was doomed to be sacrificed to the gods of the nation, and
his head to be crushed by the blows of the tomahawk.
The Indians prepared themselves for a solemn festival.
Fires were kindled befm'e the images of their gods ; Pow-
hatan sat on his elevated seat; around him stood his war-
riors. Smith was brought forth and placed upon the
ground, his head was laid upon a stone, and the toma-
hawks were lifted. But at once the little daughter of
the emperor, Pocahontas, sprang forward, threw her arms
around the captive's neck, and laid her head upon his.
The tomahawks must fall upon her head before they reach-
ed his. Yain were threats, prayers, reasonings; the child
remained resolute in still enfolding the victim in her pro-
tecting arms. This conduct at length moved the hearts
of Powhatan and his savage warriors. Smith was par-
doned for the sake of the little princess, and instead of
his being treated as an enemy, the chief gave him Iheir
word of amity, and let him go to his own people.
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD. 525
The understanding, however, between the English and
Indians continued to be one of mistrust and hostility; the
Indians were continually on the look-out for opportunities
to attack their enemies. Pocahontas proved, however, to
be the good angel of the English; and on one occasion,
when they were in great want, she brought them corn
and provisions; on another, she came to their camp, alone,
through the forest, in the dead of the night, pale, and
with her hair flying in the w^ind, to warn them of an ap-
proaching attack.
The beauty and amiability of Pocahontas tempted, a
few years later, an old, unprincipled adventurer, with the
help of a set of lawless fellows like himself, to steal her
from her father. But a noble, devout young Englishman,
by name John Rolfe, an amiable enthusiast, became her
protector. Daily, hourly, nay, in his very sleep, amid the
forests of Virginia, had he heard a voice which seemed to
bid him convert the Indian maiden to Christianity, and
then marry her. And when the Holy Spirit asked him
reproachfully (such are his own expressions) why he lived,
the answer was given, '' To lead the blind into the right
way." He struggled for long against his inclination for
the young pagan princess as against a dangerous tempt-
ation, but finally yielded to the admonishing voice. He
won her confidence, and became her teacher, and she be-
fore long publicly received Christian baptism in the lit-
tle church at Jamestown, the roof of which was support-
ed by rough pine-tree stems from her father's forests, and
where the font was a hollowed fir-tree. Here also, a
short time afterward, was she married to Rolfe, stammer-
ins: before the altar her marriasre vows accordins: to the
rites of the English Church. All this, it is said, was done
with the consent of the father and relatives, her uncle, the
chief Opachisco himself, conducting her to the altar.
The marriage was universally approved, even by the
English, and in the year 1616 Rolfe sailed to England
526 HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
with his Indian wife, who, under the name of Lady Re-
becca, was presented at court, and was universally ad-
mired for her beauty and childlike naivete. She Avas
most admirable both as a wife and a young mother. But
the young couple did not long enjoy their happiness; just
as she was about preparing to return to America, she fell
a victim to the English climate, at the age of twenty-two.
She left one son, who became the ancestral head of many
generations, who are to this day proud of tracing their de-
scent from the Indian Pocahontas; and I do not wonder
at it. Her memory remains in singular beauty and pure
splendor. The race who produced such a daughter de-
served a better treatment from the people whom she pro-
tected than it received.
The portrait of Pocahontas, which I have copied, repre-
sents her in the costume which was worn by the higher
class of English in the time of Elizabeth; but the stiff
Indian plaits of hair which hang down her cheeks from
beneath her hat betray her descent. The countenance
has an affecting expression of childlike goodness and in-
nocence; the eyes h^ .^ a melancholy charm, and the form
of the countenance reminds me of the Feather-cloud wom-
an in Minnesota. The portrait was taken in 1616, when
she vras twenty-one years old, and bears the inscription,
Matoaka ah. Rebecca Filia jwtentiss. Princ. Poivhatan
Imp. Virginice.
Smith's portrait, which I have also drawn, shows a res-
olute, but not handsome, and very bearded warrior. His
history, also in Virginia, is a chain of contentions, of bold
actions and misfortunes, by which he was finally subdued,
without having left, of all his unquiet, combative life, any
more beautiful memory than that which belongs to him
from the childlike tenderness and attachment of the In-
dian girl. That which the strong, arm of this ambitious
man was not able to obtain, was obtained for him by two
tender, childish arms which were wound round his neck.
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD, j 527
My forenoons, as usual, I keep for myself, my afj:ernoon»
are devoted to company, walking, &c. I have visited a
few of the small farms in the neighborhood, which are
cultivated by free negroes, and have found them to be as
neat and comfortable as those which belong to the white
farmer. I have also been with my charming hostess to
see her parents, a planter's family not far from here — a
family of good slaveholders, not rich enough to emanci-
pate their slaves, but too good not to take care of and to
make them happy. They belong to a considerable class
in these middle slave states, who would willingly see slav-
ery abolished, and have white laborers in the place of
black to cultivate their maize and tobacco fields.
I like, in the twilight, to sit on the piazza under the
beautiful trees with my amiable hostess, and decoy her on
to tell me about her life in her father's house, of her first
acquaintance with her husband, their courtship, and all
that appertained thereto ; of her happiness as a daughter,
as a wife — a little romance as pure, as pleasant as the air
and the perfume of flowers around us in these tranquil
evening hours, while the fire-flies dance in the dark shad-
ow of the trees. Her love for her father was her first love ;
that for her good husband was her second ; and the third,
for the child which she expects, is now awaking, yet with
fear and trembling, in her young heart.
In the evenings I see company, either at home or at the
houses of some of the professors. These good gentlemen
have now a deal to do regarding the examination, and the
preparation of testimonials and diplomas.
Two of the young students are to deliver farewell ad-
dresses before they leave the academy, where they have
now finished their studies with honor, and I am invited
to hear them.
2Sth. I heard one of them yesterday evening, and if the
second, ^vhich I shall hear this evening, is of the same
character, as I expect it will be, I shall not have much
5C8
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
pleasure in it. It is amazing what an enslaving power
the institution of slavery exercises over the minds of the
young, and over intelligence in general ; and the young
speaker of yesterday evening belonged to this enslaved
class. He was a young man of refined features, and a
certain aristocratic expression of countenance, but without
any peculiar nobility. He is celebrated for having passed
through a splendid examination, and for possessing great
talents as a speaker.
And his speech really flowed forth with a rushing rapid-
ity ; but such a shooting across the United States, such
an ostentatious boast of the South, of the " Sons of the
South, the flower and hope of the Union — nay, it was in-
comparable I One thing only impeded the grandeur and
the growth of the United States, and its wonderful, mighty
future, and this was — Abolitionism I It was this scorpion,
this hydra in the social life of the United States, which
ought to be crushed (and the speaker stamped vehemently
and angrily on the floor) and annihilated ! Then first only
would the North and the South, like two mighty rivers, be
united, and side by side start forth toward the same grand,
honorable goal I"
What this honorable goal may be, I did not hear men-
tioned ; but the students, w^ho were present in great num-
bers, must have understood it, for they applauded tempest-
uously, and every heroic apostrophe to the heroism and
nobility of the Sons of the South was follow^ed by a salvo
of clapping, which at the close of the speech was doubled
and redoubled, and seemed as if it never would end. Thus
delighted were the Sons of the South with the speaker^
with each other, and with themselves.
I left the hall very much depressed. Shall I not then
find within the slave states a noble, liberal youth, which
is that upon which I most depend for the promise of ap-
proaching freedom ? Must I again find among the young
men that want of moral integrity, of courage and upright-
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD. 529
*
ness of mind ? I have scarcely any desire to go and hear
the speaker this evening, I am so weary of the old song.
29th. I have had a great and unexpected pleasure : I
have heard " a new song sung," and — but I will tell you
all in due course.
I again took my seat in the crowded, lamp-lighted hall,
and the young man who was to speak sat alone on an el-
evated platform facing the assembly while the hall filled.
This lasted for a good half hour, and it seemed to me that
the young orator's situation could not be very pleasant, sit-
ting there all alone, as he did, an object for all eyes ; and
I asked myself whether it could be this feeling which cast
a certain shade, or a certain trance-like look, over his eyes.
He was a tall young man, of handsome, strong proportions,
who yet seemed to me not fully grown ; the countenance
was pure and good, not regularly handsome, but handsome
nevertheless, with a youthfully fresh complexion, and clear,
strongly- marked features. I endeavored inquisitively to
guess from these the soul of the youth ; but this lay, a?
it were, under a veil. Th*e forehead was broad, the hali
dark brown, and abundant.
At length the moment came when he must rise and
speak. He did this with great simplicity, without grace,
but without any awkwardness or confusion, and began his
speech, without the facility of the former speaker, but with
calmness and precision. In the first part of his speech
he took a hasty review of the nations of antiquity, with re-
gard to that which caused their greatness or their fall. He
showed that in all countries where slavery had existed, it
had degraded the people, and finally caused their downfall.
When I heard this, I confess that my heart beat high.
"Is it possible," thought I, "that I shall really hear in
this slave state, before this corporation of self-complacent
advocates of slavery, a youth publicly, and like a man,
raise his voice against slavery — the weak side of the South,
,3d the nightshade of the New World ?"
Vol. II.— Z
^30
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
Yes, I shall ! The youth continued boldly, and in the
most logical manner, to apply to America those principles,
the consequences of which he exhibited in the history of
Europe and Asia. Without reservation, and with great
beauty and decision of expression, he addressed his coun-
trymen thus : " I accuse you not of any deficiency in
courage, in nobility of mind, in feeling for the good and
the beautiful, in enterprise, in piety. But of this I accuse
you, that you do not give education to the poor of your
country, that you do not labor for the elevation of the low-
er classes of your countrymen." And there is good reason
for this accusation, for in Virginia, in consequence of the
restrictive fetters of slavery, which prevent the increase of
schools, there are upward of eighty thousand white people
who can neither read nor write. The population of Vir-
ginia, whites and blacks taken together, amounts to about
a million and a half.
The young orator declared the mission of America to be
that of communicating the blessings of liberty and civili-
zation to all nations. " If America fulfill her duty in this
respect, she will become great and happy ; if not, then she
will fall, and the greatness of her fall will be commensu-
rate with the greatness of her mission, and the intended
future in which she has failed."
I can not tell you with what feelings of delight I listen-
ed to these large-minded and bold words from the pure soul
of a youth, it was so unlike any thing which I had hith-
erto heard in the slave states. It was what I had been
longing to hear. My tears flowed, and I did not trouble
myself about them being seen. I was very happy.
But where now was the enthusiasm which on the for-
mer evening had animated the Sons of the South. They
listened in silence, as it were, in amazement, and the ap-
plause which was given at the close of the speech was
cold, and, as it were, forced.
The glorious youth looked as if applause or blame con-
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD. 531
cerned him not. He had spoken from his own conviction ;
his youthfully fresih cheek glowed as with the crimson
tinge of morning, and his dark eye and clear brow shone
serenely as a cloudless heaven.
I could not have any conversation with him later in the
evening, because he was summoned to his father, who was
dangerously ill, and he was obliged to leave the place im-
mediately. Nevertheless, I pressed his hand, and spoke
my cordial thanks to him in the presence of his teachers
and his companions.
The good professors were somewhat confounded by the
unexpected character of the young man's speech, but full
of admiration : Grood heavens ! they had not expected such
a speech. Really an uncommon speech! Above the com-
mon averasrel and so on.
Alexander S. Brown (I write the name at full) was de-
clared to be a fine fellow ! a smart young man ! The pres-
ident even expressed himself very warmly in his praise.
But the learned in law and books were nevertheless some-
what afraid of giving to Csesar that which was due to
Caesar, and endeavored to indemnify themselves by cer-
tain depreciatory and apologistic concessions.
This was one of my happiest evenings in the Southern
States, and I now looked with more cheerful, more loving
glances upon this beautiful soil since it had produced such
a youth. How noble and how happy ought not his mother
to be!
Richmond, July 1st.
Again good-morning in the capital of Virginia; but not
now in the city itself, but in one of its rural suburbs, where
I am domiciled in a lovely country-house, beautifully sit-
uated upon a lofty terrace on the banks of the James Riv-
er, surrounded by a park, with its lofty spreading trees.
It is the residence of Mrs. Yan S., a beautiful home, and
1 am infinitely well off here, in the midst of kind, well-
wishing friends.
532 HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
I left Professor S. de Y. and his charming wife yester-
day morning with mutual good wishes, and hope in a
short time to have good tidings from them.
The business at Charlottesville on Saturday consisted
for the most part of speeches and the distribution of diplo-
mas. I could not hear much of the former, and my prin-
cipal pleasure was the contemplation of the assembly of
ladies, among whom I remarked a great number of very
lovely and happy countenances. If the Juno style ot
beauty is not met with in America as it is in Europe,
there are, on the contrary, a greater number of cheerful,
lovely countenances, and scarcely any which can be called
ugly. The men are not handsome, but have a manly ap-
pearance, and, in a general way, are well made and full
of strength. This, I believe, I have said once or twice
before, but I have not said, what nevertheless should be
said, that among the Americans are not found that decid-
ed type of one distinct race as we find it among the En-
glish, Irish, French, Spaniards, Grermans, &c. An Amer-
ican, male or female, might belong to any nation, in its
beautiful human character, but divested of nationality;
nay, even the Swedish, that is to say, when this is found
in the most perfect faces, because a well-formed, fine nose,
and an oval countenance, is almost universal among the
ladies. Our full- moon countenances, and noses which
come directly out of them like a handle, or a projecting
point of rock, are not seen here ; neither are potato-noses,
like my own. Still, I have seen many a blooming young
girl in the Northern States of America, many a hand-
some young man, more like Swedes than the English
or the French. Nevertheless, light hair and light eyes
are rare.
July 2d. How wearisome is this interrogative, this emp-
ty and thoughtless chatter of mere callers, especially la-
dies ! Want of observation, want of an ear for life, is, after
all, one of the greatest wants here, and the school which,
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD. 533
before every other, is needed most in the New World, is
the old Pythagorean.
Life, with its large, holy interests, its earnest scenes,
passes by these childish, undeveloped beings without their
either seeing or thinking about it. Dissipated by the out-
ward and ordinary, they do not listen to the great still
voice which calls to them every day from the midst of
the life in which they live, like insects of a day.
July Zd. I have to-day, in company with an estimable
Grerman gentleman, resident at Richmond, visited some
of the negro jails, that is, those places of imprisonment in
which negroes are in part punished, and in part confined
for sale. I saw in one of these jails a tall, strong-limbed
negro, sitting silent and gloomy, with his right hand wrap-
ped in a cloth. I asked if he were ill.
"No," replied his loquacious keeper, "but he is a very
bad rascal. His master, who lives higher up the river, has
parted him from his wife and children, to sell him down
South, as he wanted to punish him, and now the scoun-
drel, to be revenged upon his master, and to make himself
fetch a less sum of money, has cut off" the fingers of his
right hand ! The rascal asked me to lend him an ax to
knock the nails into his shoes with, and I lent it him with-
out suspecting any bad intention, and now has the fellow
gone and maimed himself for life !"
I went up to the negro, who certainly had not a good
countenance, and asked him whether he were a Christian.
He replied curtly "No I" Whether he ever had heard of
Christ? He again replied "No!" I said to him, that if
he had known him, he would not have done this act ; but
that even now he ought not to believe himself abandoned,
because He who has said " Come unto me, all ye that are
weary and heavy laden," had spoken also to him, and
would console and recreate even him.
He listened to me at the commencement with a gloomy
countenance, but by degrees he brightened up, and at tho
534 HOMES OF THE NEl^V^ WORLD.
close looked quite melted. This imbittered soul was evi-
dently still open and accessible to good. The sun shone
into the prison-yard where he sat with his maimed hand,
and the heavy irons on his feet, but no Christian had come
hither to preach to him the Grospel of Mercy.
The door of the prison was opened to us by a negro,
whose feet also were fettered by heavy irons. He looked
so good-tempered and agreeable, that I asked, with some
astonishment,
"But this man, what has he done that he should then
be in irons ?"
"Ah!" said the keeper, "just nothing but that his mas-
ter had hired him out to work in the coal-pits, and some-
thing disagreeable happening to him there, the fellow after
that would not work there, and refused to go ; so his mas-
ter wishes to sell him, to punish him ; and he ordered that
we should put him in irons, just to mortify him."
And this plan had succeeded completely. The poor fel-
low was so annoyed and ashamed that he did not seem to
know which way to look while the keeper related his story ;
and besides that, he looked so good-tempered, so full of
sensibility, that, strong fellow as he was, he seemed as if
he would suffer rather from an injustice being done to him
than be excited by it to defiance and revenge, as was the
case with the other negro. He was evidently a good man,
and deserved a better master.
In another prison we saw a pretty little white boy of
about seven years of age sitting among some tall negro
girls. The child had light hair, the most lovely light
brown eyes, and cheeks as red as roses ; he was, neverthe-
less, the child of a slave mother, and was to be sold as a
slave. His price was three hundred and fifty dollars. The
negro girls seemed very fond of the white boy, and he
was left in their charge, but whether that was for his good
or not is diflicult to say. No motherly Christian mother
visited either this innocent imprisoned boy or the negro
HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD. 535
girls. They were left to a heathenish life and the dark-
ness of the prison. *•
In another ''jail" were kept the so-called "fancy girls,"
for fancy purchasers. They were handsome fair mulat-
toes, some of them almost white girls.
We saw in one jail the room in which the slaves are
flogged, both men and women. There were iron rings in
the floor to which they are secured when they are laid
down. I looked at the strip of cowhide, "the paddle,"
with which they are flogged, and remarked, "Blows from
this could not, however, do very much harm."
"Oh, yes, yes; but," replied the keeper, grinning with
a very significant glance, "it can cause as much torture
as any other instrument, and even more, because one can
give as many blows with this strip of hide without its
leaving any outward sign ; it does not cut into the flesh."
The slaves may remain many months in this prison be-
fore they are sold.
The Southern States are said to be remarkable for their
strict attention to religious observances: they go regular-
ly to church, they send out missionaries to China and to
Africa, but they leave the innocent captive slave in their
own prisons without instruction or consolation.
Yet once more — what might not women, what ought
not women to do in this case !
I have heard young, beautiful girls declare themselves
proud to be Americans, and, above every thing else, proud
to be Virginians I I should like to have taken them to
the jails, and have seen whether, in the face of all this in-
justice, they could have been proud of being Virginians,
proud of the institutions of Virginia.
July 5l/i. Here also, as every where on my pilgrimage,
have I become acquainted with good and thoughtful peo-
ple, who form a perfect counterbalance to the unthinking
and the bad, and who attach me to the place and the com-
munity where I am. Foremost among the good stands
536 HOMES OF THE NEW WORLD.
the family in which I am now a guest — yes, these are
ladies so tender-hearted, especially toward the negroes,
that I find myself standing upon the moderate and less
liberal side, while I nevertheless inwardly enjoy the sight
of warm hearts who only err through an excess of kind-
ness to an oppressed people. Such a sight is very rare in
a slave state. i\greeahle and clever women, courteous and
thinking men, have afforded me many a pleasant moment,
and warmed my heart by their kindness and hospitality.
Among my gentlemen acquaintance v/ho have contrib-
uted to my pleasure, I may mention an elderly clergyman,
belonging, I believe, to the Episcopal Church, who has
given me some interesting information respecting the re-
ligious life and songs of the negroes, and a Quaker, Mr.
B., with a handsome, regular countenance, and a quiet,
thoughtful turn of mind. He has told me much that is
interesting regarding his own sect, and its form of intern-
al government, and also that lately some Quaker women
have been cited before a court of justice at New York, to
given evidence in a complicated trial, and the clearness
with which they did it was universally admired and com-
mented upon by the newspapers. Mr. B. attributed this
to the calmness and self-possession which distinguishes
the Quaker women, and to their being early accustomed
to self-government and public discussions in the part
which they have to take in the business of their society.
Yesterday, the 4th of July, the great day of America,
was celebrated, as usual, by speech-making and proces-
sions, and drinking of toasts, and publicly reading of the
Declaration of Independence. It was read in the African
church of the city ; but why they selected the negro church
of all others for the reading of the declaration of freedom,