Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1897-12-23
Glea8ings from our Colonial History
NO e
NO. 6.
PoCAHoNTAs THE DUsKY MAIDEN AND
PRINCESS

three hundred years ago on the banks
of the Chickahominy, won the clemency
of her stern father, King Powhatan,
and rescued from harbarous death a
the imminent peril of her own life one
who had no claims upon her of consa-
guinity Dor long friendship, but was q
stranger and an alien to her and he
people, will continue to be acknow.
lodged as an established fact,ss ssnotwilh.
standing the malignant attempts G
cvnics to pervert and falsify the plain
historical eviG ences upon which its We
racity dspenGs. 1t will still hold its place
in the earliest chapters OF Virginia
history, AMI still command, as it ever
has done, the Interest and admiration
of the young ana the old of our repub.
lie,
The circumstances of the rescue ol
Captain John Smith, according to the
mo st trustworthy cl roaicIes, are thes,
From the time u his first landing on
the banks Of tie james river with The
voyagers seat ou. under tie auspices OF
the Virginia company of London il
1906 to THAI Of bis departure from
Jamestown for England in 1909, he
omitted no opportunity to collect el'
possible information concerning the
geography and varied resources Of the
country for the occupation OF which he
had so faithfully labored from the bt-
ginning of the enterprise. 1t was On
one of his excursions in pursuit of this
object that he was surprised and CAL
uIed by the natives and carried before
their king, Opechancanough. But 10
this strait his characteristic adroitness
and tact served and saved him. Draw
ing from his pocket the little compass
which had served to guide him througb
the wilderness, he amused the sava9es
by an explanation OF its wonderful
properties, and increased their admifa-
ion of his superior genius by i'npsrtinR
10 them some vague conceptions of the
form of the earth and the nature of the
planetary bodies. To the Indians who
detained him as their prisoner his cap
ivity WAS stranger event than any
circumstance of which the traditions OF
heir people preserved the memory.
He was allowed to send q letter to the
fort at Jamestown, and the savage WOE
der was Increased; for he seemed by
someincomprehensible agency to endow
The paper with the gift of intelligence.
The curiosity of ell the clans of the
neghborhood wss awakened by the &C
lions of the prisoner. He was conduct
ed IN triumph from the settlement on
the Chickahominy to tha Indian VII
ages on the Rsppahannock and the
Potomac, and thence through various
towns to the residence OF Opecban-
canougb at 'Pamunkey. There for the
space of three days they practiced in
carnations and ceremonies in the hope
of obtaining some insight into the mys-
;ery of his character and his designs.
1t was evident to them that the pale
faced stranger was being of q higher
order than that of their own, and gifted
with influences to sway and control
other minds at will. They parleyed
among themselves, and queried, "Was
his nature kindly and benefcent; was
he 10 be considered a friend and taken
into their confidence, or was he to be
dreaded as willy and dangerous In
truder ?" Their minds were bewilder-
ed as they behed his calm fearlessness
in the face of danger, and they sedu-
lously observed towards him the ut
most Difference and hospitality, as If to
propitiate his power should ne be
rescued from their hands. In their di-
lamma they referred the decision of his
fate to Powhatan who was then resid.
imp in what is now Gloucester county,
on York river, at village to which
Smith was conducted through the re-
pions now SO celebrated; where the
Youthful l. fayette lowered upon the
skirts of CORVALLIS, and Where tne
arms of France and those of the cole
MES were united to achieve the croWn'
ing victory of American independence;
and where nearlya hundred years later
occurred many of the important events
of the great civil struggle between the
States of the North aud the South.
TIE grim warriors Of Powhatan as
thew met in council to make their de-,
c:sion displayed their gayest apparei
before the Englishman whose fate was
in their lands. The fears OF the feeble
aborigines were about to prevail aud
the immediate death Of Smith. repeat
edly threatened and repeatedly delay
ed. would have been inevitable but Tor
the the timely timely intercession Of POcohyntas,
the daughter of Powhatan, girl OF
"tenne or twelve years CID when nos
only for features, countenance and .,ls .os e1-
preston much exceeded any OF .ne Le?.
Of her people, but for wis aud SPIN; !;
w was the only noppareil of the country. P"
"The II gentle feelings of humanity are
the same in every race aud in every
neriod OF life. They bloom, though
pnconsciously, in the bosom OF q
child" 80, t,a
confidence and affection CT the lndlan
maiden, and now the impulse of mercy Is
was awakened in her breast. sac
chung GuT firmly to his neck and as his lis
head was bowed to receive the stfoAes