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What most touched and decided him was "her desire to be taught and instructed in the knowledge of God; her capableness of understanding; her aptness and willingness to receive any good impression; and also the spiritual besides her own incitements stirring me up hereunto." Doubtless the latter were the main incentives. Rolfe seems to have conceived a genuine passion for the Indian maid, now eighteen and in the early flower of womanhood; and, no doubt, seeing what all this discourse meant, Sir Thomas Dale at once advised that the marriage should take place.

The ceremony was performed without delay, the Emperor having given his consent. He would not come to Jamestown in person, but sent an uncle and two brothers of Pocahontas to attend in his place. The scene was the church at Jamestown, and the time the month of April (1613). Sir Thomas Dale had assiduously labored to impress the truths of Christianity on the Indian maid, and she had renounced her " idolatry," and been baptized. The name of Rebecca was selected for her, no doubt in allusion to the Rebekah of Genesis, and the verse, "The Lord said unto her, two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels." The "Apostle of Virginia," the good Whitaker, seems to have performed the marriage ceremony, which was, no doubt, attended by the colonists from far and near. The scene must have been picturesque. The church was probably decorated with the first flowers, as Lord Delaware had brought that into fashion, and the bride's dusky relatives mingled with the adventurers.

As Sir Thomas Dale had anticipated, the alliance brought the blessing of peace. The tribe of Chickahom

inies, the fiercest of all the Indians, sent an embassy to conclude a treaty by which they were to become Englishmen and subjects of the English King, and this union of the two races was consummated in the midst of general rejoicing. John Rolfe and his bride "lived civilly and lovingly" together, we are informed, first at Jamestown, then at Rolfe's plantation, near the City of Henricus. Varina was possibly the birthplace of her child, "which she loved most dearly," says a contemporary writer; and the latter spot continued to be her residence until she left Virginia. The most cordial relations continued to exist between herself and Powhatan. He would not visit her, having apparently made a vow not to put himself in the power of the English; but he sent her messages and presents, which indicated his affection for her. This was also seen from an incident of the time, which affords a last glimpse of the eccentric old ruler in his sylvan court.

Sir Thomas Dale sent an embassy to Powhatan with a singular proposal: to confer upon him the hand of a favorite daughter in marriage. The request was strange indeed, more especially on the part of one with a good conscience and a great knowledge in divinity, since the girl was less than twelve, and Sir Thomas had a Lady Dale in England. Raphe Hamor, the ambassador and a truthful gentleman, is, however, explicit. He was sent to Machot to inform the Emperor that his Brother Dale had heard "the bruit of the exquisite perfection of his youngest daughter, and would gladly make her his nearest companion, wife, and bedfellow." He meant to live for the rest of his life in Virginia, he said, and his object was to conclude with Powhatan a "perpetual friendship."

It is impossible to regard the incident otherwise than as a ruse; and it is a very curious commentary upon the men of that time. The message was delivered on the York to the Emperor, who solaced himself with a pipe, and listened in grave silence, but with manifest impatience. Then he briefly responded: he could not give Brother Dale his daughter; she was "as dear as his own life to him, and he delighted in none so much as in her." Besides, he had sold her to a great werowance for two bushels of roanoke, and she had “already gone with him three days' journey." The ambassador urged Powhatan to annul the marriage, but he refused, and there the strange proposition ended. The Emperor asked particularly after Pocahontas and Rolfe, "his daughter and unknown son, and how they lived, loved, and liked." Informed that they were well, and that Pocahontas was so happy that she never wished to return to her own people, the philosophic old ruler laughed heartily, and said he was very glad of it;" and Master Raphe Hamor soon afterwards took his departure.

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Powhatan's message to his Brother Dale was eminently reasonable, and full of wild-wood dignity. The English already had one of his daughters, he said; when she died they should have another, "but she yet liveth." He wished to remain friends with the white people; he was old, and would "gladly end his days in peace." If the English wronged him, his country was large, and he would remove to a distance from them. None of his own people should annoy them, or in any manner disturb them; and he added the kingly assurance, “I, which have power to perform it, have said it."

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Such is the last scene in the old chronicles in which Powhatan appears as one of the dramatis personæ of Virginia history.

XVII.

LAST DAYS OF POCAHONTAS AND POWHATAN.

THE narrative of the career of Pocahontas in Virginia here ends; but her last years and those of the Emperor, Powhatan, ought to be briefly noticed. These two figures, with a third, the figure of Smith, dominate the early annals. His after life has been spoken of; let us say a few words also of the last days of the two persons with whom he was so closely associated.

About three years after her marriage, Pocahontas accompanied her husband on a visit to England. She arrived in London early in the summer of 1616, and was received with great distinction at court. She was treated as "the daughter of a king," and Stith, one of the oldest of the Virginia historians, says that it was a "constant tradition" in his time that "the King became jealous, and was highly offended at Mr. Rolfe for marrying a princess." The statement seems absurd, but according to the theory of the time the alliance was important. If Virginia descended to Pocahontas, as it might do at Powhatan's death, at her own death the kingdom would be "vested in Mr. Rolfe's posterity." The constant tradition is, therefore, not improbable. It exactly accords with the character of James I., and has the right to exist. It is certain that the arrival of Pocahontas caused a great sensation in London. She was the New World personified in the gracious form of a little beauty of twenty-one. It is true that she was a

brown beauty, and her black hair was too straight for the English taste, but this was not noticed. She suddenly became the fashion. The courtiers called on her, and went away with the declaration that they had seen a great many English ladies who were less attractive in face and manners. The curious eyes of the fine gentlemen and ladies of London noticed the fact that there was no trace of awkwardness or embarrassment in her demeanor. Lady Delaware presented her at court, where she was "graciously used" by the King and Queen. They invited her to be present at the masques, and the Bishop of London, who was delighted at the conversion of the young Indian princess to Christianity, gave an entertainment in her honor, which Purchas, the historian, described as full of splendor. It was a curious contrast to the first years of Pocahontas, in the Virginia woods—this fine life of London, with its rich costumes and brilliant flambeaux, its gilded coaches and high revelry; but it does not seem to have affected in any degree the simplicity of her character.

The proof of this is seen in the details of her last interview with Smith, who was in England at the time of her arrival. The wandering soldier, whom she had known in Virginia, was now a celebrity. He had just returned from France, after his capture off the Azores, had received from the King the appointment of "Admiral of New England," and was a favorite with Prince Charles, afterwards the unfortunate Charles I. He was making preparations to sail for New England when Pocahontas arrived at Gravesend, and her presence in England revived all his old affection for her. He wrote a letter to Queen Anne, warmly recommending her to the royal favor, and declared that he would be guilty of

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