The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1877-07-18
ne,,ly 90 Mt. Nelir. Account OF
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH,
ss,awtng the Gross Eniustice Done 20
Cur EtrRinsa Hero.
sror the Dispateh.i
RycpNcSD. July Ia, 1917.

M 0tlE sSsERkW4Sa snA1Us .fg5ss
tFor the Dispateh.i S
RYcnxosD, July Ia, 1877. !.
IN your issues Oh the i2thand 13th instant
MIR, Neil. in q sketch OF Captain John smith,
hss ATTEMPTED to maintain his prevlon state 2.
mens that he was :. notoriously Ut
Mr.. Neil is proposing to instruct We.
cinisns In their carly history, ior Whlcn ny ne
enjoys peculiar advantages, having pao ~
1 ccS 10 many valuable manuscripts peaT,ns
= ~, ths s,,hiect. he has published !" Ills
tory OF Che Virginia Company OF LONDON -.
Mh;cb nlauted and nurtured the colony at
Jamestown-nade UP largely from the re-
! cords of the company. Where ne mas con-
6,ed himself TO copying manuscripts nc mas ias
renjered valuable service to history; but
his own composition Is so flied Win prelt-
dica TO Smith, the realf0under OF Virginia,
shat he has destroyed much OF the con-
fSdence to which his book would Otherwise
AR. NeiIr,s fault Is not lack OF Industry or
material. but lack Of impartiality, and that
TO such degree that he can never be safely
Followed when he attempts history. HAPPY
4he materials afe at band to correct his estl-
mate of Captain John Smith where the quo
tations he makes do not themselves defeat
his object in making them.
The letter OF Captain Smith to Lord Ba-
CON, given By Mr.. Neill, SO far from sustain
ING his assertion that it contained 1.-the
exapceratioDs and self-assertions OF an adj
yenturer,n will strike every reader who Is
familiar with the surrounding csrc,inl-
stances as manly and becoming appeal to
the great Chancellor. Large sums OF money
had been spent in settling the rich Colony
OF Virginia, and very poor returns, In pro-
portion to the outlay, had been received,
though twelve years bad elapsed; while
Smith in the meanwhile had visited the
barren shores OF New England, and, by de-
Welcoming the fisheries and fur-trade, had
secured handsome profits. He alludes to
these facts without affectation in his appeal
to Lord Bacon for his patronage, under
which he proposed further to pursue the
New England enterprise. II any statement
in the letter is an eXaggeration it has not
been pointed out; nor is the language that
OF an adventurer.
Mr.. Neill states that on the 18th Of April,
1921, Captain Smith proposed to the Lon
don Company to compile general history
of Virginia, and that the company took no
notice OF the proposition. 1t may be that
Mr.. Neill has not found record of the ac-
ceptance OF Smiths proposition, as he
alleges; but as that history appeared In
1924, and contained statement (see on its
last page) that in the company's name he
was requested to write it, Mr.. NeilPs as
esertion TO the contrary, without the produc-
ton Of record OF the company's declin-
ing the proposition, will hardly be satisfac-
tory. n
Feeling the necessity Of more definite
proof OF his own loose statement that Cap
tain Smith was notoriously ,untruthful,"
Mr.. Neill has placed side by side several
extracts purporting to be taken from the
90 True Relation" letter written by Smith
In Virginia in 1903, and the General His
tory OF Virginia" published in 1924.
Whatever else this attempt Of Mr.. Neill
may prove, it cannot convince an attentive
reader Of the two books that Smith was un-
truthful.
The "True Relation" was published in
1908 BY an editor who signed his initials j.
ii. to the preface. He states in this pre-
face, after attributtng the MSS. to Captain
John Smith, that "Somewhat more was
by him written, which, being as thought
{ft to be priyate} would not adventure to
make it pubEcke, what more may be ex-
pected concerning the situation Of the
country, the nature Of the cline, numbers
OF our people there resident, the manner
of their government and living, the COM
.modities to be produced, and the end and
effect it may come to, can say nothing
more than Is here written &C. The por-
lions OF the MSS. left out, therefore, did
not relate TO any OF these matters, but to
the other matters treated of-namely, the
history of the adventures OF the Colony
and the characteristics OF the Indians.
From this publication we find left out the
tying OF Smith to tree soon after his cap
ture by the Indians, and the preparation to
shoot him, which was prevented by Ope-
and also the preparation to
Kill Smith in the presence OF PoWhatan,
and his rescue by Pocahoatas. As it was
greatly desired in England to induce emf
grafton to virginia, and published account
OF the cruel dispositions of the savages
would tend TO discourage emigration,
the motives for suppressing these in
cidents Lis obvious, even II they were
given in the MSS. letter OF 1908, called
the sGTrue Relation" II these incidents
were not given, however, In the letter OF
1905, 1t does not follow that they must be
disbelieved when related by Smith In his
later and more carefully prepared book, his
..General History of Virginia" The rescue
BY pocahontas was indeed related by Smith
in several publications put forth W hen many
of his companions in Virginia were alive;
and the last Of these publications. the Gen
-eraI History, has Testimonials from several
of those companions as to the truth OF its
statements. The question OF his rescue by
Pocahontas should be forever put at rest,
however. by the fact that when she and her
husband, Rolfe, and the Indian counsellor
Tomocomo, with several other Indians,
arrived in England in 1916, Smith wrote
letter to the Queen detailing the services
rendered TO the Colony by Pocahontas, in
GLIDING his own rescue by her, and asking
that she be accorded reception at court.
& This letter procured for her an honorable
reception and great attention in England.
The distinguished divine and writer Samuel
Purchas formed her acquaintance and that
Of her husband, and Of the Indian counsel
lor; conyersed with her husband freely on
Virginia matters, and obtained from him
his manuscripts relating to Virginia; and
in his subsequent publication, 50 Purchas's
Pilgrims,n gives the details Of Smiths adj
ventures while prisoner amongst the In
!. dams substantially as Smith gives them 10
his General History. It thus appears that
Smiths account OF these now disputed Incl
dents was given when il could have been
contradicted by the Indians and by hiscom
paniops at Jamestown, who, mixing freely
i with the Indians, would know their account
I OF them and that the details which we ind
i i'm the General History. 80 far from being
contradictfd at that time, are sustained by
all the evidence which can be adduced,
q which fl indeed ample and conclusive
more so, / will venture to say, than can be
taddueed for the adventures OF any prisoner
Al ~