he proposed union. Pocahontas likewise
communicated the affair to her brother; so that the report of the
marriage soon reached Powhatan, and it proved likewise acceptable to
him. Accordingly, within ten days he sent Opachisco, an aged uncle of
Pocahontas, and her two brothers, to attend the wedding, and fill his
place at the ceremony. The marriage took place early in April, 1613, at
Jamestown, and the rites were no doubt performed by the Rev. Mr.
Whitaker.[109:B]

This remarkable union became a happy link of peace and harmony between
the red man and the white; and the warlike Chickahominies now came to
propose a treaty of peace.[110:A] This fierce and numerous tribe,
dwelling on the borders of the Chickahominy River, and near neighbors to
the English, had long maintained their independence, and refused to
acknowledge the sceptre of Powhatan. They now sent two runners to
Governor Dale with presents, apologizing for all former injuries, and
offering to submit themselves to King James, and to relinquish the name
of Chickahominies, and be called Tassautessus (English.) They desired,
nevertheless, still to be governed by their own laws, under the
authority of eight of their own chiefs. Governor Dale, with Captain
Argall and fifty men, on the banks of the Chickahominy, concluded a
treaty of peace with them, and they ratified it by acclamation. An aged
warrior then arose and explained the treaty, addressing himself
successively to the old men, the young, and the women and children. The
Chickahominies, apprehensive of being reduced under the despotism of
Powhatan, sheltered themselves under the protection of the whites--a
striking proof of the atrocious barbarity of a race whose imaginary
virtues have been so often celebrated by poets, orators, and historians,
and who have been described as renewing the golden age of innocent
felicity.

The system of working in common, and of being provided for out of the
public store, although unavoidable at first, had hitherto tended to
paralyze industry, and to retard the growth of the colony. An important
alteration in this particular was now effected; Sir Thomas Dale allotted
to each man three acres of cleared ground, from which he was only
obliged to contribute to the public store two and a half barrels of
corn. These regulations, raising the colonists above the condition of
absolute dependence, and creating a new incentive to exertion, proved
very acceptable and beneficial.[110:B]

E