He confided to Argall

fore stated was friendly to the white men. and Rolfe that the beloved and beautiful daughter of Powhatan was in his territories in a place of concealment, known only to a few trusty friends. It immediately occurred to Argall that this circumstance might be turned to advantage. With Pocahontas in his power he had no doubt that he could effect a peace, and even dictate terms to Powhatan. Accordingly he resolved to obtain possession of her person. To this end he invoked the aid of his friend Japazaws. It required little address to prevail upon the simple-hearted sachem, and Argall crowned the argument and secured his zealous co-operation by the present of a large copper kettle.

Japazaws undertook to induce Pocahontas to go aboard Argall's boat this was the part assigned to him. He prevailed upon his wife to affect an extreme curiosity to see the English vessel, and the sachem yielded to her entreaties, after much apparent reluctance, on the condition that Pocahontas should accompany her. The princess, unsuspecting any danger, and desirous of gratifying her friend's curiosity, consented to go on board. They were received by the Englishman with due honour and conducted to the cabin, where an entertainment had been prepared for them. After they had partaken of this, Argall led the princess into the gun-room on pretence of shewing her the vessel, but in reality to declare his purpose in the absence of Japazaws, in whose eyes even now the copper kettle had lost somewhat of its attractions, as his kindly heart began to reproach him for the part he had borne in the transaction. Here Argall informed Pocahontas that she must accompany him to the colony. This was a proceeding for which she was wholly unprepared; and, though the intelligence was communicated to her with the utmost kindness of phrase and manner, she was greatly shocked, and, lifting up her voice, she wept bitterly. They were overheard by Japazaws and his wife, who, guessing what was the matter, were terribly afflicted, and actually howled with sorrow.

However, the gentle Pocahontas soon recovered her composure, finding herself treated with the greatest kindness and respect. The prospect of restoring peace filled her benevolent spirit with pleasure, and contributed to restore her cheerfulness, so that she even seemed happy in turning her face towards the English colony; whereupon Japazaws and his wife, relieved from their anxiety and self-accusation, took up the copper kettle, and, with a few toys and trinkets, returned gaily to their wigwam.

The singular beauty of Pocahontas was equalled by the loveliness of her disposition. On the passage to Jamestown, her gentle and affectionate character had secured the regard of all those by whom she was surrounded. Rolfe in particular was completely fascinated. The beauty, the dignity, the sensibility, the intelligence of this savage girl took him entirely by surprise. He had heard of the general attractiveness of the Indian women, but was not prepared to expect without the pale of civilization the refinement and intellectual graces that he found in Pocahontas. The circumstances of her history also served to enhance the interest she had awakened in the heart of Rolfe. She had saved his countryman from a hideous death; she had interposed on several subsequent occasions at the risk of her life and the loss of her father's favour to save the lives of the colonists; and she now, uncomplaining of her situation, unreproaching

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for the treachery that led to it, was journeying to a strange place, cheered by the thought that it was for her captor's good.

Rolfe accordingly sought her society on every occasion, and made no secret of his admiration, which, however, was tempered with that respect that the character of the princess naturally inspired. It soon became evident, on the other hand, that his attentions were not thrown away on the princess. A certain similarity of feeling and nature formed a mutual attraction between these two children of opposite hemispheres. Rolfe was a man of refined and intellectual tastes, and had all the courage, sensibility, and truth that distinguished the Indian girl. Each occasion that brought them together, elicited more and more the points of harmony between their characters, and before many days had passed at Jamestown, they became ardently attached.

Shortly after his arrival at the colony, Argall dispatched a message to Powhatan, acquainting him with the situation of his daughter, and desiring that the English prisoners, together with all the swords, tools, &c. which had been taken from the colonists, should be immediately delivered up as her ransom. His daughter's captivity threw Powhatan into great affliction, but he was so incensed at the rudeness of Argall's message, that it remained unnoticed for three months. At the end of that time, at the instance of his council, he liberated seven of his prisoners, and sent them to Jamestown with some guns and swords, and a load of corn. They were instructed to demand the liberation of the princess, on condition of a perpetual peace, and a supply of five hundred bushels of corn. These conditions were at once rejected, and the emperor was informed that he must not expect to see his daughter until all the prisoners and arms in his possession were delivered up.

This ungracious message was met with a still longer silence than the last, and after the lapse of several months, a party of the colonists, amounting to one hundred and fifty, undertook an expedition to Werowocomoco. Pocahontas accompanied them, and I need hardly say Rolfe was of the number. On reaching Powhatan's residence, they found the Indians drawn up to oppose their progress, and an encounter took place, with some loss on both sides. Night coming on, a truce was concluded for forty-eight hours, and the following morning two of the brothers of Pocahontas came to see

her.

The brothers having learned from the princess how honourable and kind her treatment had been, went away highly satisfied, and promising to use all their endeavours to bring about a satisfactory arrangement between the parties. They were accompanied by Rolfe and another Englishman, who were desirous of paying their respects to the emperor. Rolfe had his own reasons for this, which I leave

the reader to divine.

The Englishmen were somewhat annoyed at not being admitted to the presence of the king. Powhatan was not sufficiently appeased to admit of this, but they were honourably received by his brother Opechancanough, and after some conversation upon general matters, Rolfe took an opportunity of declaring the state of his feelings to their entertainer, and requested him to convey to Powhatan his proposals for the hand of the princess.

Powhatan had been previously apprised of the state of the case by his sons, who had brought very favourable reports of the English, and especially of Rolfe: the deep and honourable affection he entertained for Pocahontas, and the high consideration and respectful treatment she had uniformly experienced from all the colonists during her stay at Jamestown. Powhatan was, therefore, disposed to give a very favourable hearing to the request now proffered from Rolfe through Opechancanough, and the latter returned in a short time to his guests with the king's consent and approval.

The whole party then returned to Jamestown, where the marriage between Rolfe and Pocahontas was shortly after celebrated; the king sending his sons to attend the ceremony, empowered to do, on his behalf, all that was necessary for the confirmation thereof.

This marriage had the happy effect of establishing a profound harmony between the colonists and the Indians: from this time, until the death of the king in 1618, nothing occurred to disturb the peace enjoyed by both parties.

And was Pocahontas happy? Had the grand peut-être of a woman's career resulted in her case in weal or woe? Was the simplicity and freedom of her Indian life compensated by the refinement and regularity of an English existence? In the silent watches of the night, when memory renewed the past, did thoughts of the haunts she had abandoned, the habits she had laid aside, the sacred ties of her tribe that she had severed for ever,-did these come back upon her mournfully, and suggest a coming day when those haunts should be deserted of their red proprietors, those habits known only as recollections of barbarism, and those ties, that she had been the first to break, forgotten with the gentle beings they once united ?

No such forebodings visited Pocahontas. Now that peace was secured between the Red-man and the English, her trusting, sanguine spirit saw nothing to dread beyond, -no foreshadowings of the sad destiny that awaited her race. For herself, the haven was won, the storms over; her life had found its appointed shelter in the true affections of an English husband. Her days passed pleasantly in acquiring the manners and language of the people she had adopted. The last she mastered in an incredibly short space of time, nor must we omit to record that she was the first Christian native of Virginia. Her pure, free spirit was an apt recipient of those divine doctrines, whose influence she saw so admirably exhibited in the daily life of the excellent man to whom she had joined her fate.

Her new acquaintances called her the Lady Rebecca.

In 1616 she and her husband accompanied the governor, Sir Thomas Dale, to England. On her arrival, Smith hastened to see her. The extreme sensibility of her nature is shewn by her emotions at the interview. She was completely overwhelmed by her feelings: a tide of powerful associations rushed upon her mind, she covered her face with her hands and burst into tears. For a long time she remained unable to speak. When at last she found words, it was to express her gratitude to Smith for all the kindness she had experienced at the hands of his countrymen.

Smith used every means in his power to obtain for Pocahontas a flattering reception in London. He addressed a letter to the queen, containing a history of her life, and detailing all the occasions on

which she had saved the lives of his Majesty's subjects, his own among the rest, and requesting the queen to take some notice of a person to whom the English colonists owed so many obligations. Queen Anne had some difficulty in complying with the exigence of this letter, for her whimsical husband had taken offence with Rolfe for presuming to marry the daughter of a king, and he was at first inclined to forbid his presence and that of his wife at Court; however, through the negociation of the queen, the affair passed off with some little murmuring, and the princess was received at the palace, where she was treated by the queen, and even by the king, with the most marked attention. This example was followed by most of the nobility, and Pocahontas found herself fêted and lionized to an immense and, indeed, rather disagreeable extent. She was, however, duly grateful for the universal kindness bestowed upon her, and, on the other hand, her entertainers were unanimously fain to acknowledge that the brightest of their circles could not shew one more refined, more dignified, more attractive than Rolfe's Virginian bride.

Pocahontas had now been a year in England, but though tolerably acclimated, and entirely reconciled to English manners and habits, she yearned to revisit her native land. A profound presentiment, also, arose within her at this time, which she imparted to her husband. She felt she had not long to live,—she heard the still, small summons of the Great Spirit; and that desire, so strong among the Indians, "to lay their bones with those of their people," urged Pocahontas to cross the Atlantic without delay.

Argall was just at this time preparing to return to Virginia, and the treasurer and council of the colony ordered suitable accommodation to be provided for Rolfe and the princess on board the admiral's ship. All was prepared, and Pocahontas, having taken leave of her kind friends, repaired to Greenwich previous to embarkation. But not on Atlantic waters is her voyage to be, nor may she again behold the "Evening Land" with him she loves by her side, Alone,-alone she must cross the dark waves of death, to that "undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns."

In a chamber at Greenwich, whose window looked towards the west, Pocahontas closed her brief career of two-and-twenty summers, by a death in which Indian fortitude was beautifully blended with Christian resignation. The sun was setting over the land of her fathers; its last beams flung a golden line along the Thames, fell athwart the casement, and rested on her bed. A heavenly smile came over the failing eyes of Pocahontas as she carried them along that path of rays, that seemed to connect her with the declining orb. 'Twas but a moment, and the sun was gone. In that moment her gentle spirit passed away!

PICTURES AND PAINTERS.

You ask me, my dear M—, to let you know, from time to time, what we are doing in Art in England,-what advances we make as a distinct school laying claim to other merits than mere colour,—what additions we obtain for our National Gallery,-what great sales take place at Christie's and at Phillips's,-what progress is made in a knowledge of the resources of fresco-painting,-what new prints of merit have appeared since you left us, now some five years ago, to pursue your favourite art in that Paradise for painters the Sistine Chapel,-and what new books upon art have been published likely to remain authorities upon the subject. You have set me a task,-not an unpleasant one, indeed, but one that will require rather a long letter to contain all the gossip I should like to give you upon the subject. I will, however, write as fully as I can to you, and shall expect in return that you will let me know from Naples, where you now are, (amid all their bloodshed and disturbances,) how reviving art advances in Italy; and whether you see any prospect of another artist arising likely to rival Correggio, whose two fine works in the Museum at Naples ("La Zingarella" and "The Marriage of St. Catherine") you tell me you have copied with as much fidelity and spirit as you are master of.

The first art exhibition of the London season is, as you will perhaps remember, invariably the collection of modern masters at the British Institution. I have a very distinct recollection of what the exhibition was like. It was only an average collection at the best. Except a large and, in some respects, a clever picture by Sir George Hayter, of "Joseph interpreting the Dream of the Chief-Baker," there was little or nothing attempted in the higher style. The large body of the collection was painted for chance purchasers, or the certain resources of the Art Union. Many of the old exhibitors were absent,-Etty and Edwin Landseer for instance, and the collection was chiefly supported by the pencils of a younger race, some already known, and others deserving to be known. Stanfield exhibited a "Saw Mill at Saardam," very unlike his usual manner, and though certainly effective, somewhat wooden in its treatment. Lance had some gorgeous fruit-pieces, worthy of Van Huysum, or Van Os, or of Mrs. Margetts; Sidney Cooper (CowCooper, as he is called, to distinguish him from Abraham, who is known as Horse-Cooper) contributed a Cuyp-like cow piece, warmer in colour than you will recollect his manner to have been; F. Goodall (your old friend the engraver's son) sent a clever interior entitled "The Irish Piper," painted in the sharp, pearly manner of Teniers and of Wilkie's first style, a manner I prefer to the Ostade or the Mieris school; and the best landscape in the exhibition (since bought by Sir Robert Peel) was a view of Snowdon from near Tremadoc, the work of young Mr. Danby. I cannot tell you how fine I thought it at the time, (only perhaps a little too yellow,) and how vividly the whole scene (so suggestively treated) remains, as it were, unmistakably before me. It is the art of investing a landscape with poetry that makes the very great artist, and exalts him above all your careful copyists of the mere scene before them. Claude was unequalled in poetical landscape. Richard Wilson was another great master in this way. Stanfield, and Roberts,