Page:The Life of George Washington, Volume 1.djvu/65

 INTRODUCTION. 35 lament and common danger called forth and chap, it. compelled submission to those talents which 1607. were fitted to the exigency, and best calculated to extricate them from the difficulties with which they were surrounded. Captain Smith, who had been imprisoned and forced from his seat in the council by the envy of those who felt and hated his superiority, and who, after evincing his innocence, had with difficulty been admitted to the station assigned him by the council in England; preserved his health unimpaired, his spirits unbroken, and his judg- ment unclouded, amidst this general misery and dejection. In him, by common consent, all actual authority was placed, and he, by his own example, soon gave energy and efficiency to others, in the execution of his commands. d He immediately erected at Jamestown, such ]|S3ity rude fortifications as were necessary to resist otSnuth ' the sudden attacks of the savages; and with great labour, in which he always took the lead himself, completed the construction of such dwellings as, by sheltering the people from the weather, contributed to restore and pre- serve their health, while his own accommoda- tion gave place to that of all others. In the season of gathering corn, which with the In- dians is the season of plenty, putting himself at the head of small parties, he penetrated into d Stith,... Robertson.... Chahner.