Then through that long and mystic reed,
Emblem of many a sacred deed,
Three solemn draughts the monarch drew,
And the smoke in three directions blew.
“When they smoke, the first puff is upward, intended for the Great Spirit, as an act of homage to him; the next is to their mother earth, whence they derive their corn and other sustenance; the third is horizontal, expressive of their good-will to their fellow men.”—Dr. Morse’s Indian Report.
[[NOTE 11—CANTO SECOND, SECT. XIII.]]
The voice of Powhatan was law.
“He nor any of his people understand any letters whereby to write or read; only the laws whereby he ruleth is custome. Yet when he listeth, his will is a law and must be obeyed. Not only as a king, but as half a God they esteme him. His inferior kings, whom they call werowances, are tyed to rule by customes, and have power of life and death at their command in that nature.
“They all know their severall lands, and habitations, and limits, to fish, foule, or hunt in, but they hold all of their great werowance Powhatan, unto whom they pay tribute of skinnes, beads, copper, pearle, deere, turkies, wild beasts, and corne. What he commandeth they dare not disobey in the least thing. It is strange to see with what great fear and adoration all these people doe obey this Powhatan. For at his feete they present whatsoever he commandeth, and at the least frown of his brow their greatest spirits will tremble with fear: and no marvell, for he is very terrible and tyrannous in punishing such as offend him.”—Captain John Smith.
[[NOTE 12—CANTO THIRD, SECT. III.]]
Of all the knights of England,
That ever in armor shone,
The boldest and the truest heart
Was that of brave Sir John.
He had pass’d through perils on the land,
And perils on the sea,
And oftentimes confronted death
In Gaul and Germany;
And many a Transylvanian
Could point to the spot and show
Where the boldest of the Turkish knights
Were by his hand laid low.
And when confined in dungeons,
Or driven as a slave,
The rescue, that his own arm brought,
Proved well Sir John was brave.
The following brief biographical sketch of Capt. John Smith is quoted in Burk’s Virginia, as from “a late American biographer;” [probably Belknap.]
“He was born at Willoughby, in Lincolnshire [England] in the year one thousand five hundred and seventy-nine. From the first dawn of reason he discovered a roving and romantic genius, and delighted in extravagant and daring actions among his school-fellows. When about thirteen years of age, he sold his books and satchel, and his puerile trinkets, to raise money, with a view to convey himself privately to sea; but the death of his father put a stop for the present to this attempt, and threw him into the hands of guardians, who endeavored to check the ardor of his genius, by confining him to a compting house. Being put apprentice to a merchant at Lynn, at the age of fifteen, he at first conceived hopes that his master would send him to sea in his service; but this hope failing, he quitted his master, and with only ten shillings in his pocket, entered into the train of a young nobleman who was travelling to France.