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Preview Introduction to the History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia

INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE COLONY AND ANCIENT DOMINION OF VIRGINIA. BY CHARLES CAMPBELL IN ONE VOLUME. RICHMOND: MINOR, PUBLISHER. B. B. MDCCCXLV1I. ENTERED, according- to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, By CHARLES CAMPBELL, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Virginia. WM. MACFARI.ANE, PRINTER. S. L. MESSENGER OFFICE. HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. Portuguese, French and Spanish naviga- CHAPTER I. tors now visited North America, with what motives, adventures and success, it is not 1492-1591. necessary to relate here. [1583.] Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, commissioned by Queen Eliz- Earlyvoyagesof Discovery; Madoc;TheNorthmen; Co- abeth and assisted by his half-brother, Wal- lumbus; John Cabot; Sebastian Cabot; SirHumphrey ter Raleigh, fitted out a small fleet and made Gilbert; Walter Raleigh; Expedition of Amidas and a voyage to Newfoundland, where he landed Barlow; They land on Wococon Island; Theyreturn and took formal possession of the country. toEngland; The new country named Virginia; Gren- This intrepid navigator embarking to return ville's Expedition; Colony of Roanoke; Lane Govern- in the Squirrel, a vessel ofonlyten tons, was otro;VTihrgeinCioal;onLyeaavbeasndoanesdma;llToCboalcocnoy;aGtreRnovialnloekree;turSnisr lost in a storm. When last seen by the com- RWaalletiegrh RCahlaeritgehresde;ndsWhoiutteanGootvheerrnEoxrp;edRiotaionnok;eCiftoyunodl spuarnryouonfdtehde bHyinidm,miSnirenHtumpeprhilrse,y,wasaltsheoautgehd deserted; Virginia Dare,first child born inthe Colony; calmly on deck, with a book in his hand, and White returns for supplies; The Aimada; Raleigh as- was heard to exclaim, " Be of good cheer, signsthe Colonyto a Company; White returns to Vir- my friends, it is as near to Heaven by sea as ginia; Findsthe Colony extinct; Deathof Sir Richard by land." Grenville. Not daunted bythe fate ofhis heroickins- man, Raleigh persisted in the design of ef- The discoveries attributed to Madoc, the fecting a settlement in America, and being Welsh prince, have afforded a theme for the now high in the Queen's favor, obtained let- creations of poetry; those of the Northmen ters patent forthat purpose,dated March2.3th, of Iceland, better authenticated, still engage 1584. Aided by some gentlemen and mer- the dim researches of antiquarian curiosity. chants, particularly by his gallant kinsmen, The glory of having made the first certain Sir Richard Grenville, and Mr. William San- discovery ofthe New World, belongs to Co- derson who had married his niece. Raleigh lumbus. It was, however, the good fortune succeeded in providing two small vessels. of the Cabots, to be the first who actually These were put under command ofCaptains reached the main hind. It was in 1492, that Philip Amidas and Arthur Barlow. Barlow the Genoese navigator fust landed on the had already served with distinction under shores of St. Salvador. [1497.] Giovanni Raleigh in Ireland. The two vessels left the Gaboto, in English, John Cabot, a Venetian Thames on the 27thvof April, 1584. Pursu- merchant, resident at Bristol, with his son, ing the old circuitous route by the Canaries, Sebastian, a native of that city, having ob- they reachedthe West Indies. Aftera shorl tained a patent from Henry VII., sailed un- stay there, they sailed North, and early in der his flag and discovered the main conti- July, astheyapproached thecoast ofFlorida, nent ofAmerica, amid the inhospitable rigors the mariners were regaled with the odors of of the wintry North. It was more than a a thousand flowers wafted from the fragrant year subsequent, thai Columbus, in his third shore. Amidas and Barlow, passing one voyage, set his foot on the mam land of the hundred and twenty miles farther, landed on South. [1498.J Sebastian Cabot again cross- the island of Wococon, ' in the stormy re- ed the Atlantic, and coasted from the 58th degree ofNorth latitude, along the shores of the United States, perhaps as far as to the JonesS,eeaignra"phMiecmodresicarlisptoifonNo"IrtihbiCsariosllainnda,,"anbdy o.1fStehaewecilrl- Southern boundary of Maryland. cumstancesofthelandingthere. Thiswriter,v\hoevinces — HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [Chap. I. gion of Cape Hatteras, one of a long series of life, Virginia.* Raleigh was shortly af- of narrow, low, sandy islands, which seem ter returned to parliamentfrom the countyof like breast-works to defend the main land Devon and about the same period knighted. from the fury of the ocean. The English The Queen granted him also a patent to li- took possessionofthecountryinthe Queen's cense the vending of wines throughout the name. The valleys were wooded with tall kingdom. Such a monopolywas part ofthe cedars, overrun with vines hung in rich fes- arbitrary system of that day. Nor was Sir toons, the grapes clustering in profusion on Walter unconscious ofits injustice, for when the ground and trailing in the sea. Fortwo some years afterwards a spirit of resistance days no inhabitant was seen ; on the third a to itshoweditselfin the HouseofCommons, canoe with three men approached. One of and amemberwas warmly inveighing against them was readily persuaded to come aboard, it, Sir Walter was observed to blush. Yet when some presents gained his confidence. he voted for the abolition of such monopo- Goingawayhebegan to fish, andhavingload- lies, and no one could have made a more ed his canoereturned, and dividing hiscargo munificent use ofsuch emoluments, than he into two parts, signified that one was for the did in carrying out his grand schemes ofthe ship, the otherforthe pinnace. On the next discovery and colonization of Virginia. day they received a visit from some canoes, [1585.] He fitted out a fleet of seven ves- in which were forty or fifty men, amongst sels for that country, and entrusted the com- whomwas Granganameo, the King'sbrother. mand of it to his relative, Sir Richard Gren- The King, Wingina, himself lay at his chief ville. This gallant officer had, like the cele- town, six miles distant, confined by severe brated Cervantes, shared in the famous battle wounds received in a recent battle. Here of Lepanto, and after distinguishing himself the English were hospitably entertained by by his conduct during the Irish rebellion, the wife of Granganameo. She was small, had become a conspicuous member of par- prettyand bashful, clothed in a leathern man- liament. Grenville was accompanied by tle with the fur turned in herlongblackhair Thomas Candish, or Cavendish, afterwards ; was restrained by a band of white coral renowned asa circumnavigator oftheglobe ; strings ofpearlhungfrom her ears and reach- ThomasHariot, afriendofRaleighanda pro- ed to her waist. The disposition of the na- found mathematician, and John With, an ar- tivesseemedgentle,theirmannerseasy pres- tist, whose pencil supplied materials for the ; ents and tralfic soon conciliated their good illustration of the works of De Bry and Bev- will. Thecountry was called Wingandacoa; erley. On the 26th ofJune, thefleetanchor- the soil was found rich; the air mild and sa- edatWococon, butthenavigation therebeing lubrious; the forests abounded with a variety found too perilous, they proceeded through of"sweet-smelling trees" and oaks superior Ocracock inlet to the island of Roanoke, in size to those ofEngland. Fruits, melons, (at the mouth of Albemarle Sound,) which nuts and esculent roots were observed the they selected as the seat ofthe Colony. The ; woods were stocked with game and the wa- colonists one hundred and eight in number ters with innumerable fish and wild fowl. were landed. Manteo, whohadreturnedwith Alter having examined as much of the inte- them, had already been sent from Wococon, rior as their time would permit, Amidas and to announce their arrival to his king, Win- Barlow sailed homeward, accompanied by gina. Grenville, accompanied byLane, Ha- two of the natives, Manteo and VVanchese. riot, Cavendish and others, explored the coast Queen Elizabeth, charmed with the glowing for eighty miles southward, to the town of descriptions of the new country, which the Secotan, in the present county of Craven, enthusiastic adventurers gaye her on their return, named it, in allusion to her own state Stub's History of Virginia, 11. Tytler's Life of Sir Walter Raleigh: Edit, in Greenbank's Periodical Lib. Bancroft's History of the United States, 1 cap. 1,2,3. afinegenius, vindicates Ins native Slate,against what he Beverley's History of Virginia, B. 1, p. 2. Smith's His- conceived to bethe unjust,and arrogantclaimsofVirginia. toryof Virginia, B. 1,p.79-85. Early History of Rhode Hisargumentwouldhavelost noneofitsforceby theomis- Island, 179-181. sion <>i the splenetic and invidious remarks in which he Maz/.ei'saccountof theearly settlement of Virginiain indulges. There is no real ground ol jealousy between tin1commencement of Ins Recherchessur les Etats-Unis thesetwoStates. TherecollectionsofSirWalterRaleigh's abounds in errors. Yet this work was written expressly Colony belongequally to both. forthepurposeofcorrectingtheerrors ofotherwriters. 1585.] HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 5 North Carolina. During this excursion, the: and habits of the natives. Hariot had accu- Indians at a village called Aquascogoc, stole rately observed the soil and productions of a silver cup. A boat being despatched to tin; country, an account of which he after- reclaim it, the astonished inhabitants fled to \\ard• published.* He, Lane, and someother the woods, and the English, regardless at of the Colonists had learned from the In- once ofthedictates ofprudence and human- dians the use of a narcotic plant, called by ity, burnt the town and destroyed the stand- them Uppowoc, by the Europeans, tobacco. ing corn. Grenville in a short time re-em- The natives smoked it ; sprinkled the dust of barked for England with a valuable cargo of it on their fishing weirs, to makethem fortu- skins and furs, and on his voyage captured a nate; burntit in sacrificesto appease the an- rich Spanish prize. ger ofthe gods, and scattered itin the airand Lane now extended his discoveries to the on the water, to allay the fury of the tem- Northward, asfarasthetownofChesapeakes, pest. Lane carried back some tobacco to on Elizabeth river, near where Norfolk now England, supposed to be the first ever intro- stands, and about one hundred and thirty duced into that kingdom.t Sir Walter Ra- miles from the island of Roanoke. The leigh by his example soon rendered the use Chowan riverwas also explored, and avoyage of this seductive leaf fashionable at court. was made up the Roanoke, then known as His tobacco-box and pipes were long pre- theMoratoc. Lane, althoughagood soldier, served in England by the curiosity of anti- seems to have wanted some of the qualities quaries. It is related that he made a wager indispensable in the founder of a new plan- with the Queen, that he could calculate the tation. The Indians grew morehostile, con- weight ofthe smoke evaporated from a pipe- spiracies were entered into for ihe destruc- full of tobacco. This he easily won, by first tion of the whites, and the rash and bloody weighing the tobacco and then the ashes, measures employed to defeat their machina- when the queen agreed, that the difference tions, only aggravated the mischief. The must have gone offin smoke. Upon paying colonists, filledwith alarm, became impatient the guineas, Elizabeth gaily remarked, that to escape from a scene ofso many privations " she had heard of many workers in the fire, and so much danger. In this critical junc- that had turned their gold into smoke, but ture, Sir Francis Drake arrived with a fleet that Sir Walter was the first that had turned of twenty-three sail. This celebrated navi- his smoke into gold." Anotheranecdoteis, gator, returning from a long cruise, in part that a country servant of Raleigh's bringing privateering, in part exploring, anchored near him a tankard of ale and nutmeg into his Roanoke, to enquire into the welfare of the study, as he was intently reading and smo- plantation of his friend, Sir Walter Raleigh. king, was so alarmed ;il seeing clouds of Drake furnished Lane with vessels and sup- smoke issuing from his master's mouth, that plies amply sufficient to complete the dis- he ran down stairs, crying out that Sir Wal- covery of the country and to ensure a safe ter was on lire. return home, should that alternative be found Sir Walter Raleigh never visited Virginia, necessary. A violent storm raging for four although it has been so represented by sev- days, dispersed and shattered Drake's lleet eral writers. Had he in person undertaken and destroyed the vessels that had been as- the plantation ofthe Colony, it would proba- signed to Lane. The tempest at length sub- bly have been managed with more prudence siding, Drake generously offered Lane ano- and crowned with better success. ther ship, with supplies. But the governor, Drake's lleet had hardly lost sight of the acquiescing in the unanimous desire of the coast before a vessel arrived at Roanoke with colonists, requested permission for them all supplies for the Colony. Finding it aban- to embark in the fleet and return to England. doned she sailed forEngland. The request Wasgranted, and thus ended the Within a fortnight after, Sir Richard Gren- first actual settlementofthe English in Ame- ville, with three reliefvessels, fitted outprin- rica. During the year which the Colony had * "ATrueReportofthe New-foundland of Virginia." passed at Roanoke. Willi had made drawings Tmohreencaommemo"tnltyheusaeudt.hor is properly Heriot, but II,mot is from nature illustrative of the appearance t SeoMrs.Thompson's Lifeof Raleigh,inAppendix. HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [Chap. I. cipallybyRaleigh,arrivedoffVirginia. Gren- Elizabeth in her council of war. The con- ville unwilling that the English should lose juncture was most unpropitious to the inter- possession ofthe country, left fifteen menon ests of the infant Colony. Raleigh never- the island of Roanoke with provisions for theless found time even in this portentous two years. crisis ofpublicaffairs todespatch White with No disappointment could abate the in- supplies in two vessels. But the company, domitable resolution ofRaleigh. Duringthe running after prizes, encountered privateers, ensuing year, 1587, he sent out a new expe- and after a bloody engagement, White'sves- dition ofthree vessels, to establish aColony, sels were so disabled and plundered as to be which he chartered by the name of " The obliged to put back to England, whilst it was Governor and assistants of the city of Ra- impossible to refit, owing to the urgency of leigh in Virginia.' John White was sent more important matters. out as Governor with twelve counsellors, and But even after the destruction of the Ar- they were directed to establish themselves mada, Sir Walter Raleigh found it impracti- at the town of Chesapeakes, on Elizabeth cable to prosecute any further his favorite de- River.* Arriving at Roanoke near the end of sign of establishing a Colony in Virginia. July, White found the Colony deserted, hu- [1589.] He formed a company ofmerchants man bones scattered on the beach, the fort and adventurers and assigned to it his pro- rased, and deer couching in the ruinous prietary rights.* In this company were cabins, or feeding on the vegetation which Thomas Smith a wealthy London merchant, had overgrown the floor and crept up the afterwards knighted, and Richard Hakluyt, walls. Dean of Westminster, and the compiler of Raleigh'sjudiciousorder, instructingWhite a celebrated collection ofvoyages. Raleigh, to plant the Colony on the banks of Eliza- at the time of making this assignment, gave beth river, was not carried into effect, owing a hundred pounds for propagating Christian- to the refusal of Ferdinando, the naval offi- ity among the natives ofVirginia. Afterex- cer, to assist in exploring the country forthat periencing a long series ofvexations, difficul- purpose. An English sailor being slain by ties and disappointments, he had expended the savages, a party was despatched toavenge forty thousand pounds in efforts for planting his death, and by mistake unfortunately killed a Colony in America. At length disengaged several of a friendly tribe. Manteo, by Ra- from this enterprise, he indulged his martial leigh's direction, was christened and created genius, and bent all his energies against the Lord of Roanukc and Dassamonpeake. On colossal ambition ofSpain, who now aspired the 18th of August, the governor's daughter, to overshadow the world. Eleanor, wife to Ananias Dare, one of the More than another year was suffered to council, gave birth to a daughter, the first elapse, before While returned to search for christian child born in the country, and hence the long neglected Colony. He had now named Virginia. Dissensions now arose been absent from it for three years, and felt among the settlers, and although they were the solicitude not onlyofagovernor,butalso not in want of stores, some demanded per- of a parent. Upon his departure from Roa- mission to go home ; others violently op- noke, it had been concerted between him and posed : at last, however, all joined iii request- the settlers, thai if they should abandon that ing the governor to sail for England and re- island for another seat, they should carve the turn with supplies. To this he reluctantly name of the place to which they should re- consented, and leaving Roanoke on the 27th move, on some conspicuous object, and if of August, lf)X7, where he left eighty-nine they went away in distress, a cross should be men, seventeen women and eleven children, carved above the name. Upon his arrival at he arrived in England on the 5th of Novem- Roano—ke, White found not one of the Colo- ber. Ile found the kingdom wholly engross- nists: the houses had been dismantled and ed in taking measures ofdefence against the threatened invasion of the Spanish Armada. *" Lo Colonel Richard Blanddanssadissertationpicine Raleigh, Grenville, and Lane, were assisting ilc sens et d'erudilion, sur losdroits des Colonies, impri- meeen Virginieen 1766,dil que Raleigh renonca a ses * Stith,23. Tytler's Raleigh,'S3. OUy's R..lci-h, 74. droits et ncparle d' :une exception." Recherchessur Bancroft's Hist. U. S. 1.,cap..1- les Etats-Unis,(by Mazzei,) v. 1., p. 9. — : HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 1591.] a fort erected goods had been buried inthe the military art; Serves in theLow countries; Repairs eoanrtha apnodstinwpia;trhtidnistihnetertorretd athnedswcoatrtdercedro;a- tcoisSecso;taldavnedn;tuRreetsurinnsFrtaoncWeil;lEomugbhabryks; fSotruIdtiaelsy;aTndhrexoewrn- tan was carved without, however, a cross into the sea; His escape; Joins the Austrians in the above it. Twuarrkwsi;thMatdheeTpurriksson;erHiatsRgoatltleannttroyn;;CHoimsbasutffweirtihngstharnede The weather proving stormy, seven of the escape; Voyages andTravels; Returns toEngland. company were lostby the capsizingofaboat, the stock of provisions grew short, and no [1602.] Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, further search was then made for the unfor- deviating from the oblique route by the Ca- tunate Colonists. None of them ever was naries and the West Indies, made a direct found, and whether they perished by famine voyage in a small bark across the Atlantic, or by the Indian tomahawk, was left asubject and in seven weeks reached Massachusetts ofmournful conjecture. The site ofthe Col- Bay. It was on this occasion, that English- ony was unfortunate,beingdifficultofaccess men for the first time landed on the soil of and near the stormy Cape Hatteras, whose New England. Gosnold returned to Eng- very name is synonymous with danger and land in a short passage of five weeks. In shipwreck. Thus after many nobly planned these early voyages, the heroism of the navi- but unhappily conducted expeditions, and gators is the more admirable, when we advert enormous expense of life and treasure, the to the extremely small burthen of their ves- first plantation of Virginia became extinct. sels and the imperfection ofnautical science [1591.] Sir Richard Grenville fell in a at that day. bloody action with a Spanish fleet near the [1606.] Measures were taken in England Azores. Mortally wounded, he wasremoved for planting another Colony, But prelimi- on board one of the enemy's ships and in nary to a relation of the settlement of Vir- two days died. In the hour of his death, he ginia proper, it isnecessary to give some his- said i—n the Spanish language to thosearound tory of Captain John Smith, "the father of haijmoy:ous"aHnedrequIi,etRimcihnadr,dfoGrretnhvaitlIleh,avdeieenwdietdh theHeColwoansy.b"orn at Willoughby in Lincoln- my life as a true soldier ought to do, fighting shire, England, in 1579, being descended,on for his country, queen, religion and honor, his father's side, from an ancient family of my soul willingly departing from this body, Crudley, in Lancashire, on his mother's, from leaving behind the lasting fame ofhavingbe- the Rickands at Great Heck, in Yorkshire.* haved as every valiant soldier is in his duty He was educated at the free schools of Al- boundto do."* Thisgallant knight was next ford and Louth. At the age of thirteen, his to his kinsman, Sir Walter Raleigh, the prin- mind being bent upon bold adventures, he cipal personconcerned in the first settlement sold his satchel, books and all hehad, intend- of Virginia.! ing to go privately to sea. His father's death occurringjust then, prevented the execution ofthatscheme. Havingbeforelosthismother, he was now left an orphan with a competent CHAPTER II. estate, which, however, being too young to receive, he littleregarded. Atfifteen he was 1591—1604. bound apprentice toThomas ScndallofLinn, Gosnold's Voyage to New England Early Life and Ad- "the greatest merchant of all those parts." ; But in a little time, disgusted with the mo- vAetnttuhriersteoenf yCeaaprtsaionfJaoghenunSdmeirtthak;esBotrongoattoWisleal;ouAghtbfyif-; notony of that life, he quit it and accompa- teen apprenticetoamerchant; Visits France; Studies Tnhieedrea hseonbegofanKutonlleaWrinlltohuegmhiblyitatroy Farrta,nacmei. afterwardsservedsomeyearsin the Low coun- Dra*kCea,m1d6e9n.,qTuhoeteddyibnygBwaorrrdoswoifnhGirsenLviifleleofmaSiyrrFecraalnlcitso tries. Thence he embarked for Scotland, mindthose of Campbell's Lochiel with letters recommending him to the notice "Andleavingindeathnobloton my name, Lookproudly toheaven fromadeath-bedoffame." * Smith's Hist, of Va. I., 1-54. "TheTrve Travclls, Adventures and Observations of Captaine lohn Smith." tStith's Hist,of Va.,29. Tytler's Raleigh,18. Hillard'sLife of Smith in Sparks' American Biography. HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [Chap. II. of King James VI. After suffering illness montwith five hundred sequins and a box of and shipwreck, Smith reachedScotland but jewels, his share of the prize. In Italy he ; finding himself without money or means ne- met with Lord Willoughby and his brother, cessary to make himselfa courtier, he return- bothrecently wounded in a duel. At Rome ed to his native place, Willoughby. There, he saw the Pope, and surveyed the wonders indulging a romantic taste, he built for him- of the imperial city. Embarking at Venice, self a lodge in a neighboring forest, where he crossed over to the wild regions of Alba- he studied military history and tactics, and nia and Dalmatia. Visiting next Gratz, in amused his leisure with hunting and horse- Styria, he met there the archdukeFerdinand, manship. In this retreat he was visited by andjoining a German regiment, engaged in an Italian gentleman in the service of the thewarwiththeTurks. AtthesiegeofOlym- Earl of Lincoln, who persuaded him to re- pack and of Stowle Wessenburg, in 1601, turn into the world, and he now repaired Smith distinguished himself as a volunteer once more to the Low countries. Having in the artillery service. For his good con- made himself master of horsemanship and duct he was put in command of two hun- the use ofarms, Smith resolved to try his for- dred and fifty horse under Count Meldritch. tune against the Turks. Proceeding to St. In the Battle of Girke he had a horse killed Valery, in France, his trunks were plundered underhim, and was badly wounded. At the by some French gallants, and he was forced siege of Regal he encountered and slew in to sell his cloak to pay his passage. Wan- a tournament three several Turkish champi- dering in France he experienced extraordi- ons, Turbashaw, Grualgo, and Bonny Mul- nary vicissitudes of fortune. Walking one gro. For these exploits he was honored day in a forest, worn out with distress and with a triumphal procession, in which the fatigue, he fell prostrate on the ground by the three Turks' heads were borne on lances. side of a fountain, scarcely hoping ever to A horse richly caparisoned was presented to rise again. Found in this condition by a him with acimeter and belt worth three hun- humane farmer, his necessities were relieved dred ducats, and he was promoted to the and he was enabled to pursue his journey. rank of Major. In the bloody battle ofRot- At another time he met in agroveone ofthe tenton he was wounded and made prisoner. Frenchmen who had robbed him. Without With such of the prisoners as escaped mas- a word on eitherside they drew their swords sacre, he was sold into slavery at Axiopolis and fought. The Frenchman soon fell, but andfell into the hands ofthe Bashaw Bogall, confessing his guilt, Smith, though hurt in who sent him by way of Adrianople to Con- the rencontre, spared his life. stantinople, a present to his youthful mis- Aided by the liberality of a former ac- tress, Charatza Tragabigzanda. Captivated quaintance, "the Earl of Ployer," he wentto with her prisoner, she treated him tenderly, Marseilles and embarked in a vessel crowded and to prevent his being sold again, senthim with pilgrims bound for Rome. On the voy- to remain for a time with her brother, the age, the weather proving stormy, the pil- Tymour Bashaw ofNalbritz, in Tartary. He grims, withbitterimprecationsagainstQueen occupied a stone castle near the sea ofAzof. Elizabeth and Smith, cast him as a heretic Immediately on Smith's arrival his head was into the sea, in order to propitiate Heaven. shaved, an iron collar rivetted on his neck, He saved himself by swimmingto the islet of and he was clothed inhair-cloth. Here long St. Mary, (opposite Nice, in Savoy,) which he suffered cruel bondage. At length one he found inhabited only by a few cattle and day while threshing in a barn, the Bashaw goals. On the next day he was taken upby having cruelly beaten and reviled him, he a French ship, the Captain of which proving turned and slew him on the spot with the to be a friend of " the Earl of Ployer," en- threshing bat, then put on his clothes, hid tertained him kindly. With him Smith vis- his body in thestraw,filled a sack with corn, ited Alexandria in Egypt, Scanderoon, the closed thedoors,mounted the Bashaw'shorse Archipelago, and coast of Greece. During .mil rode oil'. After wanderingforsomedays the cruise, a Venetian argosy was captured he fell in with a highway, and observing that alter a desperate action, in which Smith dis- the roads leading towards Russia were indi- played signal courage. He landed in Pied- cated by a cross, he followed that sign, and HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. 9 1604-7.] in sixteen days reached Ecopolis, a Russian ipril 10th, 1606, letters patent, were is- frontierpostonthe Don. Thegovernorthere sued authorizing the establishment of two took off his irons, and lie was kindly treated Colonies in Virginiaand other parts ofAmer- by him and the lady Callamata. Passing ica. All the country from 34 to 45 degrees through Russia and Poland, he returned to of North latitude, then known as Virginia, Transylvania, in December, 1G03. Here he was divided into two colonies, the first, or met many friends and enjoyed so much hap- Southern, and the second, orNorthern. The piness, that nothing less than his desire to Southern colony was appropriated to Lon- revisit his native country could have torn him don, and the plantation of it was entrusted away. Proceedingthrough Hungary, Mora- toSirThomas Gates and Sir George Somcrs, via and Bohemia, he went to Leipsic, where knights, Richard Hackluyt clerk, prebendary he found Prince Sigismund, who gave him of Westminster, Edward Maria Wingfield fifteen hundred golden ducats to repair his and gome others. It was provided that the losses. TravellingthroughGermany, France Colony should have a council of its own, and Spain, from Gibraltar he sailed for Tan- subject to a superior council in England. gier, in Africa, and to the city of Morocco. The inferior council was authorized tosearch Taking passage in a French man-of-war, he for and dig mines, coin money, carry over was present in a terrible sea-fight with two adventurers and repel intruders. Revenue Spanish ships, and after touching at Santa duties were imposed, the colonists invested Cruz, Cape Goa and Mogadore, he finally with the privileges of English subjects, and returned to England about the year 1604. the lands granted to settlers in free andcom- mon soccage. * On the 20th of November, 1606, instructions were given by the Crown CHAPTER for the government of the two Colonies, di- III. rectingthat the council in Englandshouldbe appointed by the Crowd, thelocalcouncilby 1604—1607. the superiorone inEngland, the localcouncil Gosnold, Smithandotherssetonfootanotherexpedition to choose a President annually from its own ; JamesI.issues Letters patent; Instructions forgovern- body, the Christian religion to be preached, mentof the Colony; Charter granted to London Com- lands to descend as in England, the trial by pany for First Colonyof Virginia; Sir Thomas Smith jury securedin criminal causes, andthecoun- Treasurer; Governmentof the Colony; Three vessels cil empowered to determine all civil actions, under Newport sail for Virginia; The voyage; Enter all produce and goods imported to be stored Chesapeake Bay; Ascend the James river; The Eng- in magazines, a clerk and treasurer, or Cape lishentertainedbytheChiefofthe Quiyoughcohanocks; Merchant to be appointed for the colony. LandingatJamestown; VVhigfieldPresident; Smithex- The stockholders, styled adventurers, were cluded fromthe council. authorized to organize a company for the Bartholomew Gosnold was the prime mo- management, of the business of the colony, ver, and CaptainJohn Smiththechiefactorin and to superintend the proceedings of the the settlement of Virginia. Gosnold, * who local council. The Colonists were enjoined had already made avoyage to New England, to treat the natives with kindness, and to in 1602, for many years fruitlessly labored to endeavor by till means to convert them to set on foot an expedition for that purpose. Christianity. t March 9th, 1607, the gen- At length he was reinforced in his efforts by eral conned was enlarged and further in- Captain Smith, Edward Maria Wingfield, a structions given for its government. May merchant, Robert Hunt, a clergyman, and 23rd, a charter was granted to the treasurer other-, and by their united exertions, certain and company of adventurers for the city of the nobility, gentry and merchants be- of London for the first Colonj of Virginia. came interested in the project, and King To thi^ companj was granted all the land in James the first, who, in 1603, hadsucceeded that part of America called Virginia, from Elizabeth, was induced to lend it his coun- Point Comfort along from the sea-coasl to tenance, t orthward two hundred miles, and to * Stith,30. * llening's Statutes al Large, Vol. I, p.-r'T. t Smith, Vol. I,p. 149. j 1 Hi i. . 67. Stith 30, andAppendix 2. 10 HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. [Chap. III. the Southward two hundred miles up into the interposition ofthe clergyman, Mr. Hunt. the land from sea to sea West and North- The winds at length proving favorable, the west. The council in England was authori- little fleet proceeded along the old route, by zed to establish forms of government for the the Canaries, to the West Indies, and after Colony, and the governorwasempowered, in passing three weeks there, sailed in quest of case of rebellion, or mutiny, to enforce mar- the island of Roanoke. Having exceeded tial law, and the oath of supremacy was re- their reckoning three days, without finding quired to be taken by the Colonists. For land, the crew grew impatient, andRatclitfe, the rest, the provisions of the letters patent captain of the pinnace, proposed to steer granted to Sir Thomas Gates were generally back for England. At this conjuncture, a re-enacted. * Sir Thomas Smith was ap- violent storm providentially drove them into pointed Treasurer of the company in Eng- the mouth of Chesapeake bay. The first land, and the chief management of their af- land they came in sight of, April 26, 1607, fairs was entrusted to him. He was anemi- they called Cape Henry, in honor of the nent London merchant, had been chief of prince of Wales, eldest son of king James.* Sir Walter Raleigh's assignees, was about A party of thirty landing, found "flowers of this time governor of the East India Com- divers kinds and colors and goodly trees." pany, and had been ambassador to Russia, t While recreating themselves on the shore, The frame of government provided for the they were assaulted by five of the savages, new Colony was cumbrous and complicated. who came " creepingupon all fours from the Thelegislativeandadministrativepowerswere hills, like bears,'' and wounded two, but re- so distributed between the local council, the tired at the discharge of muskets,t Crown and the company, as to involve de- That night the sealed box was opened, lay, uncertainty, conflict and irresponsibility. when it appeared that the members ofcoun- The Colonists, by the words of the charter, cil appointed, were Bartholomew Gosnold, were invested with the rights of English- John Smith, EdwardMaria Wingfield, Chris- men yet as far as political rights were con- topher Newport, John Ratcliffe, John Martin ; cerned, there being no security provided by and George Kendall. They were instructed which they could be vindicated, they might to elect out oftheir own number a president often prove to be of no more real value than for one year. He and the council together the parchment on which they were written. were invested with the government. Affairs Yet the government ofan infant colony must of moment were to be examined by ajury, of necessity be for the most part arbitrary. but determined by the council. The political rights of the colonists must for Seventeen days were spent in quest of a A a time lie in abeyance. The civil rights of place forthe settlement. point, at the en- the Virginia colonists were protected by the trance of the Chesapeake bay, they named trial by .jury, and lands were held by a free Point Comfort, because they found a good tenure. harbor there, which, after the late storm, After long delay three vessels were equip- " put them in good comfort." Landingthere ped for the expedition, one of twenty tons, April 30th, they saw live Indians, who were one offorty,the thirdofone hundred. They at first alarmed, hut seeing Captain Newport were commanded by Captain Christopher lay his hand upon his heart, they came bold- Newport, a navigatorexperienced in voyages ly up and invited the strangers to [Cecough- to the New world. Orders were putonboard, tan (Hampton) their town. There the Eng- enclosed in a sealed box, not to be opened lishwere entertained withcorn-bread,tobacco until their arrival in Virginia. They sel sad and pipes and a dance. May 4th, they were on the 19th of December, 1606, from Black- kindly received by the Paspaheghs. The wall. For six weeks head-winds detained them in the Downs, within view of the Eng- * Smith, vol. 1, p. 151. Capo Charles was called after lish coast. During this interval, disorder the King's second son, then Duke of York, afterwards threatening a mutiny, prevailed among the Charles I. adventurers. However it was suppressed by Pertcy\,anbartotih\err(ionftthPeurEcahrals'ofPiNlogrrtihmus,mbpe.rl16a8n5d.)abnydGoenoergoef thefirst expedition. SeeHillard'sLifeofSmith,in Sparks' * Stit.h, Appendix 8. I lieu., ?<i. Amer. Biog.211 and211, in note. Hillard inthemam fol- f Stith, 12. lows Stilh.

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