SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND.

81

3. He first repaired to See'-konk, now in Rhode Island; but having learned, soon after, that the place was within the jurisdiction of the Plymouth colony, he removed, June, 1636, to the place where Providence now stands, and laid the foundation of a colony, of which he was, at one and the same time, minister, instructor, and father.

4. But the labors of Roger Williams were not by any means confined to his own countrymen. Though his manners had been harsh, he had a good heart. Like Eliot, he did much for the conversion and improvement of the savages. He even took pains, like him, to learn their language, that he might the better conciliate, instruct, improve, and elevate them; and, at the same time, preserve his colony from destructive and bloody wars.

5. Providence was within the territory of the Narraganset Indians, but Mr. Williams very soon obtained a deed of it; not for himself or his friends, for though it was his own property as much as the clothes he wore, he gave away every foot of it. Nor did he love power more than property, for, instead of making himself the magistrate, the colonists had none till the year 1640.

6. The Providence settlement soon became the asylum of all who were persecuted in the other colonies on account of their religious opinions, especially the Baptists, to which sect Mr. Williams adhered. In 1639, a Baptist church was formed there; the first in the United States. Twelve years later, the General Court of Massachusetts, by their severe laws, drove a greater number to Rhode Island than ever before.

7. Rhode Island, properly so called—that is, the beautiful island which goes by this name was first settled in the spring of 1638, by William Coddington and seventeen others. In the following November, Mr. Coddington was chosen governor. These last were the followers of one Ann Hutchinson, a fanatic in religion, but in many respects a wise and virtuous woman.

8. Until 1640, the citizens of Providence had made their own rules and laws in a general convention. They now thought it best to adopt a more permanent form of government, and, in 1644, Roger Williams, with the aid of Governor Vane, of Massachusetts, procured a charter for the two settlements, under the name of the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

3. Where did Williams first go? Where did he establish himself? 4. What of Williams and the Indians? 5. Did Williams take a deed of his land? What did he do with his land? What of the government of the colony till 1640? 6. Of whom did the Providence settlements become the asylum? The Baptists? What happened in 1689? What happened twelve years later? 7. What occurred in 1638? What of Aun Hutchinson? 8. What occurred in 1644?

CHAPTER XXXV.

War with the Pequod Indians.-The Battle at Mystic River-Burning of the Indian Fort.-Utter Defeat of the Pequods.

1. CONNECTICUT was first organized as a government separate from

Massachusetts

and Plymouth, in 1636. Its inhabitants held their first General Court or Assembly at Hartford, in the spring of that year. The first law they passed was, that arms and ammunition should not be sold to the Indians.

2. Enough, however, had been done, long before,

by unprincipled men, like Hunt and Morton, to excite that savage jealousy which, when once roused, makes little discrimination, but vents itself with nearly equal readiness on all who are white, without regard to age or sex. The period was at hand when the colonists of Connecticut were to feel the full force of savage vengeance.

3. The Pe'-quods, or Pequots, were a very formidable tribe, having at least seven hundred warriors. Their principal settlement was on a hill in Groton, near New London, in Connecticut, though they had forts elsewhere. They were the terror of many other tribes of Indians, and they soon became a serious annoyance to the Connecticut and Massachusetts settlers.

4. They had, in the first place, murdered some of the traders from Massachusetts, especially one Old'-ham, at Block Island, and Governor Endicot had been sent to treat with them, or bring them to submis sion; but he had accomplished very little, except to provoke them by burning their wigwams.

CHAP. XXXV.-1. When was Connecticut first organized as a government separate from Massachusetts and Plymouth? Where was the first General Assembly? What was the first law? 2. What had been done by such men as Hunt and Morton? 3. What of the Pequods? 4. What had the Pequods done?

WAR WITH THE PEQUODS.

83

5. In March, 1637, they became so bold as to attack the fort at Saybrook, and kill three of the soldiers. In April, they murdered several men and women at Wethersfield, carried away two girls into captivity, and destroyed twenty cows. The inhabitants could no longer consider themselves safe, by night or by day, in their houses or in their fields.

6. The General Assembly, which convened at Hartford, May 11, resolved to make war upon them; and ninety men-about half the colony who were able to bear arms-with Captain Mason at their head, accompanied by seventy friendly Mohegan Indians, and Rev. Mr. Stone as their chaplain, were sent out to attack the Pequods in their own country.

7. Sailing down the river, and thence to Narraganset Bay, they were joined at the latter place by two hundred Narraganset Indians, and, after landing and proceeding toward the Pequod country, by five hundred Ni-an'-ticks. The Pequods had two forts, one at Mystic, in the present town of Groton, and another further on. They resolved to attack the former.

8. They arrived at Mystic River, near the fort, late in the evening, and pitched their camp by two large rocks, now called Porter's rocks. About daybreak the next morning, they were ready to advance and attack the fort. The first signal of their arrival was the barking of a dog, upon which an Indian in the fort cried out, "O-wan'-ux! Owanux!" which meant Englishmen! Englishmen !

9. The battle soon began, and for a long time was severe. The fate of Connecticut, and perhaps of all New England, was to be determined by seventy-seven men.* Every soldier, therefore, fought for his own life and the lives of his countrymen. With the Indians, too, every thing was at stake; and their arrows descended among the English like a shower of hail.

10. At last, seeing his men begin to tire, Captain Mason cried out, "We must burn them!"—and, seizing a firebrand from one of the wigwams, he applied it to the combustible material of which it was composed, and in a few minutes the whole fort was in flames. The fire and sword together made terrible havoc; and soon victory decided in favor of the colonists.

11. But the contest was not yet over.

Three hundred Pequods from

5. What happened in March, 1637? 6. What of the General Assembly? Of whom did the force sent against the Pequods consist? 7. By what forces were they joined ? What forts had the Pequods? 8. What of the approach of the white men to Fort Mystic? 9. What of the fight? 10. What of Captain Mason?

They set out with ninety, but thirteen had fallen off at Saybrook, or elsewhere; and as for the friendly Indian allies, they dared not venture near the fort.

the other fort came now to the assistance of their brethren, but these too were gallantly repulsed, and the colonists retired leisurely to go on board their vessels at the Pequod harbor. When the battle ended, their vessels were not yet in sight, but they arrived soon afterward.

12. The colonists had but two men killed and sixteen wounded in the contest; while the Indians lost seventy wigwams, and, as it was thought, from five hundred to six hundred men. The blow was de cisive. The Indians looked at the smoking ruins, stamped on the ground, tore their hair, and rushed on the colonists; but to no purpose. 13. The battle was scarcely ended, when a body of two hundred troops from Massachusetts and Plymouth arrived. They renewed the war, burning wigwams, destroying cornfields, and killing the Indians, men, women, and children. The survivors were driven to a swamp, where they finally surrendered, except Sas'-sa-cus, their chief, and a few of his men, who fled to the Mo'-hawks, by whom Sassacus was afterward murdered.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

Anecdotes of the Pequod War.-The Indian Chiefs Uncas and Sassacus.-The Beneficent Conduct of Roger Williams.

1. ONE of the early laws of New England was:- "Some minister is to be sent forth to go along with the army, for their instruction and encouragement." Moreover, they sometimes began their wars by a season of fasting and prayer. We may smile at this strange attempt to intermingle religion and bloodshed; but it exhibits the Puritan character.

2. The whole night before Captain Mason set out from Hartford to attack the Pequods was spent by Mr. Stone, at the request of the soldiers, in earnest prayer. Again having arrived at Narraganset Bay on Saturday, instead of proceeding on their journey the next day, they kept it as the Sabbath, with the most scrupulous exactness.

3. War is terrible at best, but it is always agreeable to find its horrors in any degree mitigated. While the soldiers of Captain Mason were slaughtering the Indians at Fort Mystic by hundreds, and actually piling the dead bodies in heaps, they spared the women. Many

11. What more happened? 12. Loss of the colonists? Of the Indians? 13. What of 200 Massachusetts troops? What of Sassacus and the rest of the Pequods? CHAP. XXXVI.-1. How did the Puritans mingle religion with war? 2. What of the night before Captain Mason's departure for the Pequod war? What of the next Sunday? 3. What of war? What of sparing the women and children?

INCIDENTS OF THE PEQUOD WAR.

85

of the Indian warriors, observing this, cried out, "I squaw! I squaw!" But it did not save them.

4. The friendly Indians, under Un'-cas, sachem of the Mohegans, and Mi-an-ton'-o-moh, sachem of the Narragansets, were terribly afraid of the Pequods, and especially of Sassacus, their chief. When Captain Mason inquired of Miantonomoh why the Narragansets did not come forward and help him, he replied, "Sassacus is in the fort. Sassacus is all one God; nobody can kill him.”

5. The two hundred Pequods-men, women, and children—who surrendered to the colonists, were either enslaved by the English or incorporated with the Mohegans or the Narragansets. There did not remain, according to the words of the historian, a sannup or a squaw, a warrior or a child, of the Pequod name. A nation had disappeared in a day!"

66

6. Still, this war would have been more dreadful than it was, but for the benevolent and pious labors of Roger Williams. When the Pequods found they had provoked the colonists to make war upon them, they tried to enlist on their side the Mohegans and Narragansets. They hoped that by their united exertions they might be able entirely to sweep the colonists from the hunting-ground of their fathers.

7. There was no white man in New England that dared, at this critical time, to expose himself to Indian fury, but Roger Williams. Aware of the danger to the colonists, this good man, amid storm and wind, and at the most imminent hazard of his life, embarked in a canoe, and hastened to the wigwam of the Narraganset sachem, even while the Pequod ambassadors were there, still reeking with the blood of Oldham and others.

8. Here, for three days and nights, he ate and drank and slept in their midst, in danger of being shot, or having his throat cut, every moment. The Narragansets for some time wavered, but he at length succeeded in preventing them from entering into a league with the Pequods, and thus, probably, saved the colonies from extinction.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

Settlement of New Haven.- Mr. Davenport and his Associates. Other Settlements in Connecticut.-Earthquakes.

1. THE Indian name of New Haven was Quin'-ni-pi-ack. The people of the Connecticut colony had become acquainted with it during

4. What of Sassacus and other Indians? 5. What of the 200 Indians captured? What of the Pequod nation? 6 What rendered the Pequod war less dreadful? 7, 8. What did Roger Williams do?