Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-10-11

plowshare. lhese people PROBABLY tell bt
meath some outbreak of savage vengeance
which left no name or record of their e,
istence. - .
!, Subsequently to these was the dispersio
of the Acadians, that terrible and wanto
D piece Of poli.icalapolicy which resulted
the extinction and denationalizing of
simple and pious people. The lugitiv
!. Acadians found their way through tn
wilderness of forests, suffering and dyin
fas they went, some landing in distan
states, Give hundred having been consigne
TO Governor Oglethorpe Of Georgia. an
others lonely AZ. .besslt, foaadsa, hpne gisl
4 4lla ill1Fii6 III una iabodous farmers of Iii
hAfdy whos6 finest qualify Is an sopsi sasi
handed hospitality. These intermarryins
here, have left traces oftheir blood and fin1
moral qualities to enhance tho excellence
ofa pure and healthful population.
Then followed the times Of the Refolu
ton, when Maine did her part nobly in th'
great and perilous work. Our own Kno,
was commandant Of the artillery, and the
bosom friend Of Washington, our you'll
sunk into unknown graves in the sac.e,
cause Of freedom; and our people, poor ii
they were, for the resources of the state
were then undeveloped, cast their mite o
wealth into the national treasury North
erly and insulated as she is, her cities were
burned, and her frontiers jealouly watched
by nm alert and cruel enemy. Here too
| Arnold sowed his last seeds Of virtue anc
patriotism, in his arduous march through
the wilderness of Maine TO tho capitol oI
the Canadas, an exploit which, consider
ing the season, the poverty of numbers and
resources combined with the wild, unknown,
and uncleared state of the country may
compete with the heroic actions of any
great leader of any people.
mnra,ime state, Maine suffers severe.
ly from the fluctuations Of commerce, but
is tho first 10 realize the reactions of pros.
peri,y. Her extended seaboard, her vast
forests, her immense mineral resources, TO-
gether with population hardy, laborous,
virtuous, and enterprising, population
less unadulterated by foreign mix lure than
any state in the Union, all point to com.
ing day of power and prosperity which
shall place her foremost in the ranks Of the
states, in point Of wealth, as she is already
in that Of intelligence.
We have enumerated but tithe Of the
intellectual resources of Maine-have Civ
en- but n blank sheet as it were OF the ma
terial of which hereafter make her re-
nowned in story, and confine ourselves to
but single point Of historic and romantic
interest, connected with The early records
of the country. We have alluded to the
first Governor, Sir Richard Vines, n right
worthy and chivalric gentleman, the friend
and agent OF Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Of
Walter Raleigh, and other fine spirits of
the day. His residence is at the Pool,
as it is now called, or "Winter Harbor."
from the fact that the winter of l6l6-l7
was passed by Vines snd his followers at
this place. After a residence Of eighteen
or twenty years, devoted to the interests Of
inc colony, the death Of the patron, the
transfer of the Maine plantation to the
Plymouth proprietors, together with do
mestic and pecuniary misfortune, induced
Sir Richard Vines, to retire to the Island
of Barbados, where we find him prospe-
rous and respected and still mindful of the
colony for which he had done and suffered
so much.
Prior 10 his departure and probably not
altogether unconnected with it, he had in.
Cured the deadly hatred of John Bonyton,
a young man Of the colony, who in af:er
years was called, and is still remembered
in tradition as the "Sasamore of Saco."
The cause of this hatred was in some way
connected with the disappearance of Bridg G.
ct Vines, the daughter ef tho Governor,
for whom John Bonyton had conceived a
wild and passionate attachment. Years
before our story she had been suddenly
missing to the permanent grief and dismay
of the family, and the more terrible agony
of John Bonyton, who had conceived the
idea that Bird get had been sent to Euro
pean convent, to save her from his pres
ence. This idea he would never abandon,
notwithstanding the most solemn aenials Of
Sir Richard, and the most solemn and SYM
pathizing asseverations Of Mistress Vines.
The youth listened with compressed lip,
his large remarkable eye fixed with stern
and searching scrutiny upon the face of
the speaker, and when he was done the re-
ply was always the same, "God knows if
it be true; but, true or false, my hand shall
be against every man till she be found.''
Accordingly we find the youth who
seems to have been possessed Of those rare
and strong points of character which go to
make the hero, in constant collision with
the people Of the times. Moody and re.
vengeful, he became an alien of his fathers
house, and with a gun and dog passed
months in the Wilderness Of that wild
country. With the savage he slept in his
wigwam, he treaded the forest and stood
upon the verge Of the cataract; or penetra-
ted up to the regions of the White Noun
tains; and anon, hushed the tumultuous
beating of.his heart in accordance with the
stroke OF his paddle he and his companions
glided over their loveliest of lakes, Win
neplsoge or ''the smiles of the Great
Spirit"
There seemed no rest for the unhappv
man. Unable to endure the formalities
and intermedlings, which so strongly mark
the period, he spent most OF his time on
the frontiers Of the settlements admitting
LOT but little companionship, and yieldine
less Of courtesy. When he first appeared
IN the colony. the women regarded his fine
person, his smile, at once sorrowful and
tender, and his free, noble bearing with ad
miratien, not unmingled with terror; while
mon, even in that age Of manly physique