He had not long to consider. There was an assembly of the tribe, and
they, too, chose him by common consent as their king. Secretly they were
annoyed that another tribe had been more forward than themselves, and
were anxious that Felix should not leave them. Felix declined the
honour; in spite of his refusal, he was treated as if he were the most
despotic monarch. Four days afterwards two other tribes joined the
movement, and sent their acceptance of him as their monarch. Others
followed, and so quickly now that a day never passed without another
tribe sending a deputation.
Felix thought deeply on the matter. He was, of course, flattered, and
ready to accept the dignity, but he was alive to considerations of
policy. He resolved that he would not use the title, nor exercise the
functions of a king as usually understood. He explained his plan to the
chiefs; it was that he should be called simply "Leader", the Leader of
the War; that he should only assume royal authority in time of war; that
the present chiefs should retain their authority, and each govern as
before, in accordance with ancient custom. He proposed to be king only
during war-time. He would, if they liked, write out their laws for them
in a book, and so give their customs cohesion and shape. To this plan
the tribes readily agreed; it retained all the former customs, it left
the chiefs their simple patriarchal authority, and it gave all of them
the advantage of combination in war. As the Leader, Felix was henceforth
known.
In the course of a fortnight, upwards of six thousand men had joined the
Confederacy, and Felix wrote down the names of twenty tribes on a sheet
of parchment which he took from his chest. A hut had long since been
built for him; but he received all the deputations, and held the
assemblies which were necessary, in the circular fort. He was so pressed
to visit the tribes that he could not refuse to go to the nearest, and
thus his journey was again postponed. During this progress from tribal
camp to tribal camp, Felix gained the adhesion of twelve more, making a
total of thirty-two names of camps, representing about eight thousand
spearmen. With pride Felix reflected that he commanded a far larger army
than the Prince of Ponze. But he was not happy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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