Page:A Century of Dishonor.pdf/327

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
MASSACRES OF INDIANS BY WHITES.
309

der that all the baptized Indians from Nain and Wechiquetank should be bronght to Philadelphia, and be protected in that city, having first delivered up their arms.”

Two days later both these congregations set out on their sad journey, weeping they left their homes. They joined forces at Bethlehem, on the banks of the Lecha, and “entered upon their pilgrimage in the name of the Lord, the congregation of Bethlehem standing spectators, and, as they passed, commending them to the grace and protection of God, with supplication and tears.”

Four of the Moravian missionaries were with them, and some of the brethren from Bethlehem accompanied them all the way, “the sheriff, Mr. Jennings, caring for them as a father.”

The aged, the sick, and the little children were carried in wagons. All the others, women and men, went on foot. The November rains had made the roads very heavy. As the weary and heart-broken people toiled slowly along through the mud, they were saluted with curses and abuse on all sides. As they passed through the streets of Germantown a mob gathered and followed them, taunting them with violent threats of burning, hanging, and other tortures. It was said that a party had been organized to make a serious attack on them, but was deterred by the darkness and the storm. Four days were consumed in this tedious march, and on the 11th of November they reached Philadelphia. Here, spite of the governor's positive order, the officers in command at the barracks refused to allow them to enter. From ten in the forenoon till three in the afternoon there the helpless creatures stood before the shut gate—messengers going back and forth between the defiant garrison and the bewildered and impotent governor; the mob, thickening and growing more and more riotous hour by hour, pressing the Indians on every side, jeering them, reviling them, charging them with all manner of outrages, and threatening to kill them on the spot. The missionaries, brave-