第25章 THE SKETCH BOOK(2)
At this conference he endeavored to protect the religion of hisforefathers from the encroaching zeal of the missionaries; andstipulated that no further attempt should be made to draw off hispeople from their ancient faith; but, finding the Englishobstinately opposed to any such condition, he mildly relinquishedthe demand. Almost the last act of his life was to bring his two sons,Alexander and Philip (as they had been named by the English), to theresidence of a principal settler, recommending mutual kindness andconfidence; and entreating that the same love and amity which hadexisted between the white men and himself might be continuedafterwards with his children. The good old Sachem died in peace, andwas happily gathered to his fathers before sorrow came upon his tribe;his children remained behind to experience the ingratitude of whitemen.
His eldest son, Alexander, succeeded him. He was of a quick andimpetuous temper, and proudly tenacious of his hereditary rights anddignity. The intrusive policy and dictatorial conduct of the strangersexcited his indignation; and he beheld with uneasiness theirexterminating wars with the neighboring tribes. He was doomed soonto incur their hostility, being accused of plotting with theNarragansetts to rise against the English and drive them from theland. It is impossible to say whether this accusation was warranted byfacts or was grounded on mere suspicion. It is evident, however, bythe violent and overbearing measures of the settlers, that they had bythis time begun to feel conscious of the rapid increase of theirpower, and to grow harsh and inconsiderate in their treatment of thenatives. They despatched an armed force to seize upon Alexander, andto bring him before their courts. He was traced to his woodlandhaunts, and surprised at a hunting house, where he was reposing with aband of his followers, unarmed, after the toils of the chase. Thesuddenness of his arrest, and the outrage offered to his sovereigndignity, so preyed upon the irascible feelings of this proud savage,as to throw him into a raging fever. He was permitted to returnhome, on condition of sending his son as a pledge for hisreappearance; but the blow he had received was fatal, and before hehad reached his home he fell a victim to the agonies of a woundedspirit.
The successor of Alexander was Metacomet, or King Philip, as hewas called by the settlers, on account of his lofty spirit andambitious temper. These, together with his well-known energy andenterprise, had rendered him an object of great jealousy andapprehension, and he was accused of having always cherished a secretand implacable hostility towards the whites. Such may very probably,and very naturally, have been the case. He considered them asoriginally but mere intruders into the country, who had presumedupon indulgence, and were extending an influence baneful to savagelife. He saw the whole race of his countrymen melting before them fromthe face of the earth; their territories slipping from their hands,and their tribes becoming feeble, scattered and dependent. It may besaid that the soil was originally purchased by the settlers; but whodoes not know the nature of Indian purchases, in the early periodsof colonization? The Europeans always made thrifty bargains throughtheir superior adroitness in traffic; and they gained vastaccessions of territory by easily provoked hostilities. Anuncultivated savage is never a nice inquirer into the refinements oflaw, by which an injury may be gradually and legally inflicted.
Leading facts are all by which he judges; and it was enough for Philipto know that before the intrusion of the Europeans his countrymen werelords of the soil, and that now they were becoming vagabonds in theland of their fathers.
But whatever may have been his feelings of general hostility, andhis particular indignation at the treatment of his brother, hesuppressed them for the present, renewed the contract with thesettlers, and resided peaceably for many years at Pokanoket, or, as itwas called by the English, Mount Hope,* the ancient seat of dominionof his tribe. Suspicions, however, which were at first but vague andindefinite, began to acquire form and substance; and he was atlength charged with attempting to instigate the various Eastern tribesto rise at once, and, by a simultaneous effort, to throw off theyoke of their oppressors. It is difficult at this distant period toassign the proper credit due to these early accusations against theIndians. There was a proneness to suspicion, and an aptness to acts ofviolence, on the part of the whites, that gave weight and importanceto every idle tale. Informers abounded where talebearing met withcountenance and reward; and the sword was readily unsheathed whenits success was certain, and it carved out empire.
* Now Bristol, Rhode Island.
The only positive evidence on record against Philip is theaccusation of one Sausaman, a renegade Indian, whose natural cunninghad been quickened by a partial education which he had receivedamong the settlers. He changed his faith and his allegiance two orthree times, with a facility that evinced the looseness of hisprinciples. He had acted for some time as Philip's confidentialsecretary and counsellor, and had enjoyed his bounty and protection.
Finding, however, that the clouds of adversity were gathering roundhis patron, he abandoned his service and went over to the whites; and,in order to gain their favor, charged his former benefactor withplotting against their safety. A rigorous investigation took place.