Chapter 3

AAND what now of Smith in England? Neither in Plymouth nor in London did he succeed in getting backers to send him to New England although the Pilgrims studied his maps and books. He wanted to go along with them but he was considered too expensive and too headstrong a companion for such stern settlers. Again he poured out his enthusiasm into another book, for only his pen could keep busy, but that, like his tongue, was no lagger. The man himself remained unemployed and unimportant, for his betters had no idea of letting worth be as recognized as birth. What had he got for exploring and advising for New England?

AND what now of Smith in England? Neither in Plymouth nor in London did he succeed in getting backers to send him to New England although the Pilgrims studied his maps and books. He wanted to go along with them but he was considered too expensive and too headstrong a companion for such stern settlers. Again he poured out his enthusiasm into another book, for only his pen could keep busy, but that, like his tongue, was no lagger. The man himself remained unemployed and unimportant, for his betters had no idea of letting worth be as recognized as birth. What had he got for exploring and advising for New England?

He began to brood about what Virginia owed him for his risks and services. Land had been the only wages of the London Company and he was not in Virginia to stake his claims. In May 1621 he appealed to the company court and reminded them that he had risked money and peril of his life for the good of the Plantation. He had built up Jamestown, and had given five years of his life at great risk to establish Virginia, and he had spent five hundred pounds of his scant estate in the effort. Surely now he deserved remuneration either from the local treasury or from the general Virginia profit in England—but he got none. The London Company's affairs were not in good shape in either place and the massacre of 1622 made them worse. Incensed at this latest blow to his colony, Smith rashly volunteered to rush to their aid with a small army.

In all of his far-flung adventures there was nothing so satisfying to him as this colony which he had founded. Raleigh had named Virginia, while he had named New England, but Virginia was his first love, and he much preferred her sporting plantersand adventurers to the pious and thrifty townsmen of New England. If there was a woman in his life, it was Virginia—not Pocahontas nor any other. Virginia had never got out of his blood. He dreamed of cementing the two coasts on one map, but this, like his every proposition, was turned down.

Rebuffed, he brought out a revised edition of hisNew England's Trials, and expressed his love of the American outpost eloquently, "I may call them my children for they have been my wife, hawks, my hounds, my dice and in total my best content, as indifferent to my heart as my left hand to my right." As a patroness for his handsome bookThe General Historiein 1624, the Duchess of Richmond came to his aid.

Smith had important male backers of his literary works now, if not of explorations. When he wrote theSeaman's Grammarin 1629, Sir Samuel Saltonstall was the backer. Among his friends was a collector and scientist whose house was called "Tradescant's Ark." If he had not been close to Smith how could his collection include Powhatan's discarded robe, Indian combs, rattles, bows and arrows, feathered crowns and tobacco pipes? Smith even willed him a fourth of his library.

Smith'sTrue Travelsappeared in 1629, and the incredible tale of his adventures read well to Londoners who were disturbed with financial depression and with the plague besides.

In order to escape the plague Smith spent much time in the country near Essex in the hospitable home of Sir Humphrey Mildmay. Mildmay dubbed his wife "the old woman," and he often escaped his family with the boisterous and masculine Smith to roam his fields, to hunt, fish, dice and drink. His six children delighted in their tarrying visitor, but Smith often eluded the happy and hearty family to write history in his own room. The huge home had wings, and it was set in a shady grove from which he could see London, thirty miles away, on clear days. He did not tarry there indefinitely being sometimes impatient for London itself where he also had a room in Saltonstall's house.

Yes, he had patronizing friends, but he was alone in his frustrated hopes. He had been so far and done so much as aleader of men whether they admitted it or not, and as such he was a being apart. He had been so as an adolescent who had lost his father by death, his mother by marriage, who had quit school and master as well as home. As an adult he had left country, colony and yet another colony, and when he wanted them back they had not wanted him. Finally, he was lonely because he had risen above his class in society without ever feeling secure among his betters in spite of their hospitality to an entertaining explorer and literary notable. Smith was ever without a home of his own, if never without a hope.

As time went on while the hands of benevolent ladies helped him over hurdles, men were usually the ones beside him, if not back of him. He could visit for months at a time as at the Mildmay's or for years as at Saltonstall's.

It was at the latter house that he died suddenly at the age of fifty-one. He had made arrangements for a dignified burial, knowing that others would not make it what it should be—before history inevitably brought him into his own. Where Shakespeare willed arms, he, Smith, the hero of legends as well as the author of them, willed books—of which he had written many and read more. An epitaph in brass extolled his feats: the victory over the three Turks; and the claim, that he had "dispersed the heathen like smoke" and made their land "a habitation for a Christian nation." Because he was buried there, St. Sepulchre's would become a shrine even as St. George's has.

Regardless of the fact that Pocahontas married John Rolfe, the public unites her name rather with that of Smith. The three make up an integral triangle. Each lived briefly, but intensely, Pocahontas passing first in the springtime of her life. Rolfe had wanted to take care of her, giving her protection, and glory in both of their countries, and proud descendants. He was more than just her husband. The poet Stephen Vincent Benet puts it:

"You may think of him as Pocahontas' husband,He was rather more than that and his seed still lives,And we would do well to fence the small plot of garden,Where, in hose and doublet, he planted the Indian weed."[1]

For all of his practical ability, fate allowed him neither to take care of her nor of himself. He met violent death at the hands of her people, dying in her country just as she had gone first in his, for neither was able to survive an alien way of life.

Although Smith adventured valiantly for God, and Rolfe persuaded himself that he had married the Indian maid to save her soul more than her heart, Pocahontas, the purer spirit, transcends both.

The spirit of Pocahontas broods yet on her own side of the great salt waters. Her dust rests out of place at St. George's Church on the Thames, even if it is named the "Chapel of Unity" for all faiths, because of her peaceable heart.

"Pocahontas' body, lovely as a poplar, sweet as a red haw in November or a paw-paw in May ..." mused the poet Carl Sandburg. "Did she wonder? Does she remember ... in the dust, in the cool tombs?"[2]She lives, believed the poet Vachel Lindsay, in the waving corn, and in her spiritual descendants, the American people. She lives still in the blood of some Americans, but for longer in her poignant tale, whose true red hue has not paled through the years.

Historical Background

The story of the rescue of America's prime folk-hero, John Smith, by Pocahontas, America's most appealing heroine, fills such a patriotic need that it would have been fabricated had it been untrue. It passed for sure history for two hundred and thirty-six years, except for the feeble denial of Thomas Fuller in hisWorthies of England.[1]Smith held his own word to be the first and last about history and himself. Yet now the howling squabble over his merits, never hushed in his time, flairs again after three centuries.

In 1860 Charles Deane of Massachusetts asked why Smith had concealed the story for sixteen years.[2]Henry Adams, while he bowed to Pocahontas as the most romantic figure in American history, and as the visiting celebrity of 1616 in England, stepped up to Deane's standard,[3]as did William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay,[4]and the Southern scholar, Alexander Brown.[5]

But William Wirt Henry,[6]Mrs. Mary Newton Stanard,[7]and Lyon G. Tyler[8]remained fast friends of the cherished tale. Edward Arber, themost careful editor of Smith's work, accepts it.[9]John Fiske points out that the printed text of theTrue Relationwas incomplete for Smith had written much which his editor in London omitted as "fit to be printed."[10]Allan Nevins, inThe Gateway to History, suggests that Smith may have told the story in 1608.[11]Mrs. Stanard[12]and William Wirt Henry[13]also stress this fact. Edward Channing assails the story[14]but Charles M. Andrews accepts it.[15]Many more writers contend that Smith may have deliberately kept the story dark in order that possible new colonists might not be frightened. The tale was not denied when it was told to Smith's contemporaries in 1624.

Many public school teachers have taken the middle ground that the story is almost indispensable and is probably true. Bradford Smith, whose biography of Captain John Smith is notable among a score on the subject, declares that there is not a scrap of evidence to disprove the narrative, and many reasons to establish it.[16]Without the story it would be hard to explain why Powhatan spared Smith since, according to Smith, two Indians had been killed.[17]It was customary for a chief's daughter to be allowed the life of a favorite captive. Juan Ortiz had been saved twice in this manner near Tampa, Florida, nearly a century before.

While Smith is considered a boastful liar by Alexander Brown and others, he still has not only reluctant admirers but fervent defenders among historians. Matthew Page Andrews admitted: "Than Smith there hasbeen no more daring adventurer in English history."[18]Say Henry Steele Commager and Allan Nevins inThe Heritage of America, a source history for Virginia's high schools: "He was a figure worthy of the English race which found in him the first great American representative.... Smith was worth all the others put together."[19]

The public has been inclined to couple the Indian maiden's name with that of John Smith, more than with that of John Rolfe. But this present author's point that Pocahontas did not know that Smith was still alive when she married Rolfe, and that she was still in love with Smith, is unusual. However, it is not original. It has been taken in some plays and short stories. William Wirt Henry's address before the Virginia Historical Society in 1882 and Samuel Purchas'sPilgrimage[20]suggest that Smith could have married her had he so desired. This book is presented as a probable story rather than as documented history.

The Pocahontas-John Smith Storyis most stoutly defended not by historians, nor even patriotic societies, but by poets, dramatists, and idealistic youth, who think that it is theirs, and by descendants, who know that it is theirs. The line is utterly Virginian be it in blood or ink from the Pocahontas, who like Will Rogers's ancestors "met the boat" to the Pocahontas who wrote the book. And so I sign here

Pocahontas Wight Edmunds.

Halifax, Virginia,April, 1956.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]Thomas Fuller,The History of the Worthies of England(John Nichols, ed.; London, 1811), I, 189.

[2]Charles Deane (ed.), "Edward Maria Wingfield, 'A Discourse of Virginia,'"Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society, IV (1860), 92-95n.

[3]Henry Adams, "Captaine John Smith, Sometime Governour in Virginia and Admirall of New England,"Chapters of Erie and Other Essaysby Henry Adams and Charles F. Adams, Jr. (Boston: J. R. Osgood & Company, 1871), pp. 192-224.

[4]William Cullen Bryant and Sydney Howard Gay,A Popular History of the United States(New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1885-1886), I, 282-283.

[5]Alexander Brown,The Genesis of the United States(Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1890), II, 1006-1010;The First Republic in America(Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1898), pp. 56-57, 469n.

[6]William Wirt Henry, "The Settlement at Jamestown With Particular Reference to the Late Attacks Upon Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and John Rolfe,"Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society at the Annual Meeting, February 24, 1882(Richmond: 1882).

[7]Mary Newton Stanard,The Story of Virginia's First Century(Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1928), p. 47.

[8]Lyon G. Tyler,Narratives of Early Virginia, 1606-1625(New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1907), p. 28.

[9]Edward Arber (ed.),Travels and Works of Captain John Smith(Edinburgh: J. Grant, 1910), I, xiv-xv.

[10]John Fiske,Old Virginia and Her Neighbours(Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1897), I, 103-108.

[11]Allan Nevins,The Gateway to History(New York: D. Appleton-Century Co., 1938), pp. 139, 150.

[12]Stanard,op. cit., p. 48.

[13]Henry,loc. cit.

[14]Edward Channing,History of the United States(New York: The Macmillan Co., 1925), I, 174.

[15]Charles M. Andrews,The Colonial Period of American History(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934), I, 142n.

[16]Bradford Smith,Captain John Smith, His Life and Legend(Philadelphia and New York: Lippincott, 1953), p. 118.

[17]John Smith, "The Generall Historie of Virginia, New England, and the Summer Isles, 1624,"Travels and Works of Captain John Smith(Edward Arber, ed.; Edinburgh: J. Grant, 1910), II, 395.

[18]Matthew Page Andrews,Virginia, the Old Dominion(New York: Doubleday, Doran, and Company, Inc., 1937), p. 42.

[19]Henry Steele Commager and Allan Nevins, (eds.),The Heritage of America(Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939), p. 23.

[20]Samuel Purchas,Purchas His Pilgrimage(London: 1614), pp. 764-765.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adams, Henry, "Captain John Smith, Sometime Governour in Virginia and Admirall of New England,"Chapters of Erie and Other Essaysby Henry Adams and Charles Francis Adams, Jr. Boston: J. R. Osgood and Company, 1871, pp. 192-224.

Andrews, Charles M.,The Colonial Period of American History, 4 Vols. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1934-1938.

Andrews, Matthew Page,Virginia, the Old Dominion. New York: Doubleday, Doran and Company, Inc., 1937.

Arber, Edward (ed.),Travels and Works of Captain John Smith. 2 Vols. Edinburgh: J. Grant, 1910.

Benet, Stephen Vincent,Western Star. New York and Toronto: Farrar and Rinehart, Inc., 1943.

Brown, Alexander,The First Republic in America. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1898.

Brown, Alexander,The Genesis of the United States. 2 Vols. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1890.

Brown, Alexander,English Politics in Early Virginia History. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1907.

Bryant, William Cullen, and Gay, Sydney Howard,A Popular History of the United States. 4 Vols. New York: Scribner, Armstrong and Company, 1885-1886.

Channing, Edward,History of the United States. 6 Vols. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921-1926.

Commager, Henry Steele, and Nevins, Allan (eds.),The Heritage of America. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1939.

Davis, J. E.,Round About Jamestown. Hampton, Va., 1907.

Deane, Charles (ed.), "Edward Maria Wingfield, A Discourse of Virginia."Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society.IV, 1860, 69-103.

Early, R. H.,Byways of Virginia History. Richmond, Va.: Everett Waddey, 1907.

Fiske, John,Old Virginia and Her Neighbours. 2 Vols. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1897.

Forman, Henry Chandler,Jamestown and St. Mary's: Buried Cities of Romance. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1938.

Fuller, Thomas,The History of the Worthies of England(John Nichols, ed.). 4 Vols. London: 1811.

Garnett, David,Pocahontas. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co., 1933.

Goodwin, Rutherfoord,A Brief History and Guidebook to Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. Richmond, Va.: Cottrell and Cook, Inc., 1930.

Gwathmey, John Hastings,The Love Affairs of Captain John Smith. Richmond, Va.: Dietz, 1935.

Hatch, Charles A.,The Oldest Legislative Assembly in America and its First State House. National Park Service, Series: History, No. 2.

Henry, William Wirt, "The Settlement at Jamestown, with Particular Reference to the Late Attacks Upon Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and John Rolfe."Proceedings of the Virginia Historical Society at the Annual Meeting, February 24, 1882.Richmond, 1882.

Kester, Vaughan,John O' Jamestown. Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1913.

Leighton, Margaret,The Sword and the Compass. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1951.

Marshall, Edison,Great Smith. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1943.

Nevins, Allan,The Gateway to History. New York: D. Appleton-Century Company, 1938.

Page, Thos. Nelson,Address. Richmond, Va.: Whittet and Shepperson, Printers, 1919.

Purchas, Samuel,Purchas His Pilgrimage. London, 1614.

Robertson, Wyndham,Pocahontas and Her Descendants. Richmond, Va.: J. W. Randolph and English, 1887.

Rolfe, John,A True Relation of the State of Virginia. New Haven: Yale Press, 1951.

Sandburg, Carl,Complete Poems. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1950.Cornhuskers.Henry Holt and Company, 1918.

Schlesinger, Arthur,A History of American Life. 12 Vols. New York: The Macmillan and Company, 1927-1944.

Smith, Bradford,Captain John Smith, His Life and Legend. Philadelphia and New York: Lippincott, 1953.

Stanard, Mary Newton,The Story of Virginia's First Century. Philadelphia and London: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1928.

Tyler, Lyon G.,Narratives of Early Virginia, 1606-1625. New York: C. Scribner's Sons, 1907.

Wayland, John W.,History of Virginia for Boys and Girls. New York: Macmillan and Company, 1938.

Wertenbaker, Thomas J.,The First Americans. New York: Macmillan and Company, 1927.

Willis, Carrie, and Saunders, Lucy S.,The Story of Virginia. New York, N. Y.: Newson, 1950.

Comments on Biographies

ByMrs. Edmunds and the late H. J. Eckenrode

Of Rutherford B. Hayes, first volume of Dodd, Mead and Company'sAmerican Political Leaders. New York, 1930:

"If the series maintains the standard of this first volume it will be a landmark in American letters and scholarship. An excellent book, interesting and convincing, sane and balanced."

James Truslow Adams,Editor ofDictionary of American Biography.

"A fascinating biography, scholarly, brilliant, entertaining and illuminating."

Claude Bowers, Noted Historian and Ambassador.

"She contributed several of the early chapters which are sprightly and engrossing."

Virginius Dabney, Editor and Author.

Of E. H. Harriman,The Little Giant of Wall Street, Greenberg. New York, 1933:

"Mrs. Edmunds and Dr. Eckenrode have the gift of breathing life into those they treat and I particularly like their force of style."

Allan Nevins, Noted Historian.

"Excellent capitalist lore"

Review in theWorld Telegram.

Of Mrs. Edmunds,Legends of the North Carolina Coast, Garrett and Massie. Richmond, Va., 1941:

"Mrs. Edmunds's style is good."

Dubose Heyward, Author ofPorgy.

"Charming book ... written with poetic fervor, brief and evocative."

New York Herald-Tribune Book Review.

"Written with craftsmanship and genuine artistry."

The Atlanta Journal.

"Written with lyrical beauty and a fine sense of selection."

Greensboro News.

"Interesting new book...."

Douglas Freeman, Editor and Author.

Of Mrs. Edmunds,Tales of the Virginia Coast, Dietz Press. Richmond, Va., 1950:

"A fine and useful piece of writing."

Laura Krey, Author of:And Tell of Time.

TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation have been retained from the original.

Obvious typographical errors in the original have been corrected as follows:

Page 15:sportmens'changed tosportsmen'sPage 18:coolychanged tocoollyPage 37:fastidouslychanged tofastidiouslyPage 68:(Boston: J. R. Osgood & Company, 18713changed to(Boston: J. R. Osgood & Company, 1871)Page 70:Refgrencechanged toReference

Punctuation has been corrected without note.

Footnote anchors exist on page64, but no footnotes exist in the original.

Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

Back to Index Next