A few miles only distant, the encampment of the Indians around their
Mount was distinctly visible from Pakeunit; and Eliot, with two or
three of his people, went to have an interview with the chieftain.
Philip respected his character, though he disliked his proceedings,
for he had always treated his mission with contempt and slight; among
the warriors, however, both of his own and other tribes, were many who
had heard Eliot preach, and had received him beneath their roof. The
interview was without any success; the spirit of the Indian was made up
to the desperate struggle, and all that could be done was to beseech
him to spare the settlements of the converts.
The contrast between the two men must have been sufficiently striking.
Philip was in the prime of life, with a frame nerved by early hardship,
and the usages of savage warfare, in which he was very expert; he was
dressed like his chiefs, save that he wore a silver-laced tunic, or
coat, and that his arms were more rich: his chief ensign of dignity
was his princely, yet cruel and gloomy features, where the thirst of
revenge was stamped. The frame of the missionary was not bowed even
by seventy years, though they had turned his hair white; the leathern
girdle was about his loins, that he always wore, and the simple apparel
that he loved; he stood among these fierce and exasperated men as
calm and fearless as in his own assembly at Naticke: he could not but
foresee the devastation about to be let loose on the land; that the
fire and the sword would waste all his pleasant places, and scatter
his converts; and he returned with a heavy heart to his home. Several
of the latter afterwards sided with the forces of Philip: whether from
this circumstance, or from the nearness of the settlement of Pakeunit
to the camp of the prince, the colonists contracted the strongest
dislike and mistrust of the Christian Indians. Eliot, when he saw there
was no longer a chance of peace, exhorted his people in the above town,
and at Naticke, as well as the other congregations, not to be moved by
the example or seductions of either party.
[Illustration]