The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-04-08
3Pocaho,ntas.

Editor Of he"Times- Dispatch: =.
Slr,-.rhe Times Dispatch, OF course.
knows that usually the, anonymous coin
pilcr OF the ordinary reference book Is M
ignorant hack, without any original iii
formation, who simply copies. parrot
like, what he nnds. But he editor I'm. no
doubt forgotten that the late Mr.. Nclll's
account of pocahontqs and Rolfe was full
OF the grossest ,nlsrepresentatio t,F.H In
the last extract ynu cited the hack did
not oven know ell that Col. NELL had said,
for after making these statements in
widely disseminated books. that gentleman
Withdrew the most scrious Of them In q
paragraph tucked away In a corner OF a
magazine. y q Il. zI5 i3.. H 5SgH Pa
That Roife was already norrlcd when
he married Pocahontas Is an utter ABB
surdity. That an eminent divine like
Whitaker and the Governor Of The Col
ony. Dale, should urge q married man
to marry again while his wife was living
is something no one but mailman would
believe. XII
Neither of the authorities YOU cited,
stated that the first publication by Smith.
in which the rescue Is not mentioned, Is
known, positively, not to DO printed MS
Smith wrote It. The editor states that
he had omitted portions Of IT, Is It not
extremely unjust to charge q man with
falschood on the authority OF book
s
The whole matter Of the rescue of c'l1ltn!
by Pocahontas Is a tempest. In q ea-pot.
1t was only remarkable because It was
the first time such thing had Occurred.
All students OF indian history and GUS
toms know that rescue from death BY
squa WIS, and subsequent adoption into
the tribe was exceedingly common. The
powow on the night Of the rescue was
simply the ceremonial adoption. Parkman
tells OF the case OF a Frenchman among
the Iroquois, which Is almost exactly
similar to that Of Smith.
Strachey Is the only writer who refers
to Captain kokun1.' and It Is not known
exactly what he means, or how far he
was mistaken. 1t is not stated that
IN Indian, but that Powhatan when asked
for her TO be the wife OF some English
man, replied that he had sold herfto' this
Kokum and that she could not, therefore,
go to Jamestown. 1t Is most probable that
this was simply an evasion to save his
daughter from the English. 1t IS not
1lone on the rescue that 1.-THE Fame
brought the colonists supplies and saved
them by warning them OF proposed at
tacks by the Indians. Her fame must
have been great to secure her such re-
ceptIon as she had in England.
Purchas, who knew her well while IN
England, writes: ''She did not only accuS-
tom herself to civiltie. but still carried
herself as the daughter OF a king. and
was accordingly respected. - ~ 3isi
was present when my honorable and rev
-erend patron, the Lord Bishop Of Lon
don. Dr.. King. entertained her with fes-
tival, and state and pomp, beyond what
have seen in his great hospitalitte af-
forded to other ladies' At her return
towards Virginia, she came to Gravesend.
to her end and grave, having given great
demonstration of her Christian sincerity.
rs the first fruits Of Virginia conversions,
leaving here a godly memory and the
hopes of her resurrection, her soul as
pirng to see and enjoy presently in Heav-
en- what here she had Joyed to hear and
believe OF her beloved SAVIOR (
This surely was written OF no ordinary.
uncouth savage. John Rolfe Immediately
on his return to Virginia. after her death,
wrote Of his great sorrow and loss IN
being deprived of SO great comfort.
In opposition to NeHl read Fiske's Old
Virginia and Her Nelghbors: Wyndham
Robertsons study of the subject in his
Pocahontas and Her Descendants, and
Poindexter's Captain John Smith and His
let tar i. I u 4.