[Metacom, or Philip, the chief of the Wampanoags, was the most powerful
and sagacious Sachem who ever made war upon the English. He had all the
qualities of a high statesman—a noble monarch, and a courageous warrior.
The rude majesty of untamed and unchastened nature was never more boldly
developed than in the character of Metacom. He had the elements of a giant
mind—the unformed chaos of a world of intellect. He perilled his all in one
vast enterprise—in one mighty effort to shake off the White Vampyre which
was draining the life-blood of his people; and had his enemies been any other
than the stern settlers of New-England, they must assuredly have fallen. The
War of King Philip forms a dark page in the history of New-England.—It
is red with blood,—with the blood of the strong man and the meek and beseeching
woman, and the fair-haired child, and the cradled infant.]
