AN INTERNATIONAL TREATY.
Priscilla's prophecy proved a true one, for hardly were the
one-and-twenty men of the colony assembled around the table in the
Common house to hold a final Council upon their new orders, than young
Cooke came rapping at the door to announce that a large body of Indians
had appeared on Watson's Hill, and seemed advancing on the village. The
Council once more was hastily broken up, Carver only pausing to say with
a glance around the circle,--
"It is clearly understood that Captain Standish is in full control of
all military proceedings in this community, and we are all bound to
follow his orders without cavil or delay."
"Ay," responded a score of deep-throated voices lacking that of Myles
himself, who said,--
"The governor's authority is above that of the commandant unless martial
law be proclaimed, and I shall be the first man to submit to it."
"'When gentlefolks meets, compliments passes,'" muttered Billington with
a sneer, while Edward Dotey and Edward Lister, nominally servants to
Stephen Hopkins, but already ruffling with the best, tittered and nudged
each other as they followed their betters out of the house.
Now Dame Nature in compounding a leader does not often omit to furnish
him with five extra-keen senses, as well as a certain sixth sense
called intuition, quickwittedness, or, if you please, instinct; and
Standish, born for a leader, was fully furnished forth with all six of
these videttes, and seldom failed to see, hear, and understand all that
went on in his vicinity. So did he now, and although his stern visage
showed no shadow of change, he inwardly made the comment,--
"Hopkins's varlets, eh? Like master, like man. And Billington--wait a
bit, Master Poacher!"
"Ah, here is our friend Samoset coming up the hill, and another with
him," remarked Bradford as the little group of authorities paused at the
head of the path leading to the spring and to Watson's Hill.
"Tisquantum, I'll be bound. He looks to have a certain veneer of
civilization over his savagery," remarked Winslow, and in another minute
the two savages arrived within speaking distance, and the stranger
tapping his breast grandiloquently exclaimed,--
"This is Tisquantum, friend of Englishmen."
"Tisquantum is welcome, and so is Samoset," replied Carver gravely.
"Have they brought furs to truck for the white men's goods?"
But hereupon Squanto, as Tisquantum (He-who-is-angry) was familiarly
designated, began a long and very flowery harangue, from which the
Pilgrims gathered that the present was more of a diplomatic and
international affair than a trading expedition, and that Massasoit, the
sachem or chief of all this region, had come in royal progress, attended
by his brother Quadequina and sixty chosen warriors, to greet the white
men, and to settle upon what terms he would admit them to his territory.
So soon as the importance of this embassage was made plain, the Pilgrims
prepared to meet the occasion with suitable formalities, and while
Samoset and Squanto refreshed themselves in Stephen Hopkins's house,
Standish hastened to put his entire command under arms, excepting the
elder, who constituted the reserved force only to be called out in great
emergencies. The military band, composed of four of the well-grown lads
of the colony, Giles Hopkins, Bartholomew Allerton, John Crakstone, and
John Cooke, was also called out and equipped with its two drums, a
trumpet, and a fife, while a house just roofed in and not yet portioned
into rooms, was hastily prepared as an audience chamber by clearing it
of litter, and spreading at the upper end a large green rug belonging to
Edward Winslow, and various cushions and mats, while a high-backed
settle in the place of honor covered with some scarlet broadcloth cloaks
stood ready to receive the king and the governor in equal honor.
Everything being thus in readiness, Samoset and Squanto were dispatched
with a courteous message to the king as the Pilgrims chose to translate
the Indian term of sachem, inviting him to a conference, but the envoys,
soon returning, brought an intricate greeting, from which Winslow the
diplomatist at last evolved the meaning that Massasoit declined to trust
himself among the white men without adequate hostages for his safety,
and desired that one of the principal of the strangers should come to
him while Samoset and Squanto remained in the village.
"Zounds! And does the barbarian fancy that two of his naked salvages
count as one of our meanest, not to say our principal men!" exclaimed
Standish angrily, but Winslow interposed,--
"If the governor and the brethren consider me as a fit man to answer the
demand I will go and convey what message is decided upon to this
potentate, and if he accepts me will remain as hostage while he visits
the settlement."
"Nay, Winslow, I claim the post of danger, if danger there be. It is the
right of mine office," exclaimed Standish.
"Not so, Captain; thy duty is to do us right in a quarrel, mine to keep
us out of a quarrel. Each man to his own work, say you not so Governor?"
"Master Winslow is right, Captain Standish, and furthermore we need your
protection here, should an attack be made upon the village."
"I submit, and my good will go with thee, Master Ambassador," replied
Standish cordially; "but be sure if thy skill at keeping the peace fails
of saving thy scalp, thou shalt have a royal guard of salvages to escort
thee whither thou wilt go."
"Gramercy for thy courtesy good my Valiant," replied Winslow in the same
tone. "But I hope my wit shall avail to save my scalp."
And a few moments later the courtly Winslow, armed cap-a-pie and
carrying a haversack of gifts at his back, strode down the hill, and
across the brook to a point where a knot of dusky warriors awaited him,
and with them passed out of sight, leaving his comrades to an hour of
extreme solicitude and impatience.
Although out of sight their comrade, however, was in reality close at
hand, for Massasoit had with Indian cunning selected a spot for the
interview whence himself unseen he could through the branches of the
shielding shrubbery overlook the approach from the village, and perceive
any movement upon the side of the other party long before it could be
made effectual. Standing in the middle of a little glade to receive
Winslow, resting lightly upon the strung bow in his right hand,
Massasoit presented the ideal figure of an Indian chief, uncorrupted by
the vulgar vices of civilization. Lofty of stature and of mien, his
expression grave and even haughty, his frame replete with the easy
strength of vigorous maturity, he looked, as Winslow decided in the
first quick glance, more worthy to be the king of red men than James the
First of England did to be the king of white men.
For costume the Indian wore buckskin leggings, highly ornamented
moccasons, a belt with fringe several inches long, and a curious skin,
dressed and ornamented upon the inside with elaborate designs, slung
over his left shoulder by way of cloak. He also wore a necklace of white
beads carved from bone, and depending from it at the back of his neck a
pouch from which as a mark of royal favor he occasionally bestowed a
little tobacco upon his followers, most of whom were provided with
pipes. In his carefully dressed hair the chief wore three beautiful
eagle-feathers, and his comely face was disfigured by a broad stripe of
dark red or murray-colored paint.
Removing his hat and bowing courteously before this grave and silent
figure, Winslow unfastened his haversack, and produced two sheath knives
and a copper chain with a glittering pendant which might have been of
jewels, but really was of glass.
These he laid at one side, and at the other a pocket-knife with a
brilliant earring. Finally he set by themselves a parcel of biscuit, a
little pot of butter, and a flask of strong waters. Having arranged all
these matters with great deliberation under the gravely observant eyes
of the king, Winslow stood upright and demanded who could speak English.
It proving that nobody could, another delay ensued while a _pniese_, or
as we might say a noble of the king's suite, was dispatched to the
village to summon Squanto and to remain as hostage in his place. During
the half hour of this exchange, Massasoit remained standing precisely as
Winslow had found him with his warriors half hid among the trees as
motionless as himself. Winslow leaning against a great white birch on
the edge of the little glade rested his left hand upon the hilt of his
sword, and setting the other upon his hip imitated the immobility of the
savages, and in his glistening steel cap and hauberk, his gauntlets and
greaves, his bristling moustache and steady outlook, presented the
fitting counterpart to the savage grandeur of Massasoit. It was one of
those momentary tableaux in which History occasionally foreshadows or
defines her policy, and had an artist been privileged to study the scene
he should have given us a noble picture of this first meeting of the
Powers of the Old World and the New.
Squanto at last returned, and Massasoit for the first time opening his
lips said gravely,--
"Tell the white man he is welcome."
"Thank your king for his courtesy," replied Winslow bowing toward the
chief; "and tell him that my sovereign lord and master King James the
First of Great Britain salutes him by me, and will be ready to make
terms of peace and amity with him." Waiting a moment for this message to
be delivered the ambassador went on,--
"And tell him furthermore, that Governor Carver, the chief man of our
settlement, is desirous of seeing him, and of arranging with him terms
of alliance and of trade. Our desire is to purchase peltrie of every
sort, and we are ready to pay for all that we receive, but it is best
that the governor and the king should arrange these matters together.
Meantime the governor begs your king's acceptance of this little gift,"
designating the two knives, the copper chain, and the provisions, "for
his own use; while to his brother the Prince Quadequina he offers this
knife for his pocket,--nay,--for his girdle, and this jewel for his ear.
And if the king will now go to the village to confer with our governor,
I, who am not ranked the lowest among our company, will remain here as
surety until his return."
This speech having been somewhat lamely and laboriously translated into
the vernacular by Squanto, Winslow wiped his brow and wished that it
consisted with his dignity to throw off his armor and stretch himself
upon the pine needles at his feet, but it evidently did not; and in a
moment or two Squanto delivered to him the king's reply that he was very
willing to become an ally of King James, and that he would go into the
village to meet the governor leaving Winslow as guest of Quadequina, but
that first he was ready to exchange for some very valuable peltrie the
armor and weapons now worn by his guest, and as he observed by the other
men of the colony.
To this proposition Winslow returned a most decided negative, adding
that among his people no soldier relinquished his weapons except with
his life, which chivalrous boast Squanto after a moment's consideration
translated,--
"White man says these things to him all one as red man's scalp-lock to
him," and Massasoit replied by a guttural sound sometimes rendered
"Hugh!" although no letters can express it, and its intent is to convey
comprehension, approbation, contempt, or assent, according to the
intonation. In the present instance it conveyed approbation mingled with
disappointment, and Massasoit drawing forward his tobacco pouch filled
his pipe, lighted it with a sort of slow match made of bark, and having
drawn two or three whiffs passed it to Winslow who gravely accepted it.
Next the chief tasting the dainties offered him by one of his officers
distributed the remainder among his followers, excepting the flask of
gin, which having cautiously tried he laid aside, evidently not
understanding it, and unwilling to offend the donor by showing his
distaste for it. And here let it be said that Massasoit, although he
learned to drink the "fire-water" of the white men, never became its
victim like so many of his brethren.
These ceremonies over, Winslow, already a little uneasy lest Standish
and his musketeers should come to seek him and disturb the harmony he
was endeavoring to establish between this dusky potentate and his own
people, suggested to Squanto that the governor would be growing
impatient to receive his guest, and that the day was getting on.
This hint the interpreter conveyed in his own fashion to the king, who
simply drawing his puma robe a little farther forward, muttered a word
to Quadequina who stood beside him, and moved toward the village
followed by about twenty warriors.
Winslow, somewhat startled by the suddenness of this departure would
have followed at least for a few steps, but Quadequina, a younger and
handsomer copy of his brother, stopped him by a single finger laid upon
his breast, and a few guttural sounds which Squanto paused to interpret
as a direction that the white man should remain where he was until the
return of the sachem.
"Certainly. It is as a hostage that I am here. I would but move to a
spot whence I may see the progress of his majesty and his greeting. Tell
the prince that he has my parole not to escape."
But neither the words nor the spirit of this chivalrous utterance were
familiar to Squanto, across whose red and yellow and oily countenance a
gleam of humor shot and was gone, while he gravely reported to
Quadequina,--
"The white man does but place himself to see the head men of his village
fall to the ground before Massasoit and his sachems. He trembles before
Quadequina and entreats his kindness."
"Hugh! I think thou liest, Squanto," sententiously replied the young
sachem. "I see no trembling in this warrior's face, nor do I believe his
people will fall down before Massasoit. Go, and see that thou dost speak
more truly in the sachem's presence, or he will hang thy scalp in his
wigwam to-night."
Squanto a little depressed at this suggestion, attempted no reply, but
hastened after the chief who already was nearing the brook, while from
the side of the town approached Standish, preceded by drum and fife and
followed by six musketeers. Arriving first at the dividing line the
captain halted his men, and summoning Squanto by name, bid him demand
that the twenty followers of the king should leave their bows, arrows,
and tomahawks where they now stood and come over unarmed, adding that
the importance of their hostage might well cover this further
concession. Massasoit after gazing for a moment into his opponent's face
conceded the point without parley, and at a sign from him the warriors
threw their weapons in a pile and followed him unarmed through the
shallow ford of the brook. Standish meantime deployed his men into guard
of honor so that the chief passed between two lines of men who presented
arms, and closing in behind him escorted him with drum and fife to the
unfinished house where he was seated in state at one end of the settle,
and his followers upon the cushions at the right hand of the Green Rug,
which may be said to have distinguished this meeting as the Cloth of
Gold, just a hundred years before, had that of the interview between
Henry VIII. and Francis I.
Hardly was the chief seated when the sonorous sounds of the trumpet,
well supported by the larger drum, replaced the shriller notes of fife
and small drum, and Governor Carver in full armor and wearing a plumed
hat, made his appearance, followed by six more musketeers, the two
guards exhausting pretty nearly the whole available force of the Pilgrim
army at this time.
Massasoit rose as the governor approached, and when Carver extended his
hand laid his own in it, each potentate saluting the other with a
punctilious gravity much to be admired. Carver then seated himself at
the other end of the settle, and turning to Howland, who stood as a sort
of Aid at his elbow, he requested some strong waters to be brought that
he and the king might pledge health and amity to each other. This
request having been foreseen was immediately complied with, and a great
silver loving-cup with two handles and filled with a compound of Holland
gin, sugar, and spice, with a moderate amount of water, was brought and
presented to the governor who tasted decorously, and then passed it to
the sachem, who seizing both handles carried it to his mouth and drank
with an air of stern determination, as one who would not allow personal
distaste to interfere with public obligations. The cup was then passed
to the other guests, and replenished more than once until all had
tasted, Squanto remarking to his next neighbor as he handed him the
cup,--
"It is the witch water to make a man brave that I have told you of
drinking in the house of Slaney in the land of these Englishmen."
"Hugh! It is like the sun in summer," muttered the neighbor passing it
on in his turn.
"John Howland!" whispered a low voice at the unglazed window near which
the young man stood, and as he leaned hastily out he nearly bumped heads
with pretty Elizabeth Tilley, who laughing said,--
"Nay, 't is no such great alarm, but Priscilla bade me tell thee to keep
an eye upon the governor's loving-cup, lest some of these wild men steal
it."
"Nay, they have no pockets to hide it in," replied John laughing. "Still
I will have an eye to it, for we have none so much silverware in the
colony that we should be willing to spare it."
The ceremony of welcome over, the business of the meeting began, and
Massasoit, albeit a little incommoded by his strange potation, showed
himself both dignified and friendly in his intentions. Carver on his
side was as honorable as he was shrewd, and in the course of an hour the
first American International Treaty was harmoniously concluded, and so
much to the advantage of both sides, that not only was it sacredly
observed in the beginning, but nineteen years later, when Massasoit felt
his own days drawing to a close, he brought his sons, Alexander and
Philip, to Plymouth, where this "Auncient League and Confederacy" was
formally renewed and ratified before the court then in session.
Business over, the sachem produced his pipe, filled it, smoked a little,
and passed it to the governor, and in this manner it went round the
assembly, red men and white together each taking a few whiffs, and when
it was empty returning it to Massasoit, who seemed to be custodian of
the tribal stock of tobacco.
Facts are stubborn things and History is sacred, and the scene just
described is in all its details simple matter of History, but is it not
a singular irony of fate that we who spend our lives in a crusade
against strong drink and tobacco must, nevertheless, despair of rivaling
the virtues of these men, who began their solemn covenant with the
savages they had come to Christianize, by giving them gin, and ended it
by accepting from them tobacco?
After the Council came a feast of the simple dainties furnished by the
Pilgrim commissariat, and after that an informal mingling of the two
companies, during which the Indians examined and essayed to sound the
trumpet whose notes had so startled them, although the fife had seemed
to them only the older brother of the whistles they so often made of
willow twigs.
Before Massasoit took leave he requested that Winslow might remain while
Quadequina came to view the wonders of the white man's village, and this
favor being good-naturedly conceded, the prince, as our Englishmen
called him, soon arrived with a fresh troop of followers, all of whom
expected and received both meat, drink, and attention. But as the sun
was setting Winslow appeared on the other side of the brook, and the
savages were hastily dismissed, except Squanto and Samoset, both of
whom insisted upon staying, not only for the night, but declared that
they were ready to leave their own people and remain with the white men,
whose way of life they so much approved, and to whom they could be of
much use in many ways. Squanto in especial pleaded that this place was
his own home, and that he had only left it for the village of the
Nausets whence Hunt had stolen him, because all his people were dead of
the plague, and he was afraid of their ghosts. His wigwam had once stood
as he declared at the head of the King's Highway, and the Town Brook was
his stewpond for the fish on which he mostly fed. Altogether it was
quite evident that Squanto was rather the host than the guest of the
Pilgrims, and as such they with grave jest and solemn fun consented to
accept him. As for Samoset, he already had helped himself to the freedom
of the town, and these two, with Hobomok, the especial retainer of
Standish, remained the faithful and useful friends of the white men
until death divided them.