chapter xxxi

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"_Who_ have come?" muttered the sachem, still conscious, though his sight was wholly gone. They told him Winsnow had come, (as they generally substituted _n_ for the English _l._) "Let me speak with him then," he replied, "Let me speak one word to him." Winslow went forward to the matted platform where he lay, and grasped the feeble hand which the sachem, informed of his approach, held out for him. "Art thou Winsnow?" he whispered the question again, (in his own language,) "Art thou Winsnow?" Being readily answered in the affirmative, he appeared satisfied of the fact. But "O Winsnow," he added mournfully, "I shall never see thee again!"

Hobamock was now called, and desired to assure the sachem of the Governor's kind remembrance of him in his present situation, and to inform him of the articles they had brought with them for his use. He immediately signified his wish to taste of these; and they were given him accordingly, to the great delight of the people around him. Winslow then proceeded to use measures for his relief, and they wrought a great change in him within half an hour. He recovered his sight gradually, and began to converse, requesting his good friend Winslow, among other things, to kill him a fowl, and make him some English pottage, such as he had seen at Plymouth. This was done for him, and such other care taken as restored his strength and appetite wonderfully within the day or two of Winslow's stay.

His expressions of gratitude, as well as those of his delighted attendants, were constant, as they were evidently warm from the heart. Finally, as his guests were about to leave him, he called Hobamock to his side, and revealed to him a plot against the colonists, recently formed, as he understood, among certain of the Massachusetts tribes, and in which he had himself been invited to join. He also recommended certain summary measures for the suppression of the plot, and concluded with charging Hobamock [FN] to communicate the intelligence to Winslow on the way to Plymouth. It may be added here, that these measures were subsequently executed by Standish, and were successful. The conspiracy itself was occasioned by the notorious and outrageous profligacy of the banditti of "Master Weston," at Weymouth.

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[FN] The date of this Indian's death is not known. He is said to have once been a war-captain among the Massachusetts tribes. Hubbard describes him as a "proper lusty young man, and of good account among the Indians of those parts for his valor." He was useful, like Squanto, without being troublesome.

The leading particulars in the residue of Massasoit's life, may soon be detailed. In 1632, he was assaulted at Sowams, by a party of Narraghansetts, and obliged to take refuge in an English house. His situation was soon ascertained at Plymouth, and an armed force being promptly despatched to his succor, under his old friend Standish, the Narraghansetts retired. About the year 1639, he probably associated his eldest son, Moanam or Wamsutta, with him in the government; for they came together into open court at Plymouth, it is said, on the 28th of September of that year, and desired that the ancient treaty of 1621 might remain inviolable. They also entered into some new engagements, chiefly going to secure to the Colony a pre-emptive claim to the Pokanoket lands. "And the whole court," add the records, "in the name of the whole government for each town respectively, did then likewise ratify and confirm the aforesaid ancient league and confederacy."

From this time, the names of the father and son are sometimes found united, and sometimes not so, in instruments by which land was conveyed to the English. In 1649, the former sold the territory of Bridgewater in his own name. "Witnes these presents"--are the words of the deed--"that I Ousamequin Sachim of the contrie of Pocanauket, haue given, granted enfeofed and sould unto Myles Standish of Duxborough Samuel Nash and Constant Southworth of Duxborough aforesaid in the behalfe of all ye townsmen of Duxborough aforesaid a tract of land usually called Saughtucket extending in length and the breadth thereof, as followeth, that is to say--[here follow the boundaries of what is now _Bridgewater_]--the wch tract the said Ousamequin hath given granted enfeofed and sould unto ye said Myles [Standish] Samuel Nash and Constant Southworth in the behalfe of all ye townsmen of Duxborough as aforesaid wth all the emunities priveleges and profitts whatsoever belonging to the said tract of land wth all and singular all woods underwoods lands meadowes Riuers brooks Rivulets &c. to have and to hould to the said Myles Standish Samuel Nash and Constant Southworth in behalfe of all the townsmen of the towne of Duxborough to them and their beyers forever. In witnes whereof I the said Ousamequin have here unto sett my hand this 23 of March 1649.

"The mk of {mark} Ousamequin.

"In consideration of the aforesaid bargain and sale wee the said Myles Standish Samuel Nash and Constant Southworth, doe bind ourselves to pay unto ye said Ousamequin for and in consideration of ye said tract of land as followeth

"7 Coats a yd and half in a coat} Myles Standish 9 Hatchets } 8 Howes } Samuel Nash 20 Knives } 4 Moose skins } Constant Southworth. 10 Yds and half of cotton }"

The original document of which we have here given a literal and exact copy has been preserved to this day. It is in the handwriting of Captain Standish.

The precise date of Massasoit's death is unknown. In 1653, his name appears in a deed by which he conveyed part of the territory of Swansey to English grantees. Hubbard supposes that he died about three years subsequent to this; but as late as 1661, he is noticed in the Records of the United Colonies, as will appear more particularly in the life of his eldest son. Two or three years afterwards, conveyances were made of the Pokanoket lands in which he appears to have had no voice; and it may be fairly inferred that he died in that interval. He must have been near eighty years of age.

Such are the passages which history has preserved concerning the earliest and best friend of the Pilgrims. Few and simple as they are, they give glimpses of a character that, under other circumstances, might have placed Massasoit among the illustrious of his age. He was a mere savage; ignorant of even reading and writing, after an intercourse of near fifty years with the colonists; and distinguished from the mass of savages around him, as we have seen, by no other outward emblem than a barbarous ornament of bones. It must be observed, too, as to them, that the authority which they conferred upon him, or rather upon his ancestors, was their free gift, and was liable at any moment to be retracted, wholly or in part, either by the general voice or by the defection or violence of individuals. The intrinsic dignity and energy of his character alone, therefore, must have sustained the dominion of the sachem, with no essential distinction of wealth, retinue, cultivation, or situation in any respect, between him and the meanest of the Wampanoags. The naked qualities of his intellect and is heart must have gained their loyalty, controlled their extravagant passions to his own purposes, and won upon their personal confidence and affection.

That he did this appears from the fact, so singular in Indian history, that among all the Pokanoket tribes, there was scarcely an instance of even an individual broil or quarrel with the English during his long life. Some of these tribes, living nearer the Colony than any other Indians, and going into it daily in such numbers, that Massasoit was finally requested to restrain them from "pestering" their friends by their mere multitude,--these shrewd beings must have perceived, as well as Massasoit himself did, that the colonists were as miserably fearful as they were feeble and few. Some of them, too,--the sachem Corbitant, for example,--were notoriously hostile, and perhaps had certain supposed reasons for being so. Yet _that_ cunning and ambitious savage extricated himself from the only overt act of rebellion he is known to have attempted, by "soliciting the good offices of Massasoit," we are told, "to reconcile him to the 'English." And such was the influence of the chief sachem, not only over him, but over the Massachusetts sachems, that nine of the principal of them soon after came into Plymouth from great distances, for the purpose of signifying their humble respect for the authority of the English.

That Massasoit was beloved as well as respected by his subjects and neighbors, far and wide, appears from the great multitude of anxious friends who thronged about him during his sickness; Some of them, as Winslow ascertained, had come more than one hundred miles for the purpose of seeing him; and they all watched _his_ operations in that case, with as intense anxiety as if the prostrate patient had been the father or the brother of each. And meagre as is the justice which history does the sachem, it still furnishes some evidence, not to be mistaken, that he had won this regard from them by his kindness. There is a passage of affecting simplicity in Winslow's Relation, going to show that he did not forget their minutest interests, even in his own almost unconscious helplessness. "That morning," it is said, "he caused me to spend in going from one to another among those that were sick in the town [Sowams]; requesting me to treat them as I had him, and to give to each of them some of the same I gave him, _saying they were good folk._"

But these noble traits of the character of Massasoit are still more abundantly illustrated by the whole tenor of his intercourse with the whites. Of his mere sense of his positive obligations to them, including his fidelity to the famous treaty of 1621, nothing more need be said, excepting that the annals of the continent furnish scarcely one parallel even to that case. But he went much further than this. He not only visited the Colony in the first instance of his own free will and accord, but he entered into the negotiations cheerfully and deliberately; and in the face of their manifest fear and suspicion. Henceforth the results of it were regarded, not with the mere honesty of an ally, but with the warm interest of a friend. It was probably at his secret and delicate suggestion,--and it could scarcely have been without his permission, at all events,--that his own subjects took up their residence among the colonists, with the view of guiding, piloting, interpreting for them, and teaching them their own useful knowledge. Winslow speaks of his _appointing another_ to fill the place of Squanto at Plymouth, while the latter should be sent about among the Pokanokets, under _his_ orders, "to procure truck [in furs] for the English."

The vast grant of territory which he made in the first instance has been spoken of. It was made with the simple observation, that his claim to it was the sole claim in existence. It was also without consideration; the generous sachem, as Roger Williams says of the Narraghansetts in a similar case, "being _shy and jealous of selling_ the lands to any, and choosing rather to make a gift of them to such as they affected." Such is the only jealousy which Massasoit can be said ever to have entertained of the English. Nor do we find any evidence that he repented of his liberality, or considered it the incautious extravagance of a moment of flattered complaisance. We do find, however, that he invariably watched over the interest of the grantees, with more strictness than he would probably have watched over his own. He laid claim, in one instance, to a tract for which Mr. Williams had negotiated with the Narraghansetts,--that gentleman being ignorant, perhaps, of an existing controversy between the two tribes. "It is mine," said the sachem, "It is mine, and _therefore theirs,_"--plainly implying that the ground in question was comprised within the original transfer. Whether this claim was just, or whether it was insisted upon, does not appear; but there is indication enough, both of the opinion and feeling of Massasoit.

An anecdote of him, recorded by Governor Winthrop, under the title of a "pleasant passage," is still more striking. His old friend _Winsnow,_ it seems, made a trading voyage to Connecticut, during the summer of 1634. On his return, he left his vessel upon the Narraghansett coast, for some reason or other, and commenced his journey for Plymouth across the woods. Finding himself at a loss, probably, as to his route, he made his way to Sowams, and called upon his ancient acquaintance, the sachem. The latter gave him his usual kind welcome, and, upon his leaving him, offered to conduct him home,--a pedestrian journey of two days. He had just despatched one of his Wampanoags to Plymouth, with instructions to inform the friends of Winslow, that _he_ was dead, and to persuade them of this melancholy fact, by specifying such particulars as their own ingenuity might suggest. All this was done accordingly; and the tidings occasioned, as might be expected, a very unpleasant excitement throughout the Colony. In the midst of it, however, on the next day, the sachem entered the village, attended by Winslow, and with more than his usual complacency in his honest and cheerful countenance. He was asked why such a report had been circulated the day previous. "That Winsnow might be the more welcome," answered he, "and that you might be the more happy,--it is my custom." He had come thus far to enjoy this surprise personally; and he returned homeward, more gratified by it, without doubt, than he would have been by the most fortunate foray among the Narraghansetts.

It is intimated by some writers, rather more frequently than is either just or generous, that the sachem's fear of the tribe just named lay at the foundation of his friendship. It might have been nearer the apparent truth, considering all that is known of Massasoit, to say, that his interest happened to coincide with his inclination. At all events, it was in the power of any other of the sachems or kings throughout the country, to place and sustain themselves upon the same footing with the colonists, had they been prompted either by as much good feeling or good sense. On the contrary, the Massachusetts were plotting and threatening on one hand, as we have seen, not without provocation, it must be allowed,--while the Narraghansett sachem, upon the other, had sent in his compliments as early as 1622, in the shape of a bundle of arrows, tied up with a rattlesnake's skin.

Nor should we forget the wretched feebleness of the Colony at the period of their first acquaintance with Massasoit. Indeed, the instant measures which he took for their relief and protection, look more like the promptings of compassion, than of either hope or fear. A month previous to his appearance among them, they were reduced to such a pitiable condition by sickness, that only six or seven men of their whole number were able to do business in the open air; and probably their entire fighting force, could they have been mustered together, would scarcely have equaled that little detachment which Massasoit brought with him into the village, delicately leaving twice as many, with the arms of all, behind him; as he afterwards exchanged six hostages for one. No wonder that the colonists "could not yet conceive but that he was willing to have peace with them."

But the motives of the sachem are still further manifested by the sense of his own dignity, which, peaceable as he generally was, he showed promptly upon all suitable occasions. Both the informal grant and the formal deeds we have mentioned, indicate that he understood himself to be the master of his ancestral territory as much in right as in fact. There is nothing in his whole history, which does more honor to his intelligence or his sensibility, than his conduct occasioned by the falsehoods circulated among the colonists against him by Squanto. His first impulse, as we have seen, was to be offended with the guilty intriguant; the second, to thank the Governor for appealing to himself in this case, and to assure him that he would at any time "send word and give warning when any such business was towards." On further inquiry, he ascertained that Squanto was taking even more liberties with his reputation than he had been aware of. He went forthwith to Plymouth, and made his appeal personally to the Governor. The latter pacified him as well as he could, and he returned home. But a very short time elapsed before a message came from him, _entreating_ the Governor to consent to the death of the renegade who still abused him. The Governor confessed in reply, that Squanto deserved death, but desired that he might be spared on account of his indispensable services. Massasoit was not yet satisfied. The former messenger was again sent, "with divers others," says Winslow in his Relation, "_demanding_ him, [Squanto] as being one of Massasoit's subjects, whom by our first articles of peace we could not retain; yet because he would not willingly do it [insist upon his rights] without the Governor's approbation, he offered him many beaver-skins for his consent thereto." The deputation had brought these skins, accordingly, as also the sachem's own knife, for the execution of the criminal. Squanto now surrendered himself to the Governor, as an Indian always resigns himself to his fate upon similar occasions; but the Governor still contrived a pretext for sparing him. The deputies were "mad with rage and impatient of delay," as may be supposed, and departed in great heat.

The conduct of the sachem in this case was manifestly more correct than that of his ally. He understood as well as the Governor did, the spirit of the articles in the treaty, which provided, that an offender upon either side should be given up to punishment upon demand; and he was careful to make that demand personally, explicitly and respectfully. The Governor, on the other hand, as well as the culprit himself, acknowledged the justice of it, but manoeuvred to avoid compliance. The true reason is no doubt given by Winslow. It is also given in the language of John Smith. "With much adoe," says the honest Captain, "we appeased the angry king and the rest of the saluages, and freely forgaue Tusquantum, _because he speaking our language we could not be well without him._" The king was angry, then, as he well might be; and the Governor took the trouble, he was both bound and interested to take, to appease him. It is not to be wondered at, perhaps, that the particulars of this transaction are so little dwelt upon by the writers of that period. Winslow barely states,--speaking, in another connexion, of the Indians being evidently aware of the weakness of the Colony,--that, what was worse "now also Massasoit seemed to frown upon us, and neither came nor sent to us as formerly." This passage is no less significant than brief; but not more so than a subsequent dry observation respecting Squanto, "whose peace, before this time, (the fall of the same year) _was wrought_ with Massasoit."

Such were the life and character of Massasoit. It is to be regretted, that so few particulars are preserved of the former, and that so little justice, consequently, can be done to the latter. But so far as his history goes, it certainly makes him one of the most remarkable men of his race. There is no nobler instance in all history, of national fidelity, (for which he mainly must have the credit,) or of individual friendship. This instinct of a generous nature in the first instance, being confirmed by a course of conduct generally alike creditable to the feelings and shrewdness of the Colonists, finally settled itself in the mind of Massasoit as ineradicably as his affection for his own subjects. "I know now," said he to Winslow, on his first recovery from the severe sickness we have mentioned, "I _know_ that the English love me,--I love them--I shall never forget them."

But putting even the most unnatural construction upon the professions and the conduct of the sachem, the relation he commenced and for forty-five years sustained with the English, must be allowed to show at least a consummate sagacity. He certainly succeeded during all this time, not only in shielding his tribes from their just or unjust hostility, but in gaining their respect to such a singular degree, that the writings of no single author within our recollection furnish one word to his disparagement. Even Hubbard speaks of him with something like regard; notwithstanding the obnoxious trait in his character indicated in the following passage. "It is very remarkable," he says, "that this Woosamequin, how much soever he affected the English, was never in the least degree well affected to their religion." It is added furthermore, that in his last treaty with the whites at Swanzey,--referring to a sale of land which we have mentioned,--he exerted himself to bind them solemnly "never to draw away any of his people from their old pagan superstition and devilish idolatry to the Christian religion." [FN] This he insisted on, until they threatened to break off the negotiation on account of his pertinacity, and he then gave up the point.

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[FN] In that rare tract (published in London, 1651.) entitled "The Light appearing more and more towards the perfect Day" &c. and written by the Rev. Thomas Mayhew, it is stated, that some of the Christian Indians of Martha's Vineyard had a conversation with "Vzzamequin a great Sachem or Governor on the maine Land (coming amongst them) about the wayes of God"--he enquiring what earthly good things came along with them, and what they had gained by their piety, &c. This was previous to 1650.

Massasoit did not distinguish himself as a warrior; nor is he known to have been once engaged in any open hostilities, even with the inimical and powerful tribes who environed his territory. This is another unique trait in his character; and considering the general attachment of all Indians to a belligerent life, their almost exclusive deference for warlike qualities, the number and scattered location of the Pokanoket tribes, and especially the character of their ancient neighbors, this very fact is alone sufficient to distinguish the genius of Massasoit. All the native nations of New England, but his, were involved in dissensions and wars with each other and with the whites; and they all shared sooner or later the fate which he avoided. The restless ring-leaders who plotted mischief among the Massachusetts, were summarily knocked upon the head by Miles Standish, while hundreds of the residue fled, and miserably perished in their own swamps. The Pequots,--a nation who could muster three thousand bowmen but a short time previous, were nearly exterminated in 1637; and the savages of Maine, meanwhile, the Mohawks of New York, the Narraghansetts and the Mohegans were fighting and reducing each others' strength, as if their only object had been, by ultimately extirpating themselves, to prepare a way in the wilderness for the new comers.

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