Transcriber's Note:
Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have
been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
THE BIRTH OF THE NATION
[Illustration: The First English Church in America.]
'Tis just three hundred years ago
We sailed through unknown Narrows
And landed on an unknown coast
Amid a flight of arrows.
We planted England's standard there,
And taught the Western savage.
In its defence we lightly held
His tomahawk and ravage.
And there, between two forest trees,
We raised our first rude altar;
Roofed by a storm-rent sail we read
Old England's Prayers and Psalter,
An echo in the strange, new land
Awoke to slumber never:
It caught old England's battle-word--
"God and my Right" forever!
THE BIRTH OF THE NATION
JAMESTOWN, 1607
BY
MRS. ROGER A. PRYOR
AUTHOR OF "THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON AND HER TIMES," "REMINISCENCES
OF PEACE AND WAR"
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY WILLIAM DE LEFTWICH DODGE
New York
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd.
1907
All rights reserved
COPYRIGHT, 1907,
BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY.
Set up and electrotyped. Published March, 1907.
Norwood Press
J. S. Cushing & Co.--Berwick & Smith Co.
Norwood, Mass., U.S.A.
To
M. GORDON PRYOR RICE
IN TOKEN OF
HER MOTHER'S LOVE
AND ADMIRATION
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I PAGES
Jamestown Celebration. Legends of the Discovery of America. 1-7
Columbus. The Cabots. Pope Alexander VI. Amerigo Vespucci. The
Power of Spain. Queen Elizabeth's Patent. Sir Humphrey
Gilbert. Our Shores only sighted by the English before 1600
CHAPTER II
Sir Walter Raleigh. Expedition to Islands near North Carolina. 8-15
Glowing Reports. Failure of First Colony. Enmity of Indians.
Second Colony to Roanoke Island. Virginia Dare. Expedition for
Relief of Colony. Colonists had Disappeared. Fate never Known
CHAPTER III
Death of Queen Elizabeth. James I., Appearance and Character. 16-33
Corrupt Court. Poverty of Common People. Highway Robbers.
London Company undertakes Virginia Colony. The Necessities of
a Countess. Extravagance. Political, Religious, and Literary
Aspects of the Time. Royal Charter obtained for New Colony
CHAPTER IV
England's First Colony. Emigrants Subject to Commercial 34-44
Corporation, to Domestic Council, to Superior Council, to
Arbitrary Rule of King. The Three Ships. Christopher Newport.
Allowance for Each Man. Cargo of Ships. Sealed Orders. Robert
Hunt. Books Brought. Character of Colonists. Names of Most
Prominent. Captain John Smith. Motives of Adventurers.
Attitude toward Indians. Little Interest in England. Drayton's
Poem
CHAPTER V
Story of Voyage by Thomas Studley. George Percy. Dissensions 45-55
among Voyagers. Career of John Smith. Ships enter Chesapeake
Bay. A Virginia Welcome. Council as appointed by Sealed
Orders. Wingfield elected President, April 26, 1607. Indians.
Colonists land at Jamestown, May 13. Smith excluded from
Council. Appearance of Forest. Religious Service. First Night
in the New Land
CHAPTER VI
Appearance of New Country. Percy's Description. Flora. Fruits. 56-63
Fauna. Condition and Customs of Indians. Their Implements
CHAPTER VII
Religion of Powhatan's Tribe. Kiwassa. Okeus. Sacrifice of 64-84
Children. Conversion of Indians almost Impossible. Temple at
Uttamussac. Dress and Chants of Priests. Immortality. Fables
taught by Priests. Enmity of Powhatan to English. Suspected of
Massacre of Roanoke Colonies. Prophecies of Priests. No
Written Language of Indians. The Will of the King Law. Law of
Succession. Cruelty of Powhatan. Indian Habitations. No
Furniture. Fire. Light. Occupations and Games of Men. Work
done by Women and Children. Henry Spelman's Story. Indians'
Provision for the Future. Maidens and Young Braves. Music and
Dancing. Traits of Indian Women. Tenderness toward Children.
Powhatan's Unconquerable Hatred. Fate of Indian settled by
Massacre of 1622
CHAPTER VIII
Chief of Paspahegh Tribe welcomes Newport. His Appearance. His 85-95
Behaviour. Work of Colonists. Interviews with Indians.
Wochinchopunck. Indians' Skill in Archery. Expedition up the
River. Town of Powhatan. Percy's Description. Site of
Richmond. Cross Erected. Indians' Assault upon Jamestown. Fort
put in Fighting Order. John Smith under Suspicion. First Trial
by Jury. Smith Acquitted. Reconciliation through Hunt. Smith
admitted to Council. The Eucharist. Savages desire Peace.
Newport leaves for England
CHAPTER IX
The First Mail to England. Enthusiastic Praise of New Country. 96-115
Policy of Colonists to encourage Immigration. Sir Walter
Cope's Letters. Council discuss Abandonment of Colony. Zuñiga
and Newport. Council decides to send Colonists and Provisions.
Letters from Zuñiga to Philip III. of Spain. Letter from
Dudley Carleton. Affairs at the Colony. First Church. Illness.
Percy's Narrative. First Graves in Virginia. England's
Selfishness. John Smith's Narrative. Diverse Elements in
Colony. Character of Wingfield. Deposed, and Ratcliffe put in
his Place. Wingfield's Defence. Indians bring Food. No True
Friendship. Smith seizes Image of Okeus. Savages ransom it
with Provisions. Game of Southern Virginia. Smith takes the
Helm. Log Cabins and Church Built
CHAPTER X
Winter of Unusual Severity. Starvation Threatened. Idleness 116-132
and Waste. Corn procured from Indians. Plans made and
Abandoned. Newport Long Overdue. John Smith explores the
Chickahominy. Important Voyage. Spends a Month with the
Powhatans. Description of Region. Murder of Two of Smith's Men
by Indians. Smith's Adventures. Captured by the Savages. March
to Powhatan. Incident told by William Symondes. Smith's Life
in Danger. Opechancanough tempts Him. Message sent Jamestown.
Indian Orgies. Banquets for Prisoner. Conducted to Powhatan's
Residence on York River
CHAPTER XI
Werowocomoco. Powhatan's Absolute Power. His Cruelty. Indian 133-155
Cookery. Bathing. Worship. Powhatan's Wives and Children. His
Affection for his Children. Pocahontas. The Dress of Indian
Women. The Mirror in the Woods. Smith received by Powhatan.
Powhatan's Costume. A Feast. Pocahontas saves Smith. He is
assigned to her Service. Powhatan asks the Cause of the Coming
of the English. Smith's Reply. Flatters Powhatan. Powhatan's
Attempt to terrify Smith. Professes Friendship. The Truth of
the Pocahontas Incident Discussed. Her Kindness to the English
CHAPTER XII
Indians conduct Smith to Jamestown. His Enemies There. He is 156-176
sentenced to be Hanged. Newport arrives and releases Smith and
Wingfield. Smith sends Gifts to Powhatan. The Character of the
New Colonists. "Newport's News." The King and Carr. Contrast
between Elizabeth and James. Newport's Visit to Powhatan. The
Feast. Finger-bowls and Napkins. Exchange of a Christian for a
Savage. Ill-advised Gifts to Powhatan. Newport Outwitted. A
Disaster from Fire. The Gold Fever. Wingfield and Archer
return to England. Twenty Swords for Twenty Turkeys
CHAPTER XIII
The Church Rebuilt. The Arrival of the _Ph[oe]nix_. Smith's 177-186
"True Relation of Virginia." Powhatan's Plot. Indian Thieves
Captured. Released at the Prayer of Pocahontas. Age of
Pocahontas. Her Visits to the Fort. Her Attire and "Wheels."
Chanco. A Comparison and a Contrast
CHAPTER XIV
Exploration. Greed of the London Company. Dread of Banishment 187-205
to Virginia. A Voyage of Adventure. Smith's Map of Virginia.
Golden Dreams Dispelled. Mutineers. Smith made President of
Virginia. A New Ship and an English Maid. Orders from England.
A Violent Quarrel. Foolish Gifts from James I. to Powhatan.
Indian Ceremonies. Nymphs. Diplomacy. The Coronation of
Powhatan. The Departure of Newport. Illicit Traffic. Flying
Squirrels. "A Rude Answer"
CHAPTER XV
Famine Threatened. "Gentlemen" and Hard Work. A Remedy for 206-227
Profanity. "Noblesse Oblige." Indian Summer. Soap and the
Plague. The First Marriage. A Fortunate Family. Powhatan
Hostile. Indians refuse Supplies. Smith secures Food. Heavy
Snow. The Colonists in Terror of Starvation. Smith's Daring
Plan. Powhatan's Cunning. A Friendly Chief. Smith's Interview
with Powhatan. The Long Harangues and an Apologia. Powhatan's
Scheme foiled by Pocahontas. A Savage Lear. Smith wrests
Supplies from Opechancanough. The Perfidy of Two Dutchmen. Ten
Colonists Drowned. Pocahontas again to the Rescue. Smith
returns to Jamestown
CHAPTER XVI
Smith's Enemies in England. A New Charter. Its Most 228-242
Significant Article. Limits of the Colony Defined. New Rulers
for Virginia. The Governor's Arbitrary Power. This Nation's
Real Founders. The King's Position. His Poverty. Interest of
the Clergy in Virginia. Strachey's Description. Zuñiga's
Anger. Nine Vessels sail to Virginia. John Rolfe and his First
Wife. A Hurricane and the Plague. Many of the New Settlers
Worthless and Profligate. The _Sea Venture_. Sir George
Somers. The Bermudas. The Scene of Shakespeare's "Tempest."
Andrew Marvel's Poem. Prayer, Marriage, and Birth. Ambergris.
New Ships Built
CHAPTER XVII
Smith Hard at Work. The Traitor Dutchmen. Wochinchopunck 243-271
captured and Escapes. Smith's Retaliation for Indian Outrage.
An Indian's Eloquence. Smith gains Influence over Indians.
Search for Raleigh's Lost Colony. Silk Grass. Smith's Energy.
Rats. Argall's News. Seven Vessels reach Jamestown. Ratcliffe
claims Authority. Resistance and Chaos. New Colonies Planted.
Smith buys Place near Present Site of Richmond. Mutineers.
Relations with Indian Emperor Closed. Career in Virginia
Ended. Percy made President _pro tem._ Character of Smith.
Visits and names New England and Boston. Extracts from
Writings. Diverse Opinions of Smith. Thomas Fuller's View.
Smith's Closing Years in London. His Poverty. Grave and
Epitaph in St. Sepulchre. Attitude toward Pocahontas. English
Unwilling to marry Indians. Indian Resentment. Smith's Offer
to subdue Indians after Massacre of 1622 Declined. America's
Debt of Gratitude to Smith
CHAPTER XVIII
Unruly Youths returned to England. Mischievous Letter from 272-293
Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe's Death. Percy's Administration.
"Beggar's Bush." Loss of Smith Disastrous. Indian Risings.
Disease. Famine. "The Starving Time." Coming of the
_Deliverance_ and the _Patience_. Condition of Jamestown. The
New Governor. Machumps and Namontack. All the Colonists embark
for England. Turned back by Lord Delaware. A New Order of
Things. The Church repaired and Adorned. Services Frequent.
Mortality of Early Settlers
CHAPTER XIX
Delaware's Wise Rule. A Nemesis for Traitors. Delaware's 294-313
return to England. Strachey's Manuscripts. Friendly Indians.
The Marriage of Pocahontas to Kocoun. Indian Marriage Customs.
The Costume of an Indian Princess. Human Sacrifices to Okeus.
Pocahontas held for Ransom. John Rolfe's Letter to Governor
Dale. The Baptism of Pocahontas. Her Marriage to John Rolfe.
"The Lady Rebekah"
CHAPTER XX
Governor Dale asks in Marriage Powhatan's Youngest Daughter. 314-321
Powhatan's Reception of the Messenger. The Alliance Politely
Declined. The Last Years of the Old Emperor. His Successor.
The Great Massacre. Jamestown saved by Chanco. The capture and
Death of Opechancanough
CHAPTER XXI
Pocahontas at Court. Smith writes the Queen of her Goodness to 322-331
the Colony. Her Dignified Deportment. King James's Jealousy.
Pocahontas reproaches John Smith. Her Death and Burial. Her
Son and his Descendants. John Randolph of Roanoke
CHAPTER XXII
The Patriots of Jamestown. Their Services as Founders of the 332-339
Freedom of America. Address of Hon. Roger A. Pryor. The Town
after Seat of Government was removed to Williamsburg. The Old
Graveyard. The Lone Cypress. The Gift of Jamestown, by Mr. and
Mrs. Barney, to the Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities. Gift of the Government to Women of the
Association. Restoration by Them. The Old Town Exhumed. Relics
found beneath the Mould of More than Two Centuries
CHAPTER XXIII
Legends of the Old Stone House: Pocahontas; Smith; Blackbeard 340-352
and his Hidden Treasure; Nathaniel Bacon. Conclusion
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
The First English Church in America Frontispiece
FACING PAGE
Queen Elizabeth 8
King James I. 20
Old London--1607 44
Memorial erected by Clergy of the Episcopal Church at 52
Jamestown Island
"The trembling Indian in his canoe hurried past it 68
with bated breath"
Smith's Island, where John Smith was captured by the 124
Indians
The Mirror in the Woods 138
"She rushed forward, and laid her own head upon his" 144
King James and a Petitioner 162
Powhatan Oak, over Three Hundred Years Old 166
Old Fort--Jamestown Island 180
"The newly crowned potentate started with terror" 200
"'Powhatan comes to kill you all'" 222
Captain George Percy 258
St. Luke's, near Smithfield, built in 1623. The 266
Oldest Protestant Church in America
Captain John Smith. From the Bust by Baden-Powell 270
Lord Delaware 286
Pocahontas Memorial Window 290
Marriage of Pocahontas 312
Powhatan Rock, under which the Indian Chief is said 320
to be Buried
Pocahontas at Court 322
Royal Palace, Whitehall 328
Jamestown Church Tower 336
THE BIRTH OF THE NATION
INTRODUCTORY
CHAPTER I
We are about to commemorate the settlement of the English at Jamestown
three hundred years ago. Under God's blessing, we are not only at peace
with all the world, but are bound by ties of close friendship to the great
kingdoms and republics on earth. Therefore, we may confidently expect to
welcome numbers of their representatives to our three hundredth birthday
celebration. Many will be the banners unfurled in waters which ebbed and
flowed in awful silence but three hundred years ago, or were stirred only
by the paddle of the Indian canoe; and loud the thunders of welcome and
greeting from shores which echoed then with the scream of the eagle and
the war-whoop of the savage.
The story of a world emerging from the darkness in which it had been
hidden for countless ages will always thrill the imagination. Phantom
ships loom dimly out of the mists of a far-off time. Strange names are
whispered in vague traditions, which are found in no written record--names
of mighty mariners, who were blown by tempests upon a strange
coast,--Arthur; Malgro; Brandon; a "Fryer of Lynn," who by reason of his
"black art" reached the North Pole in 1360; Madock, "sonne of Quinneth,
Prince of Wales," a man of peace, who sought refuge in a wilderness
because of strife among his brethren; Leif, the Norwegian; Nicolo Zeno,
the Venetian; Hanno, the Carthaginian! Colossal figures tremble for a
moment on the horizon, and are lost in fog and doubt.
At last the great Genoese sails forth, and becomes a tangible figure
in history. Often as his story may be told, familiar as it is to every
schoolboy in the land, we can never hear it without a keen realization of
its personal relations to ourselves. "It would be impossible," said Daniel
Webster, "for us to read the discovery of our continent without being
reminded how much it has affected our own fortunes and our own existence.
It would be unnatural for us to contemplate with unaffected minds that
most touching and pathetic scene when the great discoverer of America
stood on the deck of his shattered bark, the shades of night falling
on the sea, yet no man sleeping; tossed on the billows of an unknown
ocean, yet the stronger billows of alternate hope and despair tossing his
own troubled thoughts; extending forward his harassed frame, straining
westward his anxious and eager eyes, till Heaven at last granted him a
moment of rapture and ecstasy, in blessing his vision with the sight of
an unknown world."
Intensely interesting are the narratives of the daring adventurers who
followed Columbus--of the Cabots who landed and claimed the country
for the English crown; of the Spaniards and Portuguese upon whom Pope
Alexander the Sixth generously bestowed the world, giving to the Spaniards
the western, and to the Portuguese the eastern part of it,[1] for in those
days it was but necessary for any pirate or sea adventurer from either
nation to land and erect a stone or stick on the coast, to constitute a
valid claim to possession in the name of Spain or Portugal and a right to
drive out or exterminate the ancient inhabitants and owners of the land.
But of all the early adventurers none is so interesting to us as Amerigo
Vespucci, whose name we bear. He won for himself this honour simply and
solely because of his literary ability, which enabled him to write an
interesting narrative of his adventures. The historian is fortunate who
has no one to contradict him. He may draw his pictures from imagination
and make them as gorgeous as he pleases. There is no reason to believe
that Vespucci failed to make liberal use of this privilege; but that did
not in the least retard the success of his book. It has been repeatedly
asserted that it was not through his fault that the name of this continent
was given to him, rather than to the man who deserved that honour; that
his German translator, Martin Waldsemüller, suggested it; that the idea
was comical enough to catch the fancy of the Portuguese, who at once
adopted it. The Spaniards, on the other hand, resented it, and complained
bitterly that the honour was stolen from the rightful possessor. On
the death of Columbus, Vespucci entered the service of Spain, and was
stationed at Seville, with the title of pilot-major. Part of his duty was
to mark out on charts the tracks to be followed by Spanish navigators,
and he always distinguished the new world, first, by the words "Amerigo's
Land," and presently, "America"! This settles his responsibility for a
fraud which never did and never will deceive anybody. He was a skilful
navigator,--a great man in his day and generation,--but no renown to him
has gone with the name he strove to make immortal. Vespucci has ever been
deemed a very inconsiderable person in comparison with Columbus, although
it has come to pass that half the world bears his name.
The Spaniard, with fire and sword, swiftly followed Vespucci. He took
possession of Florida, overthrew the temples and idols in Mexico,
conquered Peru! The French were already here,--that did not signify,--the
power of Spain was speedily established. Before the English flag "floated
over so much as a log fort, Spain was mistress of Central America." Her
ships crept along the coast, peered into Chesapeake Bay, and explored
harbours and inlets with reference to future possession.
It was quite time for England to remember and confirm her claim. Spain
was her enemy. Spain was growing rich from American gold, and powerful
by reason of American possessions. Already four hundred vessels came
annually from the harbours of Portugal and Spain (and some from France and
England), to the shores of Newfoundland. Queen Elizabeth granted a liberal
patent[2] to one of her bravest soldiers, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with the
right to establish a colony. With Sir Walter Raleigh's aid, he equipped
a squadron of three ships, but misfortunes befell his little vessels,
and he attempted to return to England with two ships, the _Hind_ and the
_Squirrel_. A great storm arose; the oldest mariner had "never seen a more
outrageous sea," and in it the _Squirrel_ perished. The _Hind_ returned
to tell the story of Sir Humphrey's devotion and courage; how out of the
darkness a brave voice rang out--the voice of the good old knight to whom
the Queen had given with her blessing a golden anchor set with pearls--"Be
of good cheer, my friends! We are as near to Heaven by sea as by land,"
and how his ship went down in the night!
Such was the spirit of the few Englishmen who came hither before 1600 on
fruitless voyages--sighting our shores only--like sea-birds which hover
on restless wing near the coast for a moment, then wheel and return to
their nests in some far-away island.