1816

[Tucker, St. George.] "Letter XVII: To Mr. Henry D---." Letters from Virginia. Baltimore, 1816. 149-59, esp. 150-51. Tucker was an eminent lawyer (the "American Blackstone") and man of letters. This letter, an ubi sunt meditation at Jamestown like Davis 1812 or like Wirt 1803, stirs images of Pocahontas: "I naturally look upon the scenes of [Virginia's] history with the eyes of a patriotic lover. A thousand ideas and emotions . . . rushed thro' my mind in an instant. I thought upon Smith, that gallant and romantic spirit, who deserves to be honoured as the founder of the state. I thought upon Pocahontas, that incomparable Indian, who is now perhaps its tutelary angel. . . . I discovered the Indians moving over the little isthmus, dressed off in their finest feathers, with Pocahontas before them, like another fabulous Ceres, bearing presents of corn and fruit to the poor perishing strangers -- they meet together -- they embrace -- they smoke the pipe of peace -- they lead off the dance of simple innocence and joy. Who would not gaze forever on such a vision of delight?" (Attributed also to William Maxwell and to James Kirke Paulding, who uses the phrase "tutelary angel" in his 1817 Letters, but see Strobia 1817 as well.)