Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1882-12-05
The True Romance Of Pocahontas.

: The True Romance OF Pocahontas.
Il In DR.. Eggleston's paper, entitle,
"The Beginning of Nation,n in th
November Century. (the first of his sc
, ries articles on the history Of life In th
} thirteen coAnies.) = description Of th
first English settlement is given, in
Guiding the following account of th,
!, romantic life Of Pocahontas: rr m
, From her first meeting with smith
che became devOtediy attached to thu
English, and rendered the settler
many services. She often secured sup
plies for them, and indeed seems L
} have haunted the fort, utterly naked n
she was, after the manner of little girl
among her people. who wore no clothel
and showed no ni0aesty untilthey werv
twelve or thirteen years of age, at " hich
time they put on u deerskin apron. and
were very careful not to-be seen with.
out it. The agile little barbarian would
persuade the English lads to make
! wheels of themselves by turning upon
their hands and feet, wnereupon she
would follow fhems wheeling as they
did, all through the fort N@1a -
I Her real name was Matoax; but. by
order of Pow hatan, this was carefully
concealed from the whites. lest by their
supernatural entertainments they should
work her some harm When Richard
u Wy ff1n was sent from jamestown to
apprise the endangered Captain Smith,
envirOned by foes among Powhatan,s
? nnonlo nf ho nf = a.
Scrivener. and his ten companiOps
by drowning, Pacahontas hid him, mis-.
directed thOse who sought him, and, by
Extraordinary bribes and maneuvers.
brought him safely to Smith, after three
days travel in the midst of extreme
peril. So, also, when Radcliffe was cut
off with thirty men, she saved the lad
Spilman, who was then living with.
POwhatan, and sent him to the Poto
macs. But the most touching story of
all precedee in order of time the other
two In the same difficult adventure
among POwhatan's people, in which
Captain Smith when Scrivener was en-.
gagged when drowned, the treacherOus
tchief had arranged to surprise Smith at
supper. and cut off the whole party when
Pocahontas, the dearest Jewel and
daug hter" of the aged chief, 'in that dark
night came through the irksome woods"
| to warn the Captain of Powhatan's de-
sign. Captain Smith offered to repay
her kindness with such trinkets as the
heart of an Indian maiden delights In
"but. with the tears running down her
cheeks, she said she burst not be seen to
have any, for, If Powhatan should
know it, she were but dead and SO she
ran away by herself as she came"
L In De- -
Potomac Indians. Captain Argall, q
man of much shrewdness and executive
force but infamous for his dishonest
lpractices. happened to be trading in the
river at that time. He quickly saw the
advantage the English would gain in
negotiations with Powhatan for the re.
| turn Of the white prisoners held by
him, If he could secure 80 valuable q
hostage as the chiefs daughter. With
q copper kettle he bribed Japazaws, the
chief with whom she was staying, to
entice her on board the vessel, where
he detained her, much to the sorrow of
The daughter of the wilderness, whose
life hitherto had been as tree as that of
the wild creatures of the woods To
jamestown, where she had 80 often
come rs friend with food. she was
now carried as an enemy and q prison.
or She hal refused to enter the town
since the departure of Captain Smith.
This transaction, not very creditable
to the gratitude of the English, accom-
plished the purpose in causing POwha-
| tan to return the white men hold In
slavery by him. with the least useful of
the stolen arms. But he still cOntrived
to evade some of the English, who
therefore retained his daug hter until the
affair took new turn. John Rolfe,
who seems to have been q widOwer, be.
came enamOred of POcahontas, now
growing to womanhOod. and wrote q
formal letter to Sir Thomas Dale, pro
posing to convert her to Christianity
aud lIarry her, which pleased the gov
ernOr, as tending to promote peace with
the Indians. and was likewise accepts
| ole to Powha The chief sent an
old uncle of Pocahor tas and two of ber
brothers to witness the marriage.
This marriage brought about peace
dnring the life of POwhatan, who, on
one occasion at least. sent q present of
buckskins to his daughter and her bus
band. A free intermirgling of the two
races took place, and Englishmen were
accustomed to hire InGlans to live In
their houses and hunt for them. This
amity lasted eight years.
In 1916 more than two years after
their marriage, Rolie and Pocahontas
went to England with Sir Thomas Dale
POwhatan sent home Indians with his
dAug ghter, one of whom was commits
stoned to count the number of the Eng
lIsh. The arrival of the Lady Rebecca,
a. POcahontas was called after her bap-
tism, produced a great sensation. she
was received by the king and many dis
tinguished people, went to see q play.
aud, by help of her naturally quick
wit, bore herself very well. But 1t be-
came Dt cessary tn (esist from calling her
the wife of Johu ROlfe, for the king was
very jealous, and it WAS seriously de-
bated in the privy council whether by
marrying the daughter of foreign pO
tentate without the kings consent,
Rolfe had not committed treason.
The climate of London, and perhaps
also the uncongenial habit of civiliZa-
tiOn, affected Pocahontas very unfavOr
ably, and she was taken to BrentfOrd,
where Smith. then busy with his prep
arations to sail for New England. visit
ed her. In the successful efforts of
Rolfe and others to win her to the CHS
tian faith and to marriage they had not
scrup;ed to deceive her, by telling her
that Captain Smith was dead, probably
| UCC0uS0 tuOy huCW oAC WVuAu hOs AANA
ry another white man while she be-
lieved tlat the great warrior was alive
When, therefore, she saw the brave"
who had been the object of her maiden
| ly admiration she turned her face away
ard refused to speak for the space of two
or three hours. When she did, it was to
claim the privilege of calling him father.
which Smith granted only after i'm
portunity, afraid perhaps, of incurring
the kings displeasure. Pocahontas went
to Gravesend to take ship for her re-
turn to America, much against her will,
for ahe had become weaned from her
savage life and greatly attached to the
Englisb. At Gravesend she died OF
-mall-pox three years after her mar
rixge, leaving one son, from whom
some of the most prominent Virginia
families trace their descent.
| KALAMAZOO. MICH. Feb 2 1880.
| Iknow Hop Bitters will bear recon-
mendation honestly All who use them
confer upon them the highest encomt-
ums. aud give them credit for making