The distinguished members of the Continental Congress reached
Dorminghurst during the afternoon when Mollie Greydon and Segwuna had
been gathering the wild strawberries for supper. They were weary with
their deliberations during the hot June days, and the freshness of the
country air was a tonic to soul and body.
Dr. Franklin had known Dr. Greydon since the latter’s childhood, and he
walked around the grounds examining the garden with characteristic good
comradeship, as he said:
“William,” addressing Dr. Greydon, “are these cherries from the trees
brought over by William Penn and planted by your father?”
“How fine,” exclaimed Mr. Jefferson, “are these roses! I shall have to
get some cuttings for my garden at Monticello,” as they sauntered along
the path bordered by box, on the way to the sun-dial.
“Yes,” replied Dr. Greydon to Benjamin Franklin, “father planted the
originals of most of these trees and we have grafted the scions to
perpetuate the memory of our dear friend, William Penn. But do you
see those columbines on the wall? Those were brought from Monongahela
by Altamaha. That honeysuckle was brought from England by our friend,
George Fox,” as he pointed to a beautiful vine embowering the gate of
the wall surrounding the house court.
The three made their way through rows of hollyhocks, feverfew,
rhododendrons, tulips, peonies, narcissi, rows of homely bee-hives, the
spot for the physic and pot-herbs, where pennyroyal, tansy, spearmint,
anise, dill, horse-leek, bitter-sweet, hyssop and boneset were growing,
when they reached the apple orchard beyond the garden.
A large orchard seat under one of those homely old apple trees,
savoring of domesticity, brought them to a quiet nook where the three
sat down for a discussion of affairs.
“Do you believe that the delegates from Pennsylvania will vote for a
Declaration, Doctor Franklin?” asked Mr. Jefferson of his associate.
“I, for one, shall vote for the Declaration,” replied Benjamin
Franklin, emphatically, “but the other delegates from Pennsylvania,
Robert Morris and James Wilson, I am convinced will never do so.
They love riches too well to disturb present institutions. They are
too close to, and too much interested in the commercial element of
Philadelphia to be so radical. If they could see money in the venture
they would not hesitate.”
“But do you not think that they can see the great benefits to mankind
in free institutions and in the doctrine that all men are created free
and equal?” continued Mr. Jefferson.
“Never, sir, so long as they think that there is any reason to stand
on the argument of non-interference with settled usage and present
commercial relations. They believe that a Declaration would bring war
and an upheaval in trade. You know they represent great commercial
houses in London, and they think that they would be ruined to cut off
their condition of agent and hireling. They are thoroughly whipped into
line by a policy of commercial cowardice and dependence. They cannot
see that to be independent of England’s merchants would be for their
own benefit,” argued Franklin to his listeners’ delight.
“I believe that they will see the error of their way,” continued Dr.
Greydon.
“Yes, when they find that they are overwhelmingly outvoted by the rest
of us,” remarked Jefferson. “But those commercial people think that the
world revolves around them and that we farmers are mere satellites,
reflecting their wisdom,” continued Jefferson lightly.
“But what about the printers?” inquired Franklin with a smile.
“Oh, they have no right to exist, when they print the truth about these
lords of creation,” insisted Jefferson.
“When they speak of themselves as men of substance, I find that they
are mighty small potatoes, when they require a man of physic to keep
body and soul together,” happily joined in Dr. Greydon.
“Really, these commercial people are to be pitied,” said Franklin.
“Their glory is of short duration. To-day they are princes of commerce,
and to-morrow they are paupers. So we must be charitable with them and
let them show how little they know, as they usually do in a bombastic
way. Like a ‘tinkling cymbal’ and ‘a sounding brass’ their glory
passeth as the night.”
By this time a servant announced supper, and the three retraced their
steps in jolly good humor to the mansion, for their appetites were
unusually keen.
At supper Dr. Franklin exclaimed when he tasted the wild fruit that
Mollie had provided:
“William, where did you get such delicious wild fruit?”
“Why, sir, our daughter, Mollie, and Segwuna, the Indian maiden,
gathered the best on the estate,” as he indicated Miss Mollie with a
gesture of his hand, whereupon Mollie blushed inordinately as the two
distinguished guests smiled graciously upon her.
“Did I understand you to say ‘Segwuna’?” asked the philosopher.
“Segwuna, Segwuna,” he continued. “Why, Mr. Jefferson, we have heard
that name before. It is so peculiar.”
“Certainly, certainly, Doctor,” was Mr. Jefferson’s response. “She is
the mysterious Indian maiden that has been such a constant attendant
upon our meetings of Congress. Why, she would be at our door as we
passed in, and still there as we passed out. She has been observed
by several gentlemen. At all times she looks eagerly into our faces
as though anxious for some sign or news that would please her. Her
face lights up with an intelligence that haunts me ever since I first
met her gaze. She seemed so pure and noble that I have been more
than once moved at the presence of this lone Indian girl,--the sole
representative of her race among the curious throng that have watched
our deliberations. If she lives near by,” continued the statesman with
much earnestness in his tone, “I would like to question her, and learn
her purpose at the doors of Congress.”
Dr. Greydon was surprised at this information and he replied with
lively interest:
“You certainly may see our forest child, Mr. Jefferson, and in fact,
this very evening; for Segwuna has grown up on our estate, and if any
honor attaches to the meeting, Dorminghurst shall claim it,” concluded
the host as he turned to Dr. Franklin with a merry twinkle in his eye.
“May I take you to the lodge of Segwuna, Mr. Jefferson?”
enthusiastically questioned Miss Mollie, as her eyes danced with joy at
the mention of her favorite companion by these distinguished gentlemen.
“Segwuna,” she added, “has told me that great events were going to
happen within the present moon and that great leaders of men were to
come forth and proclaim the sweetest message from the Great Spirit that
human kind had ever heard.
“She has been to the meetings of Congress,” innocently burst out
Segwuna’s companion, “to watch for what the Manitou has told her would
come to pass, because she has told me all about it.”
“How do you suppose the Indian maiden can foretell such great matters,
Miss Mollie?” asked the venerable Dr. Franklin, who was really affected
by the enthusiasm of his young friend.
“Why, Mr. Franklin, there is much that is good and wise in Segwuna. She
seeks out the poor and sick in the city and carries them medicine and
game. She says that the rich are too proud and grasping to remember the
poor.
“She says such wise things and tells me that her Manitou has sent
her as a guiding star to me, and that she will protect me from much
danger,” continued Miss Mollie, with a tinge of real sentiment in her
voice.
As the question had been answered most interestingly by Miss Mollie,
Mr. Jefferson seemed to be seriously taken up with the philosophy of
Segwuna, and turned to Dr. Greydon suggesting that they might go to the
lodge of Segwuna and interview her upon the glowing topics of the day
as the sage of Monticello remarked:
“For we know not from what source we may gather wisdom that shall
illumine our path.”
When the meal had been finished, and the gentlemen had relished their
pipes under the hemlocks, the whole party strolled on their way with
Mollie as leader. They took the path past the mill on the Wingohocking
and through the wild-wood trail in the soft light of the early evening
to the lodge of Segwuna.
Nothing could be more peaceful or simple in nature than the lone wigwam
in a rift of the woods, approached by a well-beaten path through the
underbrush. The curling smoke of a lazy fire was streaming skyward in
the still evening air, with an atmosphere broken by no sound except the
barking of an Indian’s dog.
There sat the mother on a mat before the wigwam, and peering from the
inside was Segwuna, standing shyly out of sight, but able to perceive
the approach of the party with Dr. Greydon.
Kaubequa sat quietly at her wigwam entrance and when Dr. Greydon
approached and greeted her in her own tongue, she replied and smiled as
she asked Segwuna to step out and greet them.
As the daughter obeyed, Mollie ran and took Segwuna by both hands, and
led her toward Dr. Franklin and Mr. Jefferson,--both of whom bowed very
low when Miss Mollie presented her shy Indian companion.
As Dr. Franklin could discern serious eagerness in Mr. Jefferson’s
countenance, he volunteered to unravel the Indian girl’s mind.
“Segwuna, we have observed you at the meetings of Congress, and may
we ask why you are so much interested in the proceedings?” asked Dr.
Franklin, when he had been presented to Segwuna.
“Certainly, Mr. Franklin,” answered the Indian maid, “Segwuna never
misses a day. The Great Spirit is watching every word said in Congress.
I am bound to do His bidding. He wishes Americans to be free and make
all men equal. The Indians love liberty. The soil which the white man
has adopted for his home, in the beginning was given by the Great
Spirit to His children, the Indians. Each Indian was to be his own lord
and master, and whoever lives on the Indian’s land shall derive the
same right. What the Great Spirit hath given shall never be taken away.”
When Mr. Jefferson had found much force in the first answer, he
nervously continued with a question:
“Do you believe, Segwuna, that this land of ours shall be free and
prosperous forever?”
“Yes, Mr. Jefferson, the Great Spirit in the first place gave the
Indians this land. He told them that they would be given the means
of subduing all of the earth, if they would only be industrious and
cultivate the gift of corn and make good use of His gift.
“If they did not make good use of the gift, his white brother would
come and take his birth-right away. So, as the Indians heeded not what
the Great Spirit commanded, his white brother has succeeded to all the
good that the Indian’s corn was intended to be for the land.”
Dr. Greydon was amazed at the answers already given and thought that
something more than common knowledge was her heritage, so he attempted
a question:
“Is the Indian’s white brother to resist his enemy, the King across the
water?”
“Yes, Dr. Greydon, if the Great Spirit had given this land to all men
alike and all men are to be equal in His sight no King can prosper on
the soil where Indian corn is grown; for when the King’s soldiers eat
the corn of the Great Spirit, they shall turn upon their King and fight
for liberty like the Indian and the Indian’s white brother.”
“O Segwuna, will you tell the gentlemen what the Great Spirit says
shall come to the land of the Indians when the King shall cease to hold
sway over it?” was the question of Mollie, who had heard Segwuna talk
about these things before.
“Yes, my sweetheart, I love to look upon my native land, the land of my
forefathers, as the most powerful of the nations. But the Great Spirit
must be obeyed, or the white brother of the Indian shall lose all like
the Indian.
“The Indians have lost their beautiful land because they did not make
good use of the Great Spirit’s gift,--the Indian corn. They left the
planting of it to the women, while they followed the chase. But the
Indian’s white brother must make good use of this gift and become very
powerful as the Great Spirit promised. Yet when the white man shall get
too proud to eat the Indian’s corn for food, he then also shall lose
this beautiful land.
“The King laughs at the Indian’s corn and at the Indian’s skins for
raiment and at the Indian’s love for equality; but the King must learn
to give freely to his unfortunate brother. All of this the King and his
white brother must learn from the Indian. When any one starves in the
tribe, the chief must starve also.
“If the King takes all of the corn away from his hunters and gives it
to the chiefs, the Great Chief will become angry and take his corn away
from his land so that the King and his chiefs shall have to become
hunters too.”
At the conclusion of this last answer, Mr. Jefferson stepped up to
Segwuna and thanked her for her kindness, and handed her a silver coin.
But at this last act Segwuna smiled and with polite dignity returned
the coin and said:
“The Great Spirit hath no token of worth except His bounteous love and
kindness.”
In return Mr. Jefferson seemed greatly pleased as he politely shook the
hand of Segwuna and replied:
“My dear child, you have a noble spirit and I shall remember what you
have told us.”
The other gentlemen shook the hand of Segwuna and Mollie kissed her as
they left to return to the mansion.
On the way all turned to Dr. Franklin to learn his opinion of the
philosophy of the Indian girl.
After a short period of silent reflection on the part of all, the
good-humor of the old printer could not be held in as he solemnly said:
“If the King of Great Britain does not subdue the Americans, he shall
have to acknowledge the corn.”