While the French were busied in establishing themselves upon the banks
of the St. Lawrence, their ancient rivals steadily progressed in the
occupation of the Atlantic coasts of North America.
Generally speaking, the oldest colonies of England were founded by
private adventurers, at their own expense and risk. In most cases, the
soil of the new settlements was granted to powerful individuals or
companies of merchants, and by them made over in detail to the actual
emigrants for certain considerations. Where, however, as often occurred,
the emigrants had settled prior to the grant, or were in a condition to
disregard it, they divided the land according to their own interests and
convenience. These unrecognized proprietors prospered more rapidly than
those who were trammeled by engagements with non-resident authorities.
The right of government, as well as the nominal possession of the soil,
was usually granted in the first instance, and the new colonies were
connected with the crown of Great Britain by little more than a formal
recognition of sovereignty. But the disputes invariably arising between
the nominal proprietors and the actual settlers speedily caused, in most
cases, a dissolution of the proprietary government, and threw the
colonies one by one under royal authority.
The system then usually adopted was to place the colony under the rule
of an English governor, assisted by an upper House of Parliament, or
Council, appointed by himself, and a Lower House, possessing the power
of taxation, elected by the people. All laws, however, enacted by these
local authorities were subject to the approbation of the British crown.
This was the outline of colonial constitutions in every North American
settlement, except in those established under peculiar charters. The
habit of self-government bore its fruit of sturdy independence and
self-reliance among our transatlantic brethren, and the prospect of
political privileges offered a special temptation to the English
emigrant to embark his fortunes in the New World. At their commencement
trade was free in all, and religion in most of the new colonies; and it
was only by slow degrees that their fiscal regulations were brought
under the subordination of the mother country.
Although a general sketch of British colonization in North America is
essential to the illustration of Canadian history, it is unnecessary to
detail more than a few of the leading features of its nature and
progress, and of the causes which placed its interests in almost
perpetual antagonism with those of French settlement. This subject is
rendered not a little obscure and complicated by the contradictory
claims and statements of proprietors, merchant adventurers, and
settlers; the separation of provinces; the abandonment of old, and the
foundation of new settlements.[288]
Sir Humphrey Gilbert,[289] of Compton, in Devonshire, formed the first
plan of British colonization in America. Queen Elizabeth, who then wore
the crown, willingly granted a patent conveying most ample gifts and
powers to her worthy and distinguished subject. He was given forever all
such "heathen and barbarous countries" as he might discover, with
absolute authority therein, both by sea and land. Only homage, and a
fifth part of the gold and silver that might be obtained, was reserved
for the crown.
The first expedition of Sir Humphrey Gilbert failed in the very
commencement. The adventurers were unfortunately selected; many deserted
the cause, and others engaged in disastrous quarrels among themselves.
The chief was ultimately obliged to set out with only a few of his own
tried friends.[290] He encountered very adverse weather, and was driven
back with the loss of a ship and one of his trustiest companions[291]
(1580). This disaster was a severe blow to Sir Humphrey Gilbert, as most
of his property was embarked in the undertaking. However, with unshaken
determination, and aided by Sir George Peckham, Sir Walter Raleigh,[292]
and other distinguished men, he again equipped an expedition, and put to
sea in the year 1583.
The force with which this bold adventurer undertook to gain possession
of a new continent was miserably small. The largest vessel was but of
200 tons burden: the Delight, in which he himself sailed, was only 120
tons, and the three others composing the little fleet were even much
smaller. The crew and adventurers numbered altogether 260 men, most of
them tradesmen, mechanics, and refiners of metal. There was such
difficulty in completing even this small equipment, that some captured
pirates were taken into the service.
The expedition sailed from Concert Bay on the 11th of May, 1583. Three
days afterward, the Raleigh,[293] the largest ship of the fleet, put
back to land, under the plea that a violent sickness had broken out on
board, but, in reality, from the indisposition of the crew to risk the
enterprise. The loss of this vessel was a heavy discouragement to the
brave leaders. After many delays and difficulties from the weather and
the misconduct of his followers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert reached the shores
of Newfoundland, where he found thirty-six vessels engaged in the
fisheries. He, in virtue of his royal patent, immediately assumed
authority over them, demanding and obtaining all the supplies of which
he stood in need: he also proclaimed his own and the queen's possession
of the country. Soon, however, becoming sensible that this rocky and
dreary wilderness offered little prospect of wealth, he proceeded with
three vessels, and a crew diminished by sickness and desertion, to the
American coast. Owing to his imprudence in approaching the foggy and
dangerous shore too closely, the largest vessel[294] struck, and went to
pieces. The captain and many of the crew were lost; some of the
remainder reached Newfoundland in an open boat, after having endured
great hardships.
Sir Humphrey Gilbert altogether failed in reaching any part of the main
land of America. The weather became very bad, the winter approached, and
provisions began to fail: there was no alternative but to return, and
with bitter regret and disappointment he adopted that course. The two
remaining vessels proceeded in safety as far as the meridian of the
Azores; there, however, a terrible tempest assailed them. On the
afternoon of the 9th of September the smaller of the two boats was
observed to labor dangerously. Sir Humphrey Gilbert stood upon her deck,
holding a book in his hand, encouraging the crew. "We are as near to
heaven by sea as by land," he called out to those on board the other
vessel, as it drifted past just before nightfall. Darkness soon
concealed his little bark from sight; but for hours one small light was
seen to rise and fall, and plunge about among the furious waves. Shortly
after midnight it suddenly disappeared, and with it all trace of the
brave chief and his crew. One maimed and storm-tossed ship returned to
England of that armament which so short a time before had been sent
forth to take possession of a New World.[295]
The English nation was not diverted from the pursuit of colonial
aggrandizement by even this disastrous failure. The queen, however, was
more ready to assist by grants and patents than by pecuniary supplies.
Many plausible schemes of settlement were put forward; but the
difficulty of obtaining sufficient means of carrying them into effect,
prevented their being adopted. At length the illustrious Sir Walter
Raleigh undertook the task of colonization at his own sole charge, and
easily obtained a patent similar to that conferred upon Sir Humphrey
Gilbert. He soon sent out two small vessels, under skillful naval
officers, to search for his new government. Warned by the disasters of
their predecessors, they steered a more southerly course. When soundings
indicated an approach to land, they already observed that the breeze
from the shore was rich with delicious odors of fruits and flowers. They
proceeded very cautiously, and presently found that they had reached a
long, low coast, without harbors. The shore was flat and sandy; but
softly undulating green hills were seen in the interior, covered with a
great profusion of rich grapes. This discovery proved to be the island
of Okakoke, off North Carolina. (1584.) The English were well received
by the natives, and obtained from them many valuable skins in exchange
for trinkets. Some limited explorations were made, after which the
expedition returned to England, bearing very favorable accounts of the
new country,[296] which filled Raleigh with joy, and raised the
expectations of the whole kingdom. In honor of England's maiden queen,
the name of Virginia was given to this land of promise.
Sir Walter Raleigh now embarked nearly all his fortune in another
expedition, consisting of seven small ships, which he placed under the
able command of Sir Richard Greenville, surnamed "the Brave." The little
fleet reached Virginia on the 29th of June, 1585, and the colony was at
once landed. The principal duties of settlement were intrusted to Mr.
Ralph Lane, who proved unequal to the charge. The coast, however, was
explored for a considerable distance, and the magnificent Bay of
Chesapeake discovered.
Lane penetrated to the head of Roanoke Sound; there, without
provocation, he seized a powerful Indian chief and his son, and retained
the latter a close prisoner, in the hope, through him, of ruling the
father. The natives, exasperated at this injury, deceived the English
with false reports of great riches to be found in the interior. Lane
proceeded up the river for several days with forty men, but, suffering
much from the want of provisions, and having been once openly attacked
by the savages, he returned disheartened to the coast, where he found
that the Indians were prepared for a general rising against him, in a
confederacy formed of the surrounding tribes, headed by a subtle chief
called Pemisapan. In the mean time, however, the captive became attached
to the English, warning them of the coming danger, and naming the day
for the attack. Lane, resolving to strike the first blow, suddenly
assailed the Indians and dispersed them; afterward, at a parley, he
destroyed all the chiefs with disgraceful treachery. Henceforth the
hatred of the savages to the English became intense, and they ceased to
sow any of the lands near the settlement, with the view of starving
their dangerous visitors.
The colonists were much embarrassed by the hostilities of the Indians;
the time appointed by Raleigh and Greenville for sending them supplies
had passed; a heavy despondency fell upon their minds, and they began
earnestly to wish for a means of returning home. But, suddenly, notice
was given that a fleet of twenty-three sail was at hand, whether
friendly or hostile no one could tell: to their great joy, it proved to
be the armament of Sir Francis Drake. Lane and his followers immediately
availed themselves of this opportunity, and with the utmost haste
embarked for England, totally abandoning the settlement. (1586.) A few
days after this unworthy flight, a vessel of 100 tons, amply provided
with aid for the colony, arrived upon its deserted shores; the crew in
vain searched the coast and neighborhood for their fellow-countrymen,
and then steered for England. A fortnight after Sir Richard Greenville
arrived with three well-appointed ships, and found a lonely desert where
he had expected a flourishing colony: he also returned to England in
deep disappointment, leaving, however, a small party to hold possession
of the country till he should return with ampler resources.
The noble Raleigh was not discouraged by this unhappy complication of
errors and disasters; he immediately dispatched another expedition, with
three ships under the command of John White. But a terrible sight
presented itself on their arrival: the fort razed to the ground, the
houses ruined and overgrown with grass, and a few scattered bones, told
the fate of their countrymen. The little settlement had been assailed by
300 Indians, and all the colonists destroyed or driven into the interior
to an unknown fate. By an unfortunate error, White attacked one of the
few tribes that were friendly to the English, in the attempt to revenge
the cruel massacre. After this unhappy exploit, he was compelled, by the
discontent of his followers, to return to England, for the purpose of
procuring them supplies.[297] From various delays, it was not till 1590
that another expedition reached Virginia. But again silence and
desolation reigned upon that fatal shore. The colony left by White had
been destroyed like its predecessor. Raleigh at last abandoned the
scheme of settlement that had proved ruinously disastrous to him and all
concerned, and the brave Sir Richard Greenville was soon after slain.
(1591.)[298]
The interest of the public in Virginia remained suspended till the year
1602, when Captain Bartholomew Gosnold undertook a voyage thither, and
brought back such brilliant reports of the beauty and fertility of the
country, that the dormant attention of the English toward this part of
the world was again aroused. In 1606, Arundel, Lord Wardour, sent out a
vessel under the command of Captain Weymouth, to make further
discoveries. The report of this voyage more than confirmed that of the
preceding.
The English nation were now at length prepared to make an efficient
attempt to colonize the New World. In London, and at Plymouth and
Bristol, the principal maritime cities of the kingdom, the scheme found
numerous and ardent supporters. James I., however, only granted such
powers to the adventurers as suited his own narrow and arbitrary views:
he refused to sanction any sort of representative government in the
colony, and vested all power in a council appointed by himself.[299]
Virginia was, about that time, divided somewhat capriciously into two
parts: the southern portion was givens to a merchant company of London,
the northern to a merchant company of Bristol and Plymouth.[301]
The southern, or London Company, were the first to commence the work of
colonization with energy. On the 19th of December, 1606, they
dispatched an expedition of three vessels, commanded by Captain Newport,
comprising a number of people of rank and distinction. Among these was
Captain John Smith, whose admirable qualities were afterward so
conspicuously and usefully displayed. The expedition met with such
delays and difficulties that it was at one time on the point of
returning to England. At length, however, they descried an unknown cape,
and soon afterward entered Chesapeake Bay, where the beauty and
fertility of the shores even surpassed their expectations.[302] On first
landing, they met the determined hostility of the savages, but when the
fleet proceeded to Cape Comfort, they there received a more friendly
reception, and were invited ashore. The Indians spread their simple
stores of dainties before the strangers, smoked with them the calumet of
peace, and entertained them with songs and dances. As the expedition
moved higher up the bay, where no English had been before seen, it met
with a still more cordial welcome.
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement established in
America, although it has not since risen to very great importance. The
site was chosen by this expedition about forty miles above the entrance,
upon the banks of James River, where the emigrants at once proceeded to
establish themselves. They suffered great distress from the commencement
on account of the bad quality of the provisions, furnished under
contract by Sir Thomas Smith, one of the leading members of the company.
Disease soon followed want, and in a short time fifty of the settlers
died. Under these difficult circumstances, the energy and ability of
Captain John Smith pointed him out as the only person to command, and by
the consent of all he was invested with absolute authority. He arranged
the internal affairs of the colony as he best could, and then set out to
collect supplies in the neighboring country. The Indians met him with
derision, and refused to trade with him; he therefore, urged by
necessity, drove them away, and took possession of a village well
stocked with provisions. The Indians soon returned in force and attacked
him furiously, but were easily repulsed. After their defeat they opened
a friendly intercourse, and furnished the required supplies. Smith made
several further excursions. On returning to the colony, he found that a
conspiracy had been formed among his turbulent followers to break up the
settlement and sail for England; this he managed to suppress, and soon
again started to explore the country. In this expedition he rashly
exposed himself unprotected to the assaults of the Indians, and was
taken prisoner after a most gallant attempt at escape. He was led about
in triumph for some time from village to village, and at length
sentenced to die. His head was laid upon a stone, and the executioner
stood over him with a club, awaiting the signal to slay, when
Pocahontas, daughter of the Indian chief, implored her father's mercy
for the white man. He was inexorable, and ordered the execution to
proceed; but the generous girl laid her head upon that of the intended
victim, and vowed that the death blow should strike her first. The
savage chief moved by his daughter's devotion, spared the prisoner's
life.[303] Smith was soon afterward escorted in safety to Jamestown, and
given up on a small ransom being paid to the Indians.[304] (1608.)
Smith found, on his arrival, that the colonists were fitting out a
pinnace to return to England. He, with ready decision, declared that the
preparations should be discontinued immediately, or he would sink the
little vessel. His prompt determination was successful, and the people
agreed to remain. Through the generous kindness of Pocahontas, supplies
of provisions were furnished to the settlement, till the arrival of a
vessel from England, replenished its stores. Soon after his happy
escape from the hands of the savages, Smith again started fearlessly
upon an expedition to explore the remainder of Chesapeake Bay. He sailed
in a small barge, accompanied only by twelve men, and with this slender
force completed a voyage of 3000 miles along an unknown coast, among a
fierce and generally hostile people, and depending on accident and his
own ingenuity for supplies. During several years Pocahontas continued to
visit the English, but her father was still hostile, and once endeavored
to surprise Smith and slay him in the woods; but again the generous
Indian girl saved his life at the hazard of her own: in a dark night she
ran for many miles through the forest, evading the vigilance of her
fierce countrymen, and warned him of the threatened danger. An open war
now ensued between the English and the Indians, and was continued with
great mutual injury, till a worthy gentleman named Thomas Rolfe, deeply
interested by the person and character of Pocahontas, made her his wife;
a treaty was then concluded with the Indian chief, which was henceforth
religiously observed. (1613.)
The colony[305] meanwhile proceeded with varied fortunes. The emigrants
had been very badly selected for their task: "poor gentlemen, tradesmen,
serving-men, libertines, and such like, ten times more fit to spoil a
commonwealth than either to begin or maintain one." These men were
tempted into the undertaking by hopes of sudden wealth, and were
altogether disinclined to even the slight labor of tilling that
exuberant soil, when only a subsistence was to be their reward. In 1619
James commenced the system of transporting malefactors, by sending 100
"dissolute persons" to Virginia. These men were used as laborers, or
rather slaves, but tended seriously to lower the character of the
voluntary emigration.[306] In 1625 only 1800 convicts remained alive out
of 9000 who had been transported at a cost of L15,000.[308] The
contracted and arbitrary system of the exclusive company was felt as a
great evil in the colony.[309] This body was at length superseded by the
forfeiture of its charter, and the crown assumed the direction of
affairs. Many years of alternate anarchy and tyranny followed. During
the rebellion of Bacon in 1676, the most remarkable event in this early
period of Virginian history, English troops were first introduced into
the American colonies. Sir William Berkeley, who was appointed governor
in 1642, visited the insurrectionists with a terrible vengeance, when
the death of the leader, Bacon, left them defenseless. "The old fool,"
said Charles II. (with truth), "has taken away more lives in that naked
country than I for the murder of my father." But, though the complaints
of the oppressed were heard in England with impartiality, and Berkeley
was hunted to death by public opinion on his return there to defend
himself, the permanent results of Bacon's rebellion were disastrous to
Virginia: all the measures of reform which had been attempted during
its brief success were held void, and every restrictive feature that had
been introduced into legislation by the detested governor was
perpetuated.
Among the first settlers in Virginia, gold was the great object, it was
every where eagerly sought, but in vain. Several ships were loaded with
a sort of yellow clay, and sent to England under the belief that it
contained the most precious of metals, but it was found to be utterly
worthless. The colonists next turned their attention to the cultivation
of tobacco.[310] This speedily became so profitable that it was pursued
even to the exclusion of all other industry.
There yet remains to be told one terrible incident in the earlier story
of Virginia, an incident that resulted in the total destruction of the
Indian race. The successor to the father of Pocahontas had conceived a
deadly enmity against the English: this was embittered from day to day,
as he saw the hated white men multiplying and spreading over the hunting
grounds of his fathers. Then a fierce determination took possession of
his savage heart. For years he matured his plans, and watched the
favorable moment to crush every living stranger at a blow. He took all
his people into counsel, and such was their fidelity, and so deep the
wile of the Indian chief, that, during four years of preparation, no
warning reached the intended victims. To the last fatal moment, a
studied semblance of cordial friendship was observed; some Englishmen,
who had lost their way in the woods were kindly and carefully guided
back again.
One Friday morning (March 22d, 1622) the Indians came to the town in
great numbers, bearing presents, and finding their way into every house.
Suddenly the fierce shout of the savages broke the peaceful silence, and
the death-shriek of their victims followed. In little more than a
minute, three hundred and forty-seven, of all ages and sexes, were
struck down in this horrid massacre. The warning of an Indian converted
to Christianity saved Jamestown. The surviving English assembled there,
and began a war of extermination against the savages. By united force,
superior arms, and, it must be added, by treachery as black as that of
their enemies, the white men soon swept away the Indian race forever
from the Virginian, soil.[311]
As has been before mentioned, the northern part of Virginia was bestowed
by royal grant upon a Merchant Company of Plymouth, and other southern
and western sea-ports. The first effort to take possession of the new
territory was feeble and disastrous. Twenty-nine Englishmen and two
Indians were sent out in a little bark of only fifty-five tons burden
(1606); they were taken by the Spaniards off the coast of Hispaniola,
who treated them with great cruelty. Some time after this ill-fated
expedition had failed, another colony of 100 men, led by Captains Popham
and Gilbert, settled on the River Sagadahock, and built a fort called by
them St. George. (1607.) They abandoned the settlement, however, the
following year, and returned to England. The next project of British
North American colonization was set on foot by Captain John Smith,
already so highly distinguished in transatlantic history. (1614.) After
much difficulty, he effected the equipment of two vessels, and sailed
for the Virginian shore; but, although successful as a trading
speculation, the only permanent fruits of the voyage was a map of the
coast, which he presented to Charles I. The king, always interested in
maritime affairs, listened favorably to Smith's accounts of the New
World, but proved either unable or unwilling to render him any useful
assistance. The next year this brave adventurer again crossed the seas
in a small vessel containing only sixteen emigrants. The little
expedition was captured by the French, and the leader, with great
difficulty, effected his return to England.
Meanwhile, a man named Hunt, who had been left in charge of one of the
ships in Smith's first expedition, committed an outrage upon the natives
that led to deplorable results (1616); he inveigled thirty of them on
board, carried them suddenly away, and sold them into slavery. The
savages rose against the next English party that landed upon their
coast, and killed and wounded several in revenge. Captain Dormer, a
prudent and conciliatory person, with one of the betrayed natives, was
sent by the company to explain to the furious Indians that Hunt's crime
was the act of an individual, and not of the nation: this commission was
well and wisely executed. For about two years Dormer frequently repeated
his visits with advantage to his employers, but finally was attacked by
strange savages and wounded fatally.
But still, through all these difficulties and disasters, adventurers
pressed on to the fertile Western desert, allured by liberal grants of
land from the chartered companies. The undefined limits of these
concessions led to constant and mischievous quarrels among the settlers,
often attended with violence and bloodshed; from these causes the early
progress of the colony was very slow. One hundred and twenty years after
England had discovered North America, she only possessed a few scattered
fishing huts along the shore. But events were now at hand which at once
stamped a peculiar character upon the colonization of this part of the
New World,[312] and which were destined to exercise an influence upon
the human race of an importance even yet incalculable.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 288: See Preface to Bancroft's _History of the United
States_.]
[Footnote 289: "Sir Humphrey had published, in 1576, a treatise
concerning a northwest passage to the East Indies, which, although
tinctured with the pedantry of the age, is full of practical sense and
judicious argument."--P.F. Tytler's _Life of Sir Walter Raleigh_, p.
26.]
[Footnote 290: "Sir Walter Raleigh, step-brother to Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, was one of his companions in this enterprise, and, although it
proved unsuccessful, the instructions of Sir Humphrey could not fail to
be of service to Raleigh, who at this time was not much above
twenty-five, while the admiral must have been in the maturity of his
years and abilities."--Tytler, p. 27.]
[Footnote 291: "On its homeward passage, the small squadron of Gilbert
was dispersed and disabled by a Spanish fleet, and many of the company
were slain; but, perhaps owing to the disastrous issue of the fight, it
has been slightly noticed by the English historians."--Oldy's _Life of
Raleigh_, p. 28, 29.]
[Footnote 292: Raleigh, who had by this time risen into favor with the
queen, did not embark on the expedition, but he induced his royal
mistress to take so deep an interest in its success, that, on the eve of
its sailing from Plymouth, she commissioned him to convey to Sir H.
Gilbert her earnest wishes for his success, with a special token of
regard--a little trinket representing an anchor guided by a lady. The
following was Raleigh's letter, written from the court: "Brother--I have
sent you a token from her majesty, an anchor guided by a lady, as you
see; and, further, her highness willed me to send you word that she
wished you as great good hap and safety to your ship as if she herself
were there in person, desiring you to have care of yourself as of that
which she tendereth; and therefore, for her sake, you must provide for
it accordingly. Farther, she commandeth that you leave your picture with
me. For the rest, I leave till our meeting, or to the report of this
bearer, who would needs be the messenger of this good news. So I commit
you to the will and protection of God, who sends us such life and death
as he shall please or hath appointed. Richmond, this Friday morning.
Your true brother, WALTER RALEIGH."--This letter is indorsed as having
been received March 18, 1582-3, and it may be remarked that it settles
the doubt as to the truth of Prince's story of the golden anchor,
questioned by Campbell in his _Lives of the Admirals_. In the
_Heroologia Angliae_, p. 65, there is a fine print of Sir Humphrey
Gilbert, taken evidently from an original picture; but, unlike the
portrait mentioned by Granger, it does not bear the device mentioned in
the text. Raleigh's letter explains this difference. When Sir Humphrey
was at Plymouth, on the eve of sailing, the queen commands him, we see,
to leave his picture with Raleigh. This must allude to a portrait
already painted; and, of course, the golden anchor then sent could not
be seen in it. Now, he perished on the voyage. The picture at Devonshire
House, mentioned by Granger, which bears this honorable badge, must,
therefore have been painted _after_ his death.--Tytler's _Raleigh_, p.
45; Granger's _Biographical History_, vol. i., p. 246; Cayley, vol. i.,
p. 31; Prince's _Worthies of Devonshire_.]
[Footnote 293: "This ship was of 200 tons burden: it had been built
under Raleigh's own eye, equipped at his expense, and commanded by
Captain Butler, her master being Thomas Davis, of Bristol."--Tytler, p.
44.]
[Footnote 294: The _Delight_. The _Swallow_ had, a short time before,
been sent home with some of the crew, who were sick. The remaining barks
were the _Golden Hind_ and the _Squirrel_, the first of forty, the last
of ten tons burden. For what reason does not appear, the admiral
insisted, against the remonstrances of his officers and crew, in having
his flag in the _Squirrel_. It was a fatal resolution. The larger
vessel, the _Golden Hind_, arrived at Falmouth on the 22d September,
1583.]
[Footnote 295: See Captain Edward Haies's _Narrative of the Expedition
of Sir Humphrey Gilbert_; Hakluyt, vol. iii., p. 143-159.]
[Footnote 296: Oldy's _Life of Raleigh_, p. 58. The description given of
Virginia by the two captains in command of the expedition (Captains
Philip Amadas and Walter Barlow) was, that "the soil is the most
plentiful, sweet, fruitful, and wholesome of all the world. We found the
people most gentle, loving, faithful, void of all guile and treason, and
such as lived after the manner of the Golden Age."]
[Footnote 297: Unfortunately, on White's arrival in England, the nation
was wholly engrossed by the expected invasion of the Spanish Armada, and
Sir Richard Greenville, who was preparing to sail for Virginia, received
notice that his services were wanted at home. Raleigh, however,
contrived to send out White with two more vessels; but they were
attacked by a Spanish ship of war, and so severely shattered that they
were obliged to return. Another expedition could not be undertaken until
1590; and no trace could then, or ever after, be found of the
unfortunate colony left by White.
"Robertson reproaches Raleigh with levity in now throwing up his scheme
of a Virginian colony. But, really, when we consider that in the course
of four years he had sent out seven successive expeditions, each more
unfortunate than the other, and had spent L40,000--nearly his whole
fortune--without the least prospect of a return, it can not be viewed as
a very unaccountable caprice that he should get sick of the business,
and be glad to transfer it into other hands."--Murray, vol. i., p. 254.]
[Footnote 298: For an account of Sir Richard Greenville's death, see
Appendix, No. LX. (see Vol II)]
[Footnote 299: "The fundamental idea, of the older British colonial
policy appears to have been, that wherever a man went, he carried with
him the rights of an Englishman, whatever these were supposed to be. In
the reign of James I., the state doctrine was, that most popular rights
were usurpations; and the colonists of Virginia, sent out under the
protection of government, were therefore placed under that degree of
control which the state believed itself authorized to exercise at home.
The Puritans exalted civil franchise to a republican pitch: their
colonies were therefore republican; there was no such notion as that of
an intermediate state of tutelage or semi-liberty. Hence the entire
absence of solicitude on the part of the mother country to interfere
with the internal government of the colonies arose not altogether from
neglect, but partly from principle. This is remarkably proved by the
fact that representative government was seldom expressly granted in the
early charters; _it was assumed by the colonists as a matter of right_.
Thus, to use the odd expression of the historian of Massachusetts, 'A
house of burgesses broke out in Virginia,' in 1619,[300] almost
immediately after its second settlement; and although the constitution
of James contained no such element, it was at once acceded to by the
mother country as a thing of course. No thought was ever seriously
entertained of supplying the colonies with the elements of an
aristocracy. Virginia was the only province of old foundation in which
the Church of England was established; and there it was abandoned, with
very little help, to the caprice or prejudices of the colonists, under
which it speedily decayed. The Puritans enjoyed, undisturbed, their
peculiar notions of ecclesiastical government. 'It concerned New England
always to remember that they were originally a plantation religious, not
a plantation of trade. And if any man among us make religion as twelve,
and the world as thirteen, such an one hath not the spirit of a true New
Englandman.' And when they chose to illustrate this noble principle by
decimating their own numbers by persecution, and expelling from their
limits all dissenters from their own establishment, the mother country
never exerted herself to protect or prohibit. The only ambition of the
state was to regulate the trade of its colonies: in this respect, and
this only, they were fenced round with restrictions, and watched with
the most diligent jealousy. They had a right to self-government and
self-taxation; a right to religious freedom, in the sense which they
chose themselves to put upon the word; a right to construct their
municipal polity as they pleased; but no right to control or amend the
slightest fiscal regulation of the imperial authority, however
oppressively it might bear upon them.
"Such, I say, were the general notions prevailing in England on the
subject of colonial government during the period of the foundation and
early development of our transatlantic colonies--the notions by which
the practice of government was regulated--although I do not assert that
they were framed into a consistent and logical theory. Perhaps we shall
not be far wrong in regarding Lord Chatham as the last distinguished
assertor of these principles, in an age when they had begun to be
partially superseded by newer speculations."--Merivale _On
Colonization_, vol. i., p. 102.]
[Footnote 300: Hutchinson's _History of Massachusetts_, p. 94.]
[Footnote 301: "In the spring of 1606, James I. by patent divided
Virginia into two colonies. The _southern_ included all lands between
the 34th and 41st degrees of north latitude. This was granted to the
London Company. The _northern_ included all lands between the 38th and
45th degrees of north latitude, and was granted to the Plymouth Company.
To prevent disputes about territory, the colonies were forbidden to
plant within a hundred miles of each other. There appears an
inconsistency in these grants, as the lands lying between the 38th and
41st degrees are covered by both patents.
"In the month of August, 1615, Captain John Smith arrived in England,
where he drew a map of the northern part of Virginia, and called it New
England. From this time the name of Virginia was confined to the
southern part of the colony."--Winterbottom's _History of America_, vol.
iv., p. 165. See Bancroft's _History of the United States_, vol. i., p.
120.]
[Footnote 302: Percy, in Purchas, iv., 1687.]
[Footnote 303: "This celebrated scene is preserved in a beautiful piece
of sculpture over the western door of the Rotundo of the Capitol at
Washington. The group consists of five figures, representing the precise
moment when Pocahontas, by her interposition, saved Smith from being
executed. It is the work of Capellano, a pupil of Canova's."--Thatcher's
_Indian Biography_, vol. i., p. 22. See Appendix, No. LXI., (see Vol II)
for the History of Pocahontas.]
[Footnote 304: Smith, in Pinkerton, xiii., 51-55. "The account is fully
contained in the oldest book printed in Virginia, in our Cambridge
library. It is a thin quarto, in black letter, by John Smith, printed in
1608."--Bancroft's _Hist. of the United States_, vol. i., p. 132.]
[Footnote 305: In the year 1610, the South Virginian or London Company
sealed a patent to Lord Delawarr, constituting him Governor and
Captain-General of South Virginia. His name was given to a bay and
river, and to the Indians who dwelt in the surrounding country, called
in their own tongue Lenni-Lenape, which name signifies THE ORIGINAL
PEOPLE. Lord Delawarr's health was ruined by the hardships and anxieties
he was exposed to in Virginia, and he was obliged to return to England
in little more than a year.]
[Footnote 306: Captain Smith says of Virginia, "that the number of
felons and vagabonds did bring such evil character on the place, that
some did choose to be hanged rather than go there, and _were_."--Graham's
_Rise and Progress of the United States_, vol. i., p. 71
"England adopted in the seventeenth century the system of transportation
to her North American plantations, and the example was propagated by
Cromwell, who introduced the practice of selling his political captives
as slaves to the West Indians. But the number of regular convicts was
too small, and that of free laborers too large, in the old provinces of
North America, to have allowed this infusion of a convict population to
produce much effect on the development of those communities, either in
respect of their morals or their health.[307] Our own times are the
first which have witnessed the phenomena of communities, in which the
bulk of the working people consists of felons serving out the period of
their punishment."--Merrivale, vol. ii., p. 3.]
[Footnote 307: It must be remembered that the crimes of the convicts
were chiefly political. The number transported to Virginia for social
crimes was never considerable--scarcely enough to sustain the sentiment
of pride in its scorn of the laboring population--certainly not enough
to affect its character.--Bancroft, vol. ii., p. 191.]
[Footnote 308: Stith's _Hist. of Virginia_, p. 167, 168; Chalmers's
_Annals of the United Colonies_, p. 69.]
[Footnote 309: Stith's _Hist. of Virginia_, p. 307.]
[Footnote 310: It is asserted by Camden that tobacco was first brought
into England by Mr. Ralph Lane, who went out as chief governor of
Virginia in the first expedition commanded by Sir Richard Greenville.
There can be little doubt that Lane was desired to import it by his
master, Sir Walter Raleigh, who had seen it used in France during his
residence there.--Camden, in Kennet, vol. ii., p. 509.
"There is a well-known tradition that Sir Walter first began to smoke it
privately in his study, and the servant coming in with his tankard of
ale and nutmeg, as he was intent upon his book, seeing the smoke issuing
from his mouth, threw all the liquor in his face by way of extinguishing
the fire, and, running down stairs, alarmed the family with piercing
cries that his master, before they could get up, would be burned to
ashes."--Oldy's _Life of Raleigh_, p. 74.
"King James declared himself the enemy of tobacco, and drew against it
his royal pen. In the work which he entitled 'Counterblast to Tobacco,'
he poured the most bitter reproaches on this 'vile and nauseous weed.'
He followed it up by a proclamation to restrain 'the disorderly trading
in tobacco,' as tending to a general and new corruption of both men's
bodies and minds. Parliament also took the fate of this weed into their
most solemn deliberation. Various members inveighed against it, as a
mania which infested the whole nation; that plowmen took it at the plow;
that it 'hindered' the health of the whole nation, and that thousands
had died of it. Its warmest friends ventured only to plead that, before
the final anathema was pronounced against it, a little pause might be
granted to the inhabitants of Virginia and the Somer's Isles to find
some other means of existence and trade. James's enmity did not prevent
him from endeavoring to fill his coffers by the most enormous imposts
laid upon tobacco, insomuch that the colonists were obliged for some
time to send the whole into the ports of Holland. The government of New
England, more consistently, passed a complete interdict against tobacco,
the smoke of which they compared to that of the bottomless pit. Yet
tobacco, like other proscribed objects, throve under persecution, and
achieved a final triumph over all its enemies. Indeed, the enmity
against it was in some respects beneficial to Virginia, as drawing forth
the most strict prohibitions against 'abusing and misemploying the soil
of this fruitful kingdom' to the production of so odious an article.
After all, as the impost for an average of seven years did not reach a
hundred and fifty thousand pounds, it could not have that mighty
influence, either for good or evil, which was ascribed to it by the
fears and passions of the age."--Chalmers. b. i., ch. iii., with notes.
Massaire, p. 210. Wives, p. 197, quoted by Murray.
"Frenchmen they call those tobacco plants whose leaves do not spread and
grow large, but rather spire upward and grow tall; these plants they do
not tend, not being worth their labor."--Mr. Clayton's _Letter to the
Royal Society_, 1688. _Miscellanea Curiosa_, vol. iii., p. 303-310.]
[Footnote 311: The colonists of Virginia, in a kind of manifesto
published in 1622, expressed their satisfaction at some late warlike
excursions of the Indians as a pretext for robbing and subjugating them.
"Now these cleared grounds in all their villages, which live situated in
the fruitfullest parts of the land, shall be inhabited by us, whereas
heretofore the grubbing of woods was the greatest labor. The way of
conquering them is much more easy than that of civilizing them by fair
means; for they are a rude, barbarous, and naked people, scattered in
small companies, which are helps to victory, but hinderances to
civility."--_Tracts relating to Virginia in the British Museum_, quoted
by Merrivale. See Appendix, No. LXII. (see Vol II)]
[Footnote 312: "Il faut envisager surtout l'influence qu'a exercee le
Nouveau Continent sur les destinees du genre humain sous le rapport des
institutions sociales. La tourmente religieuse du seizieme siecle, en
favorisant l'essor d'une libre reflexion, a prelude a la tourmente
politique des temps dans lesquels nous vivons. Le premier de ces
mouvemens a coincide avec l'epoque de l'etablissement des colonies
Europeennes en Amerique; le second s'est fait sentir vers la fin du
dix-huitieme siecle, et a fini par briser les liens de dependance qui
unissaient les deux mondes. Une circonstance sur laquelle on n'a
peut-etre pas assez fixe l'attention publique et qui tient a ces causes
mysterieuses dont a dependu la distribution inegale du genre humain sur
le globe, a favorisee, on pourrait dire, a rendre possible l'influence
politique que je viens de signaler. Une moitie du globe est restee si
faiblement peuple que, malgre le long travail d'une civilisation
indigene, qui a eu lieu entre les decouvertes de Lief et de Colomb, sur
les cotes Americaines opposees a l'Asie, d'immenses pays dans la partie
orientale n'offroient au quinzieme siecle que des tribus eparses de
peuples chasseurs. Cet etat de depopulation dans des pays fertiles et
eminemment aptes a la culture de nos cereales, a permis aux Europeens
d'y fonder des etablissemens sur une echelle qu'aucune colonisation de
l'Asie et de l'Afrique n'a pu atteindre. Les peuples chasseurs ont ete
refoules des cotes orientales vers l'interieur, et dans le nord de
l'Amerique, sous des climats et des aspects de vegetation tres analogues
a ceux des iles Britanniques, il s'est forme par emigration, des la fin
de l'annee 1620, des communautes dont les institutions se presentent
comme le reflet des institutions libres de la mere patrie. La Nouvelle
Angleterre n'etoit pas primitivement un etablissement d'industrie et de
commerce, comme le sont encore les factoreries de l'Afrique; ce n'etoit
pas une domination sur les peuples agricoles d'une race differente,
comme l'empire Britannique dans l'Inde, et pendant longtemps, l'empire
Espagnole au Mexique et au Perou. La Nouvelle Angleterre, qui a recu une
premiere colonisation de quatre mille familles de puritains, dont
descend aujourd'hui un tiers de la population blanche des Etats Unis,
etoit un etablissement religieux. La liberte civile s'y montrait des
l'origine inseparable de la liberte du culte. Or l'histoire nous revele
que les institutions libres de l'Angleterre, de la Hollande, et de la
Suisse, malgre leur proximite, n'ont pas reagi sur les peuples de
l'Europe latine, comme ce reflet de formes de gouvernemens entierement
democratiques qui, loin de tout ennemi exterieur, favorises par une
tendance uniforme et constante de souvenirs et de vielles moeurs, ont
pris dans un calme longtemps prolonge, des developpemens inconnus aux
temps modernes. C'est ainsi que le manque de population dans des regions
des Nouveau Continent opposees a l'Europe, et le libre et prodigieux
accroissement d'une colonisation Anglaise audela de la grande vallee de
l'Atlantique, a puissamment contribue a changer la face politique et les
destinees de l'ancien continent. On a affirme que si Colomb n'avoit pas
change, selon les conseils d'Alonzo Pinzon,[313] le 7 Octobre, 1492, la
direction de sa route, qui etoit de l'est a l'ouest, et gouverne vers le
sud-ouest, il seroit entre dans le courant d'eau chaude ou Gulf Stream,
et auroit ete porte vers la Floride, et de la peut-etre vers le cap
Hatteras et la Virginie, incident d'une immense importance, puisqu'il
auroit pu donner aux Etats Unis, en lieu d'une population Protestante
Anglaise, une population Catholique Espagnole."--Humboldt's _Geog. du
Nouveau Continent_, tom. iii., p. 163.]
[Footnote 313: Alonzo s'etoit ecrie "que son coeur lui disoit que pour
trouver la terre, il falloit gouverner vers le sud-ouest." L'inspiration
d'Alonzo etoit moins mysteriuse qu'elle peut le paraitre au premier
abord. Pinzon avoit vu dans la soiree passer des perroquets, et il
savoit que ces oiseaux n'alloient pas sans motif du cote du sud. Jamais
vol d'oiseau n'a eu des suites plus graves.]