they had just experienced. Everything was inviting to the eye and ear, and for several hours these hardy adventurers strolled amid the beauties of nature in her primal attire, and for the time forgot the perils they had passed, and the greater perils yet to be encountered.

warding the enterprise. After his death, all eyes were turned upon Smith as the only man to guide them in this dark hour of trouble. He was called to preside in the council, and he immediately set about fortifying the town and making preparation for a supply of provisions. He put himself After taking in a supply of fresh water, and at the head of a small detachment of his people, surprised at not meeting with any trace of human and in an open boat boldly ascended the river. beings, Newport weighed anchor and coasted By courtesy among the friendly tribes, and along the southern shores of the bay for about bravery among the hostile, he succeeded in proforty miles, when he entered the mouth of a large curing an abundant supply of provisions for the river. The beauty of the scenery, the apparent little colony; but in the midst of his successes, richness of the soil, and the evident security of he was surprised by a hostile tribe, and after much the harbor, determined the colonists to make this hard fighting, was taken prisoner. He was imthe place of their abode. They gave the name mediately dragged toward a tree, where they inof their king (James) to the river, and also to tended to sacrifice him after their usual manner. their settlement; and here was planted the first Perfectly calm and resolute, Smith desired to see permanent English colony in America-here was the Sachem, to whom he presented a mariner's erected the first town, and here of one hundred compass, told him to what discoveries it had led, and ten men was formed that nucleus around explained the form and motion of the earth, its which, for two centuries has been gathering an en- vast continents and mighty seas-in a word, lightened population with all its concomitants, Smith poured a flood of light into the understanduntil now we present a powerful nation of free-ing of the old chief that subdued his passions and men, nearly twenty millions in number!

Among those who first landed at Jamestown, was Captain John Smith, a man eminently qualified to conduct an enterprise so great as the one in which he was engaged. He was brave, persevering, generous, clear headed and right hearted, but for the possession of these noble qualities he was looked upon with jealousy by his compatriots; and their contravention of an arrangement providing for him a seat in the colonial council, produced disastrous dissensions at the very outset of their career in the new world. It is not necessary to our purpose here to refer to the antecedent acts of the king, or to discuss questions of propiety in the formation of the colonial government; it is sufficient to remark, that the governor and council for this colony were appointed by the king, which commission was sealed and instructions given that it should not be opened till the arrival of the colony to their place of destination. This arrangement gave great dissatisfaction, and, as we have intimated, Smith was excluded from a seat in the council, and even accused of traitorous designs. The want of the counsel and action of such a man was detrimental to the public weal, and it was not long before he was called to his appointed place, after having, at his own request, submitted to the form of a trial, and being honorably acquitted.

In June, Newport sailed for England according to instructions, leaving the colonists no means of escape from the savages and disease, from both of which they suffered much before the close of the summer. Several were killed in sudden attacks from the Indians; and about the beginning of September, disease had swept away one half their number. Among these was Bartholomew Gosnold, who planned and did much toward for

gained a respite for the captive.

But this respite was short: he was conveyed in triumph to Powhatan, the king or chief sachem of the tribes, and by him condemned to be put to death by beating out his brains with clubs. At this critical moment an angel of deliverance appeared in the person of Pocahontas, the daughter of the king, who, sitting beside her father had watched with intense anxiety the preparations for the execution. She saw the stone brought in, the head of the pinioned captive placed upon it, and the fatal clubs upraised by the powerful arms of two warriors. The fear of punishment could restrain her generous soul no longer, and she sprang to the side of the victim, clasped his head in her arms, and laid her own upon the stone in token of her willingness to become a substitute for the gallant Smith.

The generous heroism of Pocahontas prevailed over the cruelty of the tribe, and life and liberty were granted to the captive. Nor did this noble act exhaust the benevolence of the Indian princess; her whole soul was imbued with sympathy for the defenceless whites, and through her influence they were long abundantly supplied with provisions. Her father became the friend of the English-Smith was held by the surrounding tribes to be little less than the Great Spirit, and for a time the affairs of the colony, under his guidance, were exceedingly prosperous.

At this time, (1608) when the influence of Smith had produced peaceable relations between the colonists and the Indian tribes, a reinforcement of one hundred and twenty men arrived from England, bringing provisions, seeds and agricultural instruments. Universal joy pervaded the colony on the occurrence of this event, but instead of being a blessing, it was a real calamity

searches are but expanded views of their original discoveries. In these two expeditions, this great founder of civilized society in North America obtained a powerful influence over the tribes of the wilderness, and the true relations of his personal bravery during these and subsequent voyages seem like chapters taken from the embellished volume of romance.

and came very near proving fatal to the infant as Virginia and Maryland, that all subsequent re settlement. Among the new comers were a few laborers, a large number of gentlemen, and jewellers and refiners of gold; men but little suited to the great task of forming the basis of a new nation. The proprietors of the colony had in view immediate gains to be derived from the mineral wealth supposed to exist in all parts of America, and they were not well satisfied with the attention of the colonists being turned to other pursuits, of a character in fact more utile and prospectively beneficial.

The harvest of 1608 fell short, and the colonists looked forward with fear to a season of famine. But the activity of Smith procured abundant supThe new recruits came out animated with plies for some time. So long as the rivers were golden visions, and these were rendered more open he procured provisions by some means, extravagant on the discovery that a small stream from the Indians, but when winter set in, these that issued from a bank near Jamestown, de- supplies were cut off. Powhatan had become posited a glittering sediment resembling gold extremely jealous of the control of Smith over ore. The refiners were set at work, and after a the tribes of his realm, and through the influence bungling assaying process, they pronounced it of the old chief, much assistance was withheld gold of the richest kind. At once the attention from the whites. Disappointed in the friendship of nearly the whole colony was turned to mining, of Powhatan, Smith determined to put on a bold and its best interests were neglected. Those face and bring the old king to submission. He base passions which characterized the gold-conceived the dangerous plan of surprising him hunters who followed Pizarro into Peru, took and carrying away his whole stock of provisroot and flourished here: dissensions arose, the ions. The Indian prince had formed a similar peace of the colony was broken up, and the elements of political destruction were soon in active operation.

design respecting Smith, and for this purpose had invited him to his abode, with great professions of friendship. During the whole day he endeavored to persuade the Captain and his party of their perfect security, and to lay aside their arms. Failing in this, he resolved to fall upon them when at supper, and thus destroy them. In this he would have succeeded, had it not been for the friendship of Pocahontas. She, who before in the hour of peril had come like an angel of mercy to the rescue of Smith, now quietly stole from the presence of her father, and through the gloom of the forest at night proceeded to the camp of the

Smith saw with sorrow this abandonment of those pursuits, which alone could conduce to the prosperity of the colony, and with true patriotism he devoted all his energies in averting the ruin which seemed inevitable. He foresaw the disastrous consequences incident to the neglect of agriculture, and he determined to divert the minds of the colonists from their mad pursuit. To do this, he planned an expedition for extending their discoveries along the coast northward, and farther into the interior, to ascertain the natural re-whites, and with tears in her eyes revealed to the sources of the country and to plant a new colony Captain the secrets of the horrid plot. The Enof laborers who were yet free from the delusion glish were consequently prepared and thus saved that had seized a majority of the Jamestown their lives. settlers.

Soon after this event, Smith was invited to With his friend, Dr. Russel, and a few follow-visit Opecancanough, the chief by whom he was ers, Captain Smith embarked in an open boat on formerly taken prisoner. He made every friendly a voyage of discovery along an unknown coast. pretension, while his men lay in ambush, ready to In two voyages, occupying a period of four fall upon the whites at a given signal. Happily, months, they visited every inlet and bay on both Smith discovered the treachery in time, and sides of the Chesapeake from Cape Charles river seizing the chief by the hair and presenting a to the Susquehanna; explored every estuary and pistol to his breast, he led him to the ambush penetrated far toward the sources of several cf and made him order his men, not only to lay the larger rivers, and embraced a navigation of down their arms, but to fili his boats with corn. above three thousand miles. They carefully ex- At another time, he was met alone in the amined every territory into which they penetra-woods by the chief, Paspahi, who attempted to ted, made full observations of the strength, char-shoot him. Smith was armed only with a sword, acter and habits of the various tribes, and after but he unhesitatingly attacked the savage in close encountering the most arduous toils, privations combat. In this struggle they fell into the river, and dangers, they returned to the settlement, but Smith finally succeeded in grasping the chief bringing back information so ample and perspic- by the throat, dragged him ashore, and led him nous of that portion of our republic now known la prisoner to Jamestown. These and many

We do not propose to present to our readers a history of the life of Washington. Americans are "The house in which Washington was born stood all of them familiar with the leading events in the about half a mile from the junction of Pope's creek biography of that truly great and good man. Our with the Potomack, and was either burned or pulled object is merely to mention a few interesting anec- down long previous to the revolution. A few scanty dotes in regard to him, which are new to us, and relicks alone remain to mark the spot which will doubtless will be to many of our readers, and whichever be sacred in the eyes of posterity. A clump

That man was never to be killed by a bullet, for he had seventeen times had a fair shot at him with his rifle, yet could not bring him down.'

of old decayed fig-trees, probably coeval with the mansion, yet exists; a number of vines, and shrubs, and flowers, still reproduce themselves every year, as if to mark its site, and flourish among the hallowed "All accounts agree that the unfortunate Braddock ruins; and a stone, placed there by Mr. George behaved with great gallantry, though with little disWashington Custis, bears the simple inscription, cretion, in this trying situation. He encouraged his Here, on the 11th of February,' (O. S.) 1732, soldiers, and was crying out with his speaking-trum. George Washington was born.' pet, Hurrah, boys! lose the saddle or win the "The spot is of the deepest interest, not only from horse!' when a bullet struck him, and he fell to its associations, but its natural beauties. It com- the ground, exclaiming: Ha, boys! I'm gone!' mands a view of the Maryland shore of the Poto- During all this time, not a cannon had been fired by mack, one of the most majestick of rivers, and of its the British forces. It was at this moment, that one course for many miles towards Chesapeake bay. who was with him at the time, who is still living, An aged gentleman, still living in the neighbourhood, and on whose humble testimony I rely even with remembers the house in which Washington was more confidence than on the more imposing authoriborn. It was a low-pitched, single-storied, frame- ty of history, thus describes Washington: "I saw building, with four rooms on the first floor, and an him take hold of a brass fieldpiece, as if it had been enormous chimney at each end on the outside.-a stick. He looked like a fury; he tore the sheetThis was the style of the better sort of houses in those days, and they are still occasionally seen in the old settlements of Virginia."

When speaking of his early life, Mr. Paulding mentions the following: "Mrs. Washington was very fond of fine horses, insomuch that when on one occasion she had become possessed of a pair of handsome grays, she caused them to be turned out to pasture in a meadow in front of the house, from whence they could at all times be seen from the window of her sitting-room. It chanced that she at one time owned a favourite young horse, which had never been broke to the saddle, and no one was permitted to ride. On some occasion, a party of youthful Nimrods on a visit to the house, proposed, after dinner, to mount the colt and make the circuit of the pasture. No one could do the feat, and many were defeated in attempting to mount, or thrown from his back afterward. Washington, then but a youth, succeeded, however, and gave the favourite such a breathing that he at length fell under his rider, who immediately went and told his mother what he had done. Her reply deserves to be recorded: Young man,' said she, 'I forgive you, because you have the courage to tell the truth at once; had you skulked away, I should have despised you.'

lead from the touchhole; he placed one hand on the muzzle, the other on the breech; he pulled with this, and pushed with that, and wheeled it round as if it had been nothing. It tore the ground like a barshare. The powder-monkey rushed up with the fire, and then the cannon began to bark, I tell you. They fought and they fought, and the Indians began to holla, when the rest of the brass cannon made the bark of the trees fly, and the Indians come down. That place they call Rock Hill, and there they left five hundred men dead on the ground.''

The following tale of horrour which Washington related on a particular occasion, when questioned on the subject by a cherished friend, will give some idea of scenes that were of almost daily occurrence during these gloomy and disastrous times: "One day," said Washington, "as we were traversing a part of the frontier, we came upon a single log-house, standing in the centre of a little clearing surrounded by woods on all sides. As we approached, we heard the report of a gun, the usual signal of coming horrours. Our party crept cautiously through the underwood, until we approached near enough to see what we had already foreboded. A smoke was slowly making its way through the roof of the house, while, at the same moment, a party of Indians came forth laden with plunder, consisting of clothes, domestick utensils, household furniture, and dripping scalps. We fired, and killed all but one, who tried to get away, but was soon shot down.

His conduct at Braddock's defeat deserves mention: "After a few discharges from the unseen destroyers in the wood, Washington remained of all the aids alive. In fact the whole duties of the day devolved on him, and the entire resistance on the troops of Virginia. He exposed himself to thousands of un- "On entering the hut, we saw a sight that, though erring marksmen; his clothes were perforated with we were familiar with blood and massacre, struck bullets, and twice was his horse shot under him. us, at least myself, with feelings more mournful than Yet he escaped without a wound, as if to justify the I had ever experienced before. On a bed in one prediction of the old Indian warriour that led the hostile savages, who used long afterward to declare:

A kind of plough.

corner of the room lay the body of a young woman treating, when she captivated the affections of Washswimming in blood, with a gash in her forehead ington. It represents a figure rather below the middle which almost separated the head into two parts. size, with hazel eyes, and hair of the same colour, On her breast lay two little babes, apparently twins, finely-rounded arms, a beautiful chest and taper less than a twelvemonth old, with their heads also waist, dressed in a blue silk robe of the fashion of cut open. Their innocent blood, which had once the times, and altogether furnishing a very sufficient flowed in the same veins, now mingled in one cur- apology to a young gentleman of seven-and-twenty rent again. I was inured to scenes of bloodshed for delaying his journey, and perhaps forgetting his and misery, but this cut me to the soul, and never in errand for a time. The sun went down and rose my afterlife did I raise my hand against a savage again before Washington departed for Williamsburgh, without calling to mind the mother with her little leaving his heart behind him, and, perhaps, carrying twins, their heads cleft asunder. another away in exchange. Having completed his business at the seat of government, he soon after visited the White House, and being accustomed, as my informant says, to energetick and persevering action, won the lady and carried her off from a crowd of rivals. The marriage took place in the winter of 1759, but at what precise date is not to be found in any record, nor is it, I believe, within the recollection of any person living."

"On examining the tracks of the Indians to see what other murders they might have committed, we found a little boy, and a few steps beyond his father, both scalped, and both stone dead. From the prints of the feet of the boy, it would seem he had been following the plough with his father, who being probably shot down, he had attempted to escape. But the poor boy was followed, overtaken, and murdered. The ruin was complete. Not one of the In regard to Washington's habits of life, Mr P family had been spared. Such was the character of remarks: "His habits of life are a pattern to every one our miserable warfare. The wretched people on the His moments were numbered, and divided, and defrontier never went to rest without bidding each voted to his various objects and pursuits. His hours other farewell; for the chances were they might of rising and going to bed were the same throughout never wake again, or wake only to find their last every season of the year. He always shaved, sleep. On leaving one spot for the purpose of giv-dressed himself, and answered his letters by candleing protection to another point of exposure, the scene light in summer and winter; and his time for retiring was often such as I shall never forget. The women to rest was nine o'clock, whether he had company and children clung round our knees, beseeching us or not. He breakfasted at seven o'clock in summer, to stay and protect them, and crying out for God's and eight in winter; dined at two, and drank his sake not to leave them to be butchered by the sav-tea, of which he was very fond, early in the evening, ages. A hundred times, I declare to Heaven, I would have laid down my life with pleasure, even under the tomahawk and scalping-knife, could I have ensured the safety of those suffering people by the sacrifice."

never taking any supper. His breakfast always consisted of four small corn-cakes, split, buttered, and divided into quarters, with two small-sized cups of tea. At dinner, he ate with a good appetite, but was not choice of his food; drank small-beer at his meals, and two glasses of old Madeira after the cloth was removed. He scarcely ever exceeded that quantity. The kernels of two or three black-walnuts completed the repast. He was very kind, affectiɔnate, and attentive to his family, scrupulously observant of every thing relating to the comfort, as well as the deportment and manners, of the younger members.

The following details in relation to Washington's marriage, are related by Mr. Paulding: "Soon after his retirement from the service, he married Mrs. Martha Custis, a lady born in the same year with himself, of considerable personal attractions, and large fortune. Her maiden name was Dandridge, and both by birth and marriage she was connected with some of the most respectable families in Virginia. All her claims to distinction from family con- "His habits of military command produced a simnexions are now, however, merged in the one great ilar system with regard to his servants, of whom he name of Washington, and derive their purest lustre exacted prompt attention and obedience. These from an association with the Father of his country. conditions complied with, and they were sure of "It has been related to me by one whose authority I never being subjected to caprice or passion. Negcannot doubt, that the first meeting of Colonel Wash-lect or ill-conduct was promptly noticed, for the eye ington with his future wife was entirely accidental, of the master was every where, and nothing connectand took place at the house of Mr. Chamberlayne, ed with the economy of his estate escaped him. who resided on the Pamunkey, one of the branches He knew the value of independence, and the mode of York river. Washington was on his way to Wil- by which it is obtained and preserved. With him liamsburgh, on somewhat pressing business, when idleness was an object of contempt, and prodigality he met Mr. Chamberlayne, who, according to the of aversion. He never murdered an hour in wilful good old Virginia custom, which forbids a traveller indolence, or wasted a dollar in worthless enjoyment. to pass the door without doing homage at the fireside He was as free from extravagance as from meanness of hospitality, insisted on his stopping an hour or or parsimony, and never in the whole course of his two at his mansion. Washington complied unwil-life did he turn his back on a friend, or trifle with a lingly, for his business was urgent. But it is said that he was in no haste to depart, for he had met the lady of his fate in the person of Mrs. Martha Custis, of the White House, county of New Kent, in Virginia.

"I have now before me a copy of an original picture of this lady, taken about the time of which I am

creditor."

Washington's personal appearance at the time of taking command of the army of the revolution, is thus described :

Washington was upwards of six feet in height; robust, but of perfect symmetry in his proportions; eminently calculated to sustain fatigue, yet without