Nor was the employment of his own subjects the only measure adopted by Sassacus against his civilized enemy. He knew them too well to despise, however much he detested them. He saw there was need of all the ingenuity of the politician, as well as the prowess of the warrior, to be exercised upon his part; and he therefore entered upon a trial of the arts of diplomacy with the same cunning and courage which were the confidence of his followers in the field of battle. The proposal of alliance offensive and defensive which he made to his ancient rival and foe, the chief sachem of the Narraghansetts, was a conception worthy of a great and noble soul. And such was the profound skill with which he supported the reasonableness of that policy, that, (as we have heretofore seen,) Miantonomo himself wavered in his high-minded fidelity to the English cause. But for the presence and influence of Roger Williams, [FN] the consummate address of the Pequot must have carried his point. * * * * * [FN] That gentleman, in one of his letters preserved on the Mass. Records, writes--"That in ye Pequt Wars it pleased your honoured Government to employ me in ye hazardous and waighty Service of negotiating a League between Yourselves and the Narigansetts; _when ye Pequt messengers (who sought ye Narigansett's league against the English) had almost ended yt my worck and life together._" The measures taken by the other colonies, in consequence of the state of things we have been describing, and the minutiae of the famous expedition of Mason, are too well known to be repeated at length. The contest was not long continued, but it required the most serious efforts on the part of the English; and not only did Massachusetts and Plymouth feel themselves under the necessity of aiding Connecticut in the suppression of this common and terrible foe, but many of the Narraghansetts also were called on to aid, with the Nianticks, the Mohegans and other tribes upon the river. Sassacus must have felt, that the day of restitution and reparation was indeed come upon him for all his ancient victories and spoils. Every people in his neighborhood who had suffered, or expected to suffer, from his pride or his power, now gladly witnessed the onset of a new enemy against him; and large numbers availed themselves of the opportunity to do personal service. Not less than five hundred Indians of various tribes accompanied Mason in his march against the great Pequot fortress. Not a few of them, without doubt, remembered old times as well as Miantonomo himself; though they acted very differently in consequence. These gallant allies were so eager to go against the Pequots, that nothing but the van of the army could satisfy them for their own station. "We hope," said they, (--or something, no doubt, to that purpose--) "We hope it will offend not you nor yours The chiefest post of honor should be ours." Upon which