Page:The Life of George Washington, Volume 1.djvu/66

 36 INTRODUCTION. chap. n. the country, and by presents and caresses to 1607. those who were well disposed, and attacking with open force and defeating those who were hostile, he obtained for his countrymen the most abundant supplies. While thus actively and usefully employed abroad, he was not permitted to withdraw his attention from the domestic concerns of the colony. However unfit men may be for command, there are few examples of their descending willingly from exalted stations once filled by them; and it is not wonderful that the late president saw with regret another placed above him. As unworthy minds most readily devise unworthy means, he sought, by intriguing with the factious, and fomenting their discontents, to regain his lost authority; and when these attempts were disconcerted, plans were laid, first by Wingfield and Kendal, and afterwards by the president himself, in conjunction with Martin, the only remaining member of the council except Smith, to escape in the bark, and thus to desert the country. The vigilance of Smith detected all these machinations, and his vigour defeated them. 6 The hope was now indulged, of preserving the colony in quiet and plenty, until supplies could be received from England with the ships which were expected in the spring. This hope e Slith.