feet of the skeletons, over which the skin was carefully replaced. Beneath this horrible platform was the habitation of a priest, whose duty was, night and day, to mutter prayers and watch the dead. At the side above, on a raised seat overlooking the bodies, was placed their idol Kiwasa, a roughly carved figure about four feet high, with its face painted red, its breast white, and the rest of its body black, except the legs, which were variegated with white. Folds of delicately dressed deer-skin encircled the loins, and around the neck were suspended loose neck- laces of white beads, mixed with larger ones of copper.
The wigwams, or houses, were constructed of light saplings, bent over to meet each other at the top in the form of an arbour, the light ribs being firmly strengthened by transverse poles securely fastened. Over this frame was thrown a close covering of mats made of reeds, and im- pervious to the weather. Around the interior walls ran a slight narrow staging, raised from the ground a foot or more ; on this they slept, covered with mats or skins, the head of one slumberer touching the feet of another. Some of these wigwams were a hundred feet in length, and ex- 4*
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [1607.
hibited a slight increase in civilization by being divided into separate compartments, the best con- structed containing four or five.
Primitive, however, as was the condition of his subjects, Powhattan exacted from them as many ceremonial observances as were then or are now paid to the potentates of more enlightened coun- tries. He kept about his person from forty to fifty men. Every night four sentinels were sta- tioned at the four corners of his dwelling, and at each half hour one of his body-guard made a signal to the four sentinels. He kept as many
wives as he thought proper. When the English saw him at home reclining on his couch, or plat- form, there was always'one sitting at his head and another at his feet ; and when he sat, two of them seated themselves on either side of him. At his meals, one of them brought him a wooden platter in which to wash his hands before and after eating, while another attended him with a bunch of feathers for a towel; some were the daughters, and some had been the wives, of dis- tinguished rivals and enemies conquered in battle. When he became weary of them, he transferred them as presents to his favourite warriors.
So imposing was the authority he exercised over his rude followers, that when he spoke, they obeyed him as a king, and esteemed him with a reverence allied to divinity. What he commanded, they immediately performed ; they presented at
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POWHATTAN'S KINGLY STATE.
1607.]
his feet whatever he directed to be brought, and at the least frown of his brow the boldest of them would tremble with fear.
In one particular aspect, Powhattan possessed a decided advantage over his brother monarchs in Europe; he could make his own robes, shoes, bows, arrows, and pots, besides planting his corn for exercise, and hunting deer for amusement. Like other emperors, Powhattan had as many as three or four places of residence. One of these was at Werowocomoco, on the Pamunky River, a little in the rear and below Jamestown. Its prox- imity to the English settlements soon caused him to abandon the latter for his royal house at Ora- pakes, somewhere near the head waters of the Chickahominy, as rendering him less likely to be disturbed by those whom he could not but con- sider as disagreeable neighbours.
During the last years of his life, he secluded himself at Orapakes almost entirely. Here were deposited his royalties and his revenue, skins, copper, beads and paint, bows and arrows, tar- gets and clubs. The house itself was of great length. Four rudely graven images of wood were stationed at the four corners-one representing a dragon, the second a bear, the third a pan- ther, and the fourth a gigantic man ; all made " evil favouredly," according to the best work- manship of the natives. Such was the regal and barbarous state in which lived the Emperor Pow-
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [1607.
hattan, the father of the gentle princess Pocahon- tas, whose tender and graceful deeds will shortly appear on the pages of this history.
Shrewd and politic, this ancient monarch of the wilderness quietly retreated to a distance from the new comers, whose singular and unex- pected advent he could not but view with alarm, though he prudently concealed his fears. Remote- ness and forbearance he felt to be his best safe- guard ; and when some of his subjects complained at the intrusion of the strangers, he wisely checked their rising anger by calmly replying : " That the strangers did not hurt them ; they only took a little of their waste land."
Whether, if the first settlers had conformed strictly to the orders from England, by which kindness to the savages was enjoined, they could have dwelt in peace and friendship with their sylvan neighbours, is a problem which involves some difficulty in its solution. Captain Smith subsequently answered the question in his own sharp cutting way. He evidently regarded the nature of the Indian as similar to that of the Egyptian Arab, whose love for an individual is in proportion to the fear with which he inspires him; and certainly, if the reverence accorded to that gallant martialist by his savage antagonists be considered as any evidence of their esteem, it must be acknowledged that he made his proposi- tion good.
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PENN'S MANAGEMENT.
1607.]
It was reserved for William Penn to solve the problem in a different and far more merciful way. In forming our judgment, however, it must be recollected that Penn met the Indians under au- spices infinitely more favourable to the success of his mission. The English were then numerous in the land, their strength was known and tested, their courage justly feared, and the savages could, at that time, have entertained no very sanguine hopes of success in the event of rising to attempt the expulsion of the intruders.
And yet, notwithstanding these arguments, we incline to the belief that Penn was right, and that the interpretation of the bolder and elder adventurer was erroneous.
-
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
[1607.
CHAPTER III.
Description of the colonists-Gentlemen idlers-Noticeable men-Mr. Hunt-Mr. George Percy-Captain Bartholomew Gosnold-His death-Portrait of Captain John Smith-Care- less security of the colonists-Attacked by the Indians-Fort built and palisadoed-Newport leaves for England-Famine and sickness in the colony-Selfishness of Wingfield-At- tempts to escape from the colony-Deposed-Sufferings of the settlers-Their providential deliverance-Energy of Smith-Explores the country for provisions-Conspiracy of Wingfield and Kendall-Death of Kendall-Abundance in the colony.
WHILE Smith and his companions were on their return voyage from the royal village of Powhattan, an event occurred at Jamestown which seriously endangered the permanence of the settlement.
But before we narrate the incidents connected with this affair, it may, perhaps, be as well to give a passing glance at the colonists themselves.
We have already stated that more than one- half of those who were destined to form the. nucleus of a great and powerful nation were gentlemen by birth and education. But, if by this it should be understood that the majority of them were men of wealth and standing in their own land, the conclusion would be very far from correct. On the contrary, at least four-fifths of
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GENTLEMEN IDLERS.
1607.]
those who styled themselves gentlemen, and by the courtesy of their companions were acknow- ledged as such, were starveling gallants, thriftless younger sons, reckless tavern-haunting vagabonds, sent by their friends to Virginia, to escape a worse fate at home ;- a part of that floating scum which always rises in the midst of a dense popu- lation.
These idle do-nothings in taffeta rags, with roses in their shoes, and swaling feathers in their hats, swaggered about among the more industrious settlers, too proud to soil their delicate hands with labour, but always ready to claim their full share of the contents of the common kettle.
It was of these gentlemen, impoverished in spirit and fortune,-these rakes and libertines, men more fitted to corrupt, than to found a com- monwealth,-that Captain Smith, at a later day, indignantly wrote to the council in London, say- ing: "I entreat you, when you send next, to send thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers-up of trees' roots, rather than a thousand such as we have."
But while the vitality of the infant colony was thus hampered by the dead weight of these hangers-on, there yet remained a few noticeable men, of the better class, who constantly endea- voured, both by precept and example, to sustain its failing energies.
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
[1607. .
First among these, in respect to his walk and calling, must be mentioned the good clergyman, Mr. Hunt. Those who have studied to any pur- pose the contemporaneous chronicles of the early struggles in Virginia, cannot fail to recall the mild, pale, patient face of this worthiest and most beloved of men,-he who by his good doctrines and exhortations so often succeeded in soothing ' the angry, checking the unruly, and reconciling those who were at enmity with each other.
Another of the immigrants was Mr. George Percy, a brother of the Earl of Northumberland, who in 1611 received from the hands of Lord De la Warre the government of the colony, and is worthily praised by him as a gentleman of honour and resolution.
Among the more remarkable of the immigrants, might also have been seen the weather-beaten form of Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, an elderly mariner, who, having previously made several voyages along the coast of America, became one of the most enthusiastic and efficient promoters of the enterprise which led to its settlement. The honest old seaman did not live long enough to witness the success of the scheme he had so generously fostered. Within a few months after his landing upon the peninsula of Jamestown, there was an open grave in the little churchyard of the colony, and around it stood many haggard and half-famished mourners, while the voice of
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PROMINENT . SETTLERS.
1607.]
good Mr. Hunt, in accents mournful yet solemn, murmured those awfully sublime words which form the grandest service for the dead in any known tongue.
But the man of men, he who, though but of medium stature, was elevated by his deeds a full head and shoulders above his companions, was young Captain John Smith. His portrait yet remains for the satisfaction of those curious in such matters. A sturdy, athletic figure, clad in leathern doublet and trunk hose, gathered loosely at the knee; low-quartered shoes beneath, and on his head a broad-leaved beaver: the face, indicative of the man, bearded like the pard, swarthy, and of a leonine aspect.
Returning to Jamestown, we shall find, that during the absence of Smith and his compa- nions-an absence extended to some eight or ten days-but little was done by the colonists.
Wingfield, the governor, as feeble and vacil- lating as he had heretofore proved himself ma- licious, was but ill calculated to direct and govern as unruly a set of spirits as were ever associated together, even in a tavern haunt of Alsatia. New- port was with Smith, and though there yet remained behind four gentlemen of the council only, Kendall and good old Captain Gosnold laboured to preserve order and diligence, with such energy as was in them.
In the mean time, the Indians, with a great
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [1607.
show of friendship, visited the settlers daily, bringing with them many presents of game and fish, in order to render their coming as welcome as possible. Admitted thus freely into the heart of the encampment, and mingling without re- straint with both workmen and idlers, the quick- eyed savages soon observed that every man was unarmed; and that the only protection from assault was a light semicircular breastwork, formed of the boughs of trees, which had been thrown up by the diligence of Captain Kendall.
This state of careless security, without doubt, instigated the Indians, already jealous of their lands being thus unceremoniously seized, to at- tempt, by a sudden attack, either the extermina- tion or expulsion of the strange intruders.
Accordingly, the day before the return of Smith from Powhattan, and while the settlers were scattered in various parts of the encamp- ment, they were surprised by the sudden hurtling of a cloud of arrows, followed by the shrill war- whoop of the savages. Seventeen men fell wound- ed, and a boy was slain; the remainder of the colonists rushed with confused outcries towards the ships, followed by their swarthy and exulting foes. Fortunately, a quick hand from one of the ships fired a cross-bar shot at the pursuers, which, striking down a bough of a tree among them, caused them to retire as precipitately as they had at first advanced.
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FAMINE AND SICKNESS.
1607.]
Thus terribly admonished, Wingfield no longer opposed the arming of the settlers. All other labour was suspended until a strong fort could be erected and palisadoed; and, when this was accomplished, Newport sailed for England, leav- ing the colonists to their own resources.
These resources were soon found to be meagre enough. The ships had scarcely been gone ten days before almost every man in the colony was reduced to a state of extreme weakness, either from want of food, or from the relaxing character of the climate.
The means of subsistence were indeed alarm- ingly scanty. Half a pint of wheat, and as much barley, boiled in water, constituted each man's daily allowance, and these, having " fried " some twenty-six weeks in the ship's hold, contained as many worms as grains. " Had we been as free from sins as from gluttony and drunkenness," writes Smith, " we might have been canonized as saints."
But in the midst of this dreadful famine and sickness, and while his despairing people were fast sinking around him, Wingfield the governor took excellent care that his own personal com- fort should suffer as little abatement as possible, by engrossing to his private use the beef, wine, oatmeal, and eggs, remaining in the public store.
Finding, at length, the long suppressed indig- nation of the colonists was roused against him,
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.
[1607.
he attempted to add treachery to selfishness. He conspired with some few others, among whom perhaps Captain Kendall was one, to seize the pinnace, and by thus cutting off the last hope of escape to the settlers, leave them to their fate. What that fate would have been, it is not difficult to imagine.
Fortunately, the design was discovered, and as promptly frustrated. Wingfield and Kendall were deposed from their offices, and Ratcliffe elected governor.
Harassed continually by the savages, and weakened by labour, famine, and disease, within four months, or between May and September, one-half of the colonists died ; while the remain- ing fifty, less happy than those who had gone before, barely managed to sustain life from day to day, by the sturgeon and crabs, which for their constant wants, the river too scantily afforded.
At length, when all their provision was gone, when even sturgeon was no longer to be had, and while they were hourly expecting to fall beneath the fury of the savages, by what Smith rightly ascribes to the interposition of an overwatching Providence, a remarkable circumstance took place. Those very savages, hitherto so watchful and un- relenting, filled with pity for the sufferings of which they had been so long hostile witnesses, brought to the poor, famished, and despairing settlers so great an abundance of fruit and pro-
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ENERGY OF SMITH.
1607.]
visions, that health was speedily restored, and no man any longer wanted for food.
By the death of Captain Gosnold and the depo- sition of Wingfield and Kendall, the government of the colony fell into the hands of three persons only ; Ratcliffe, the governor, and Martin, and Smith, of the council. The two former, being men of weak judgment in danger, and little in- dustry in peace, soon committed the management of affairs abroad into the hands of their more energetic associate. 1
The happy consequence of this surrender of power to the only man capable of exercising it to the best advantage, was soon made clearly appa- rent. Placing himself at the head of the work to be performed, Smith set some to build houses, some to mow and collect reeds, and others to thatch ; always selecting the severest labour for himself ; so that, in a short time, he had provided the most of his companions with comfortable dwellings, neglecting any for his own use. When this was done, finding the provisions brought in by the savages falling short, he took the pinnace, and made several journeys to Kecoughtan and the river Chickahominy, where he succeeded in obtaining supplies of corn.
But what he carefully provided, the rest as carelessly spent ; and while he was absent, Wing- field and Kendall, then living in disgrace, enticed some sailors and others to join them in seizing
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HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 1 [1607.
the pinnace, with the intention of deserting the colony and sailing for England. The conspiracy was very near being successful ; just as they were in the act of taking their departure, Smith un- expectedly returned, and bringing his cannon to bear upon the receding vessel, compelled the con- spirators either to stay, or sink. They chose to haul to, and surrender, but not until after Captain Kendall had fallen in the action. A little while subsequent to this, another project was formed by Governor Ratcliffe and Captain Archer to obtain the pinnace, and abandon the country. This plot was also discovered, and as promptly suppressed by Smith. And now, the winter ap- proaching, the rivers became so covered with wild fowl that they daily feasted. What with good bread, vegetables, fish, and various sorts of game, as fat as they could eat them, even the most froward and dissatisfied among them became per- fectly reconciled to the country, and no longer desired to leave it.
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JEALOUSY OF SMITH ..
1607.]
CHAPTER IV.
Smith's superior abilities create envy-He explores the Chicka- hominy River to its source-Three of his men slain by the Indians-Smith taken prisoner-Led in procession to Ora- pakes-Gratitude of a savage-Smith carried in triumph through various tribes-Reaches Pamunkey-Singular con- jurations of the medicine-men-Is taken to Werowocomoco -Regal state of Powhattan-Smith sentenced to death- Rescued by Pocahontas-His release-Returns to James- town-Represses the malcontents-They plot his death- His summary proceedings.
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