Page:A cyclopaedia of female biography.djvu/647

 for hostilities, and laid a plan for entrapping him. When on the ere of effecting their object, while Smith was on a visit to Powhatan for the purpose of procuring provisions, he was preserved from this fate by the watchful care of Pocahontas, who ventured through the woods more than nine miles., at midnight, to apprise him of his danger. For this service. Smith offered her some trinkets, which, to one of her age, sex, and nation, must have been strongly tempting; but she refused to accept anything, or to partake of any refreshment, and hurriedly retraced her steps, that she might not be missed by her father or his wives.

For three or four years after this, Pocahontas continued to assist the settlers in their distresses, and to shield them from the effects of her father's animosity. Although a great favourite with her father, he was so incensed against her for favouring the whites, that he sent her away to a chief of a neighbouring tribe, Jopazaws, chief of Potowmac, for safe keeping; or, as some suppose, to avert the anger of her own tribe, who might be tempted to revenge themselves upon her for her friendship to the English. Here she remained some time, when Captain Argall, who ascended the Potowmac on a trading expedition, tempted the chief by the offer of a large copper kettle, of which be had become enamoured, as the biggest trinket he had ever seen, to deliver her to him as a prisoner; Argall believing, that by having her in his possession as a hostage, he could bring Powhatan to terms of peace. But Powhatan refused to ransom his daughter upon the terms proposed; he offered five hundred bushels of corn for her, but it was not accepted.

Pocahontas was well treated while a prisoner, and Mr. Thomas Rolfe, a pious young man, and a brave officer, who had undertaken to instruct her in English, became attached to her, and offered her his hand. The offer was communicated to Powhatan, who gave his consent to the union, and she was married to Rolfe, after the form of the church of England, in presence of her uncle and two brothers. This event relieved the colony from the enmity of Powhatan, and preserved peace for many years between them.

In the year 1616, Pocahontas accompanied her husband to England, where she was presented at court, and became an object of curiosity and interest to all classes; her title of princess causing her to receive much attention. Though the period of her conversion is disputed, It is generally believed that she was baptized during this visit to England, when she received the name of Rebecca. In London, she was visited by Captain Smith, whom, for some unknown purpose, she had been taught to believe was dead. When she first beheld him, she was overcome with emotion; and turning from him hid her face in her hands. Many surmises have been hazarded upon the emotion exhibited by Pocahontas in this interview. The solution of the mystery, however, is obvious; the dusky maiden had no doubt learned to love the gallant soldier whom she had so deeply benefitted; and upon his abandonment of the country, both the colonists and her own people, aware of her feelings, and having some alliance in view for the furthering of their own interests, had imposed upon her the tale of his death. Admitting this to be the case, what could be more natural than her conduct, and what more touching than the picture which this interview presents to the imagination?

Captain Smith wrote a memorial to the queen in her behalf,