HOPE LESLIE;
OR
EARLY TIMES IN THE MASSACHUSETTS. BY THE AUTHOR OF REDWOOD.

Here stood the Indian chieftain, rejoicing in his glory!
How deep the shade of sadness that rests upon his story:
For the white man came with power—like brethren they met—
But the Indian fires went out, and the Indian sun has set!
And the chieftain has departed—gone is his hunting ground,
And the twanging of his bow-string is a forgotten sound:—
Where dwelleth yesterday? and where is Echo's cell?
Where has the rainbow vanished?—there does the Indian dwell.
E. IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I. NEW-YORK:
PUBLISHED BY WHITE, GALLAHER, AND WHITE,
No. 7 Wall-street.
1827.

[figure description] Copyright page.[end figure description]

Southern District of New-York, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the eighth day of May, in
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven, and in
the fifty-first year of the Independence of the United States of America,
White, Gallaher, and White, of the said District, have deposited in this
office the title of a book, the right whereof they claim as proprietors, in the
words following, to wit: “Hope Leslie; or Early Times in the Massachusetts. By the Author of
Redwood.

“Here stood the Indian chieftain, rejoicing in his glory!
How deep the shade of sadness that rests upon his story:
For the white man came with power—like brethren they met—
But the Indian fires went out, and the Indian sun has set!
“And the chieftain has departed—gone is his hunting ground,
And the twanging of his bow-string is a forgotten sound:—
Where dwelleth yesterday? and where is Echo's cell?
Where has the rainbow vanished?—there does the Indian dwell.
E. “In two Volumes. Vol. I.” In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled, “An
Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps,
Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the
times therein mentioned.” And also to an Act entitled, “An Act supplementary
to an Act entitled, An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by
securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors
of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the
benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and
other prints.” FRED. J. BETTS, Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. J. Seymour, printer, John-street.

Dedication

[figure description] Page iii.[end figure description]

THE
FOLLOWING PAGES
ARE
Dedicated,
AS
A TESTIMONY OF RESPECT AND AFFECTION,
TO THE
AUTHOR'S FRIENDS IN BOSTON.

[figure description] Blank Leaf.[end figure description]

PREFACE.

[figure description] Page v.[end figure description]

The following volumes are not offered to the public
as being in any degree an historical narrative, or a
relation of real events. Real characters and real events
are, however, alluded to; and this course, if not
strictly necessary, was found very convenient in the
execution of the author's design, which was to illustrate
not the history, but the character of the times.

The antiquarian reader will perceive that some liberties
have been taken with the received accounts of Sir
Philip (or Sir Christopher) Gardiner; and a slight
variation has been allowed in the chronology of the
Pequod war.

The first settlers of New-England were not illiterate,
but learned and industrious men. They seem to have
understood the importance of their station. The Massachusetts
colony, and some of the other establishments
sparsely scattered on the coast, were illuminated
spots, clear and bright lights, set on the borders of a
dark and turbulent wilderness. Those who have not
paid much attention to the history or character of these
early settlements, if they choose to turn their attention

[figure description] Page vi.[end figure description]

to this interesting subject, will be surprised to find how
clear, copious, and authentic are the accounts which
our ancestors left behind them. The only merit claimed
by the present writer, is that of a patient investigation
of all the materials that could be obtained. A full
delineation of these times was not even attempted;
but the main solicitude has been, to exclude every
thing decidedly inconsistent with them.

The Indians of North America are, perhaps, the
only race of men of whom it may be said, that though
conquered, they were never enslaved. They could not
submit, and live. When made captives, they courted
death, and exulted in torture. These traits of their
character will be viewed by an impartial observer, in
a light very different from that in which they were
regarded by our ancestors. In our histories, it was
perhaps natural that they should be represented as
“surly dogs,” who preferred to die rather than live,
from no other motives than a stupid or malignant obstinacy.
Their own historians or poets, if they had such,
would as naturally, and with more justice, have extolled
their high-souled courage and patriotism.

The writer is aware that it may be thought that the
character of Magawisca has no prototype among the
aborigines of this country. Without citing Pocohontas,
or any other individual, as authority, it may be sufficient
to remark, that in such delineations, we are confined
not to the actual, but the possible.

[figure description] Page vii.[end figure description]

The liberal philanthropist will not be offended by a
representation which supposes that the elements of
virtue and intellect are not withheld from any branch
of the human family; and the enlightened and accurate
observer of human nature, will admit that the
difference of character among the various races of the
earth, arises mainly from difference of condition.

These volumes are so far from being intended as a
substitute for genuine history, that the ambition of the
writer would be fully gratified if, by this work, any
of our young countrymen should be stimulated to
investigate the early history of their native land.

[figure description] Blank Leaf.[end figure description]