them of any necessary defense of prevaricating cant. The same story, of the first interview with Massasoit, is thus, in other words, narrated by one who seems to have felt himself "spiritually admonished," very much as we have related above concerning Captain Church, to become "the defender of the faith," instead of the historian of Sam.

"The chieftain of a race as yet so new to the Pilgrims, was received with all the ceremonies which the condition of the colony permitted. A treaty of friendship was soon completed in few and unequivocal terms. The parties promised to abstain from mutual injuries, and to deliver up offenders. The colonists were to receive assistance if attacked-to render it if Massasoit should be attacked unjustly. The treaty included the confederates of the sachem; it is the oldest act of diplomacy recorded in New England; it was concluded in a day, and, being founded on reciprocal interests, was sacredly kept for more than half a century. Massasoit desired the alliance, for the powerful Narragansetts were his enemies; his tribe, moreover, having become habituated to some English luxuries, were willing to establish a traffic, while the emigrants obtained peace, security, and the opportunities of a lucrative commerce."

The dainty form of speech which, here including everything in the phrases "all the ceremonies which the condition of the colony permitted" skims over the "pot of strong water to the chief," and concludes that Massasoit "having become habituated to some English luxuries, was willing to establish a traffic," is too transcendentally rich not to be twenty-seven years in advance-as the Dial has since been published-of the first modest insinuation from the same meridian, that Massasoit, having "left Mr. Winslow in the custody of his men, as a hostage, ventured to the English, by whom he was hospitably entertained, and with whom he concluded the treaty, already noticed."+

The voice of Sam, himself, it is said, can yet be heard on any still day, reverberating among the Green Mountains.

• Bancroft's United States, vol. 1st, page 317.

History of the United States of America, by the Rev. Charles A. Goodrich, 23d edition.

"It is all a lie, I gave Massasoit rum!" And that he made a drunken treaty, and that Sam must have held him with his lordly nation by an ascendency of fifty years, in growling, half-subjection, can only be accounted for by the enslaving habits of the "English luxuries" to which the Wampanoags had been introduced.

When the stern, heroic Philip, whose first overt act of war was caused by Sam's characteristic murder of three Indians, whom Philip was accused of having excited to the slaying of one Sansamon, a renegade Indian Missionary-which saintly personage, it seems, Philip thought had been inflicting too much piety and rum upon his nation! Sam now lifted himself up in wrath, striking with his heavy hand at the rebellious chieftain, for rum and piety, at the one blow.

Here are some of the scenes which occurred about these times, and which go to show the comparative metal of these two foes.

The English forces at Hadley, on the Connecticut, had become pressed for provisions and forage, and it was known that a large deposit of wheat, at Deerfield, fifteen miles up the river, was exposed in the stack to easy destruction by the Indians.

Captain Lathrop, with his company of eighty men, with a number of teams and drivers, was accordingly detached by the commander at Hadley, to thrash out the grain and transport it to head-quarters.

"In obedience to his orders, Lathrop proceeded to Deerfield, where Captain Mosely was then posted with a company of colony troops, and having thrashed the grain and loaded his teams, he commenced his march for Hadley, on the 18th of September, 1675. No discovery had been made of the enemy in the vicinity, and probably Lathrop did not apprehend that they were watching his movements; but it seems they were too vigilant to let slip so favorable an opportunity of depriving the English of such a valuable acquisition of

stores.

"For the distance of about three miles after leaving Deerfield meadow, Lathrop's march lay through a very level country, closely wooded, where he was every moment exposed to an attack on either flank; at the termination of this distance,

near the south point of Sugar-loaf Hill, the road approximated Connecticut river, and the left was in some measure protected. At the village now called Muddy Brook, in the southernly part of Deerfield, the road crossed a small stream, bordered by a narrow morass, from which the village has its name; though more appropriately it should be denominated Bloody Brook, by which it was for some time known.

"Before arriving at the point of intersection with the brook, the road for about half a mile ran parallel to the morass, then crossing, it continued to the south point of Sugar-loaf Hill, traversing what is now the home-lots, on the east side of the village. As the morass was thickly covered with brush, the place of crossing afforded a favorable point for surprise.

"On discovering Lathrop's march, a body of upward of seven hundred Indians planted themselves in ambuscade at this point, and lay eagerly waiting to pounce upon him while passing the morass. Without scanning the woods in his front and flanks, or suspecting the snare laid for him, Lathrop arrived at the fatal spot, crossed the morass with the principal part of his force, and halted to allow time for his team's to drag through their loads. The critical moment had arrived the Indians instantly poured a heavy and destructive fire upon the column, and rushed furiously to close attack. Confusion and dismay succeeded. The troops broke and scattered, fiercely pursued by the Indians, whose great superiority enabled them to attack at all points. Hopeless was the situation of the scattered troops, and they resolved to sell their lives in a vigorous struggle.

·

6

'Covering themselves with trees, the bloody conflict now became a severe trial of skill in sharp shooting, in which life was the stake. Difficult would it be to describe the havoc, barbarity and misery that ensued. Fury raged, and shuddering pity quit the sanguine field,' while desperation stood pitted at fearful odds,' to unrelenting ferocity.

"The dead, the dying, the wounded, strewed the ground in all directions, and Lathrop's devoted force was soon reduced to a small number, and resistance became faint. At length the unequal struggle terminated in the annihilation of nearly the whole of the English; only seven or