Dudley and his fair companion having transported
over, in the ve&longs;&longs;el with them&longs;elves, the
frame, and every material nece&longs;&longs;ary to form a complete
habitation, immediately on landing, employed
workmen to &longs;et it up; but the cold coming on more
rapidly than they expected, but little progre&longs;s could

[figure description] Page 140.[end figure description]

be made that winter, and Arrabella &longs;uffered much inconvenience
from the want of tho&longs;e indulgencies to
which, from her birth, &longs;he had been accu&longs;tomed. But
&longs;he was not a woman to complain for trifles, or, having
once embarked in a cau&longs;e, ea&longs;ily to be frighted from
pur&longs;uing it.

The inclemency of the winter was accordingly pa&longs;&longs;ed
over with patience, and as &longs;oon as the enlivening &longs;un relaxed
the &longs;prings and called the tender herbage forth,
two apartments in their new hou&longs;e being rendered habitable,
&longs;he exerted her utmo&longs;t endeavours to add a degree
of neatne&longs;s and elegance to what was ab&longs;olutely
nece&longs;&longs;ary for comfort. All the accompli&longs;hments &longs;he
po&longs;&longs;e&longs;&longs;ed, were at her lei&longs;ure hours exerted to embellish
and render their dwelling plea&longs;ant. It was situated
above ten miles from the &longs;ea.

Dudley had, on his fir&longs;t arrival, purcha&longs;ed a large
tract of uncultivated land. Having got a &longs;mall portion
of it clear, immediately &longs;urrounding his habitation,
Arrabella, both by her ta&longs;te, and knowledge in
agriculture, a&longs;&longs;i&longs;ted in rendering it at once plea&longs;ant
and &longs;erviceable. Part of it was converted into a
kitchen garden, to the cultivation of which Arrabella
was particularly attentive. With her own hands
would &longs;he weed, water, or tran&longs;plant the young vegetables;
and having &longs;own a few flower &longs;eeds which &longs;he
had brought with her from Europe, the watching a
plant as it advanced in growth, or a bud as it gradually
di&longs;clo&longs;ed the opening flower, afforded her the
mo&longs;t innocent &longs;atisfaction; and from this con&longs;tant attention
to her garden, &longs;he gleaned at once employment,
health and amu&longs;ement.

But Arrabella did not neglect her needle; and
when the en&longs;uing year produced them a &longs;mall quantity
of flax from their own land, with what exulting
pride did &longs;he purcha&longs;e a wheel, and &longs;et about manufacturing
it into linen for her family u&longs;e!

Delightful age of primitive &longs;implicity, when the
mother of a numerous family did not blu&longs;h (though
&longs;urrounded by affluence) to &longs;et the example of industry
to her daughters; when &longs;he would pre&longs;ide among&longs;t

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them, whil&longs;t they were converting the produce of
their father's flocks and fields into clothing for the
family. And with what a laudable pride did &longs;he look
round on her hu&longs;band, her children and &longs;ervants, and
&longs;ay, “That cloth, that linen, tho&longs;e gowns, are all of
our own manufacturing.”

Their wants were few, and tho&longs;e few were amply
&longs;upplied; plenty pre&longs;ided at their board, and cheerfulness
was a con&longs;tant inmate in their dwellings. But
indolence introduced luxury with her innumerable
train of artificial wants. Though at fir&longs;t repul&longs;ed,
&longs;till would the forcere&longs;s return, varying her &longs;hape to
gain her favourite point; to pride, &longs;he took the form
of nece&longs;&longs;ity; to the voluptuous, &longs;he wore the &longs;emblance
of indulgence; to each &longs;he appeared in &longs;ome &longs;eductive
form, and none but the truly indu&longs;trious hand and
contented heart could bid defiance to her arts. Alas!
the number was but &longs;mall that e&longs;caped the contagion
&longs;he &longs;pread through all ranks of people, till at length
the fa&longs;cination became univer&longs;al. By her magic power
&longs;he threw a mi&longs;t over the di&longs;cerning optics of even
the mo&longs;t rational; they &longs;aw not the deformity &longs;he
concealed under her gorgeous robe, but blindly worshipped,
whil&longs;t &longs;he led them to the very brink of ruin.

A few years rendered the habitation of Dudley and
Arrabella extremely delightful, and, added to other
numerous comforts and ble&longs;&longs;ings which they enjoyed,
was a ri&longs;ing family of beautiful children. How did
this family at once increa&longs;e the plea&longs;ures and the cares
of their re&longs;pectable mother! Anxious not only for their
pre&longs;ent but future happine&longs;s, &longs;he laboured to cultivate
their under&longs;tandings, and point out to them &longs;ources of
mental plea&longs;ure, that would delightfully fill up every
moment when employment pau&longs;ed.

The morning walk, the evening ramble, &longs;till afforded
&longs;omething to in&longs;truct and improve. Non was the
winter evening &longs;terile or unprofitable. Edifying conversation,
books and needle-work, charmingly diversisied
the &longs;cene, blending the u&longs;eful with the agreeable.

It was in the &longs;ummer of 1661, the elde&longs;t child of
Dudley, a &longs;on named William, who was about fifteen

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years old, and his younge&longs;t, a daughter called Rachel,
&longs;carcely two, when &longs;ome di&longs;agreements having fallen
out between the native Indians and the Engli&longs;h &longs;ettlers,
the former frequently made inroads on the latter, plundering
and burning their habitations, and either massacreing
the inhabitants, or taking them pri&longs;oners and
carrying them up the country, where they often exercised
on them the mo&longs;t wanton barbarity; &longs;calping,
maiming and disfiguring them, if at la&longs;t they &longs;uffered
them to e&longs;cape with life. But what could be expected
from the untaught &longs;avage, who&longs;e territories had
been invaded by &longs;trangers, and who perhaps had suffered,
from the cruelty of the invaders, in the per&longs;on
of a father, brother, &longs;on, or &longs;ome near connexion.
Revenge is a principle inherent in human nature, and
it is only the &longs;ublime and heavenly doctrine of Christianity
that teaches us to repel the impul&longs;e, and return
good for evil.

The morning was fine. Cheerful had Arrabella
aro&longs;e, and, &longs;urrounded by her little family, joined with
their father in their morning adorations to the Giver
of all good. This indi&longs;pen&longs;able duty performed, Dudley
went to &longs;uperintend his mowers; and his wife,
calling her girls, to the number of five, together, began
the u&longs;ual ta&longs;k of in&longs;truction. But the little Rachel
was not inclined to be quiet; &longs;he was more inclined
for play than &longs;itting &longs;till. She climbed up in her
mother's lap, ki&longs;&longs;ed her, and in childi&longs;h &longs;port threw
the book on the floor.

“It is impo&longs;&longs;ible to attend &longs;eriou&longs;ly to any thing,”
&longs;aid her mother, “whil&longs;t this little mad-cap is here.
Do, William, take her into the garden. William
obeyed, and from the garden &longs;trayed into an adjoining
wood, where, intent on a book which his father had
de&longs;ired him to peru&longs;e with attention, he &longs;uffered the
little prattler to play round, pluck flowers, and catch
gra&longs;shoppers.

Arrabella was pur&longs;uing her employment, with all
the delight a fond mother can feel, who marks the
daily improvement of her children, and &longs;ees them eagerly
&longs;triving who &longs;hould foremo&longs;t reach the goal of

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perfection, when an old &longs;ervant, the only male then
about the hou&longs;e, ru&longs;hed into the apartment, exclaiming,
with looks of horror, “The natives! the natives!”
Starting from her &longs;eat with precipitation, &longs;he turned
towards the window, and &longs;aw a band of &longs;avages crossing
through a field of corn, not very far from the
hou&longs;e. “Fly! fly! my children,” &longs;he cried, taking
the two younge&longs;t by the hand; and followed by the
elde&longs;t, they ru&longs;hed out of a door that led a contrary
way to the road the &longs;avages were coming.

There was in the very wood where William had
wandered with his infant &longs;i&longs;ter, a cavern formed by
the cunning hand of nature, the rece&longs;&longs;es of which Arrabella
had in days of happine&longs;s frequently explored.
Her pre&longs;ence of mind in this terrifying exigence did
not for&longs;ake her. With ha&longs;ty, yet trembling &longs;teps, &longs;he
led her children thither; nor was it till re&longs;ting on the
ground in its remote&longs;t winding, when &longs;he felt her five
children hanging about her, that &longs;he recollected William
and Rachel.

“Oh! my children! my children!” exclaimed &longs;he,
&longs;uddenly &longs;tarting up. “We are all here, mother,”
they an&longs;wered with united voices.

“But where! Oh where!” cried &longs;he franticly,
“is your brother William, and your &longs;i&longs;ter Rachel?”
“Oh! my poor brother, my dear, &longs;weet little &longs;i&longs;ter,”
&longs;aid the children &longs;everally; “let us go back, mother,
let us go back and look for them.”

“No, my darlings, no!” &longs;he replied, &longs;inking again
on the ground, and drawing them clo&longs;er towards her;
“that would indeed be to &longs;uffer you to run into the
very claws of the de&longs;troyer. The great God of heaven
and earth in&longs;pired me with the thought of bringing
you here for &longs;afety; he will, I tru&longs;t, protect us;
and his power to protect and &longs;ave, even from the jaws
of death, is equal throughout this wide-extended universe.
He can guard all your brothers, your &longs;i&longs;ter,
and your father too. Let us kneel, my children, and
implore his mercy.”

At the mention of their father, and the recollection
of their brothers, Charles, James and Chri&longs;topher, who

[figure description] Page 144.[end figure description]

were in the field with him, the girls wept aloud. Arrabella
poured forth her &longs;oul in fervent prayer, and
the kneeling innocents, in broken accents, &longs;obbed amen.

The female &longs;ervants, terrified at the approach of
the &longs;avages, in their eagerne&longs;s to elude them ran directly
into their power, and in&longs;tantly became victims
to their fury. They di&longs;patched them with their tomahawks,
and, &longs;tripping off their &longs;calps, kept them as
proofs of their endeavours to extirpate the Engli&longs;h
from among&longs;t them. The man who had alarmed his
mi&longs;tre&longs;s ran out of the hou&longs;e by the &longs;ame way &longs;he had
taken; but thinking it would be right to alarm his
ma&longs;ter, in&longs;tead of following her, made the be&longs;t of his
way to the field where the mowers were at work.

The &longs;avages having rifled the hou&longs;e of provi&longs;ions,
wearing apparel, and every thing which they conceived
would be any ways &longs;erviceable to them&longs;elves, &longs;et
fire to it, and then departed, with horrid yells of exultation
at having done all the mi&longs;chief in their power
to an Engli&longs;h family. William was, at the moment
the flames bur&longs;t forth, ju&longs;t returning with his little
&longs;i&longs;ter. His father's hou&longs;e on fire, and a band of Indians
in frantic rage ha&longs;tening towards them, was
a &longs;ight that filled with the mo&longs;t horrid pre&longs;ages the
brea&longs;t of William. He &longs;aw there would be no way
to e&longs;cape them; &longs;o, cla&longs;ping the infant Rachel in his
arms, he knelt on the ground, fear almo&longs;t &longs;u&longs;pending
every faculty.

One of the foremo&longs;t of the &longs;avage troop had rai&longs;ed
his tomahawk to di&longs;patch the boy; but the child, with
one arm clinging to her brother's neck, extended the
other little innocent hand as if to ward off the blow,
and &longs;creaming, cried, “Don'tee, don'tee.” At that
moment a &longs;quaw, who held a papou&longs;e at her brea&longs;t,
threw her&longs;elf before the &longs;uppliant children, and &longs;aid in
their own language, “You &longs;hall not kill the infant.”

The attempt &longs;eemed to have been the impul&longs;e of the
moment, for it required but little per&longs;ua&longs;ion to turn
the Indian from his purpo&longs;e; he dropped the instrument
of death; William &longs;tarted from the ground, ran
to the kind hearted woman, ki&longs;&longs;ed her hands, bathed

[figure description] Page 145.[end figure description]

them with his tears, and pointing to the &longs;ky, gave her
to under&longs;tand, that the Power who dwelt above that
azure firmament would reward her. Her own infant being
returned to her back, (the mode in which the Indian
women in general carry their children) &longs;he took
Rachel in her arms; and William being made to
a&longs;&longs;i&longs;t in carrying their plunder, they proceeded on
their march; a weary march it was to the poor little
captives.

Otawee, for that was the name of their protectre&longs;s,
did all &longs;he could to make little Rachel ea&longs;y, but &longs;he
continued at intervals to cry for her mother; and
William, his feet lacerated by the &longs;harp flints and
thorns he encountered in the rugged paths through
which he was obliged to pa&longs;s, his heart bleeding for
what he thought mu&longs;t have been the fate of his beloved
parents, brothers and &longs;i&longs;ters, proceeded as well as
he could till towards the evening of the &longs;econd day,
when, overcome with fatigue, grief and long fa&longs;ting,
(for he could not eat the food they offered him) he fell
fainting to the earth. Fortunately they were now
near the end of their march, or it is more than probable
the unfortunate boy would have been left to peri&longs;h
in the woods. As it was, two young Indians bore
him between them to the water-&longs;ide, put him in a canoe,
and Otawee &longs;itting down be&longs;ide him, threw water
on his face, rai&longs;ed his head on her knee, and forcing
him to &longs;wallow a little &longs;pirits, he by degrees recovered.

This party of plunderers were natives of Narhaganset.
Two or three unprincipled and licentious
Europeans having made incur&longs;ions among&longs;t them,
plundering their little &longs;ettlements, burning their wigwams,
and practi&longs;ing other enormities, as mu&longs;t certainly
awaken a &longs;pirit of revenge in the bo&longs;om of persons
better regulated than tho&longs;e of untutored &longs;avages;
&longs;everal families who had been particularly injured,
formed them&longs;elves into a party, and embarking in their
canoes, proceeded up Connecticut river, landing wherever
they thought there was no fear of oppo&longs;ition,

[figure description] Page 146.[end figure description]

and wreaking their vengeance on the unguarded and
innocent inhabitants.

Dudley had, from his fir&longs;t &longs;ettlement, been a man
of peace; happy in his family, fully employed in cultivating
and improving his little domain, he &longs;tepped
not out of his own dome&longs;tic concerns, except it was to
a&longs;&longs;i&longs;t a neighbour, (for any European family, &longs;ettled
within twenty miles, was at that early period termed
a neighbour) or to in&longs;truct a new &longs;ettler in the be&longs;t
mode of clearing his lands; to which in&longs;tructions he
ever readily added any help his &longs;ervants, hor&longs;es, oxen,
or even him&longs;elf could give.

Such a man could hardly be &longs;uppo&longs;ed an object of
enmity to any; but his habitation had been marked
by an Indian who had &longs;trayed from his companions.
Its lonely &longs;ituation, its flouri&longs;hing appearance, which
promi&longs;ed plenty of plunder without fear of oppo&longs;ition,
determined them to attack it; but when they had
committed this outrage on a quiet, inoffen&longs;ive family,
they well knew it would not be long before they were
pur&longs;ued. They accordingly made all the ha&longs;te they
could to the place where they had left their canoes,
and embarking with the plunder they had obtained,
proceeded immediately home. On their way thither,
meeting with a party who came from the more ea&longs;tern
parts; and, fearful that the young captives they had,
might, if &longs;een, betray them to the Engli&longs;h, they &longs;old
them, and William and Rachel were carried to a
greater di&longs;tance than it could hardly be believed possible
for the Indians to proceed in their little birch canoes.
When being landed on a very wild and totally
uncultivated place, they were marched three days
journey from the &longs;ea-&longs;hore, and pre&longs;ented to the &longs;quaw
of their &longs;achem for &longs;ervants.

Otooganoo was a man naturally gentle, fond of
peace, and eager in his endeavours to promote the
welfare of his people. He had ever recommended to
them to treat the &longs;trangers who were come to &longs;ettle
among&longs;t them with ho&longs;pitality; but it was not in his
power to re&longs;train the impetuo&longs;ity of youth, or to curb
the licentious hand of the rapacious. When the

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young captives were brought to his wigwam, he rebuked
tho&longs;e who brought them, and bade William to
bani&longs;h all his fears; for he would be a father to him,
and, if ever opportunity offered, re&longs;tore him to his
natural parent. His wife was particularly plea&longs;ed
with little Rachel, and the kindne&longs;s of the&longs;e two good
Indians rendered the lives of the brother and &longs;i&longs;ter
as comfortable as the nature of their &longs;ituation would
admit of.