The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5)
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[Sidenote: Patent to Sir Thomas Gates and others.]
On the 10th of April, letters patent were issued under the great seal
of England, to the petitioners, Sir Thomas Gates and his associates,
granting to them those territories in America, lying on the sea coast,
between the 34th and 45th degrees of north latitude, and which either
belonged to that monarch, or were not then possessed by any other
Christian prince or people; and also the islands adjacent thereto, or
within one hundred miles thereof. They were divided, at their own
desire, into two companies. One, consisting of certain knights,
gentlemen, merchants, and other adventurers of the city of London, and
elsewhere, was called the first colony, and was required to settle
between the 34th and 41st degrees of north latitude; the other,
consisting of certain knights, gentlemen, merchants, and other
adventurers of Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, and elsewhere, was named the
second colony, and was ordered to settle between the 38th and 45th
degrees of north latitude; yet so that the colony last formed should
not be planted within one hundred miles of the prior establishment.
The adventurers were empowered to transport so many English subjects
as should be willing to accompany them, who, with their descendants,
were, at all times, to enjoy the same liberties, within any other
dominions of the crown of England, as if they had remained, or were
born, within the realm. A council consisting of thirteen, to be
appointed and removed at the pleasure of the crown, was established
for each colony, to govern it according to such laws as should be
given under the sign manual and privy seal of England.
Two other boards to consist also of thirteen persons each, and to be
appointed by the King, were invested with the superior direction of
the affairs of the colonies.
The adventurers were allowed to search for, and open mines of gold,
silver, and copper, yielding one-fifth of the two former metals, and
one-fifteenth of the last, to the King; and to make a coin which
should be current both among the colonists and natives.
The president and council were authorised to repel those who should,
without their authority, attempt to settle, or trade, within their
jurisdiction, and to seize, and detain the persons, and effects, of
such intruders, until they should pay a duty of two and one-half _per
centum ad valorem_, if subjects, but of five _per centum_ if aliens.
These taxes were to be applied, for twenty-one years, to the use of
the adventurers, and were afterwards to be paid into the royal
exchequer.
[Sidenote: Code of laws for the colony drawn up by the King.]
While the council for the patentees were employed in making
preparations to secure the benefits of their grant, James was
assiduously engaged in the new, and, to his vanity, the flattering
task of framing a code of laws for the government of the colonies
about to be planted. Having at length prepared this code, he issued it
under the sign manual, and privy seal of England. By these
regulations, he vested the general superintendence of the colonies, in
a council in England, "composed of a few persons of consideration and
talents." The church of England was established. The legislative and
executive powers within the colonies, were vested in the president and
councils; but their ordinances were not to touch life or member, were
to continue in force only until made void by the King, or his council
in England for Virginia, and were to be in substance, consonant to the
laws of England. They were enjoined to permit none to withdraw the
people from their allegiance to himself, and his successors; and to
cause all persons so offending to be apprehended, and imprisoned until
reformation; or, in cases highly offensive, to be sent to England to
receive punishment. No person was to be permitted to remain in the
colony without taking the oath of obedience. Tumults, mutiny, and
rebellion, murder, and incest, were to be punished with death; and for
these offences, the criminal was to be tried by a jury. Inferior
crimes were to be punished in a summary way, at the discretion of the
president and council.
Lands were to be holden within the colony as the same estates were
enjoyed in England. Kindness towards the heathen was enjoined; and a
power reserved to the King, and his successors to ordain farther laws,
so that they were consonant to the jurisprudence of England.[11]
[Footnote 11: Robertson.]
Under this charter, and these laws, which manifest, at the same time,
a total disregard of all political liberty, and a total ignorance of
the real advantages which a parent state may derive from its colonies;
which vest the higher powers of legislation in persons residing out of
the country, not chosen by the people, nor affected by the laws they
make, and yet leave commerce unrestrained; the patentees proceeded to
execute the arduous and almost untried task of peopling a strange,
distant, and uncultivated land, covered with woods and marshes, and
inhabited only by savages easily irritated, and when irritated, more
fierce than the beasts they hunted.
CHAPTER II.
Voyage of Newport.... Settlement at Jamestown.... Distress
of colonists.... Smith.... He is captured by the Indians....
Condemned to death, saved by Pocahontas.... Returns to
Jamestown.... Newport arrives with fresh settlers.... Smith
explores the Chesapeake.... Is chosen president.... New
charter.... Third voyage of Newport.... Smith sails for
Europe.... Condition of the colony.... Colonists determine
to abandon the country.... Are stopped by Lord Delaware....
Sir Thomas Dale.... New charter.... Capt. Argal seizes
Pocahontas.... She marries Mr. Rolf.... Separate property in
lands and labour.... Expedition against Port Royal....
Against Manhadoes.... Fifty acres of land for each
settler.... Tobacco.... Sir Thomas Dale.... Mr. Yeardley....
First assembly.... First arrival of females.... Of
convicts.... Of African slaves.... Two councils
established.... Prosperity of the colony.... Indians attempt
to massacre the whites.... General war.... Dissolution of
the company.... Arbitrary measures of the crown.... Sir John
Harvey.... Sir William Berkeley.... Provincial assembly
restored.... Virginia declares in favour of Charles II....
Grant to Lord Baltimore.... Arrival of a colony in
Maryland.... Assembly composed of freemen.... William
Clayborne.... Assembly composed of representatives....
Divided into two branches.... Tyrannical proceedings.
The funds immediately appropriated to the planting of colonies in
America, were inconsiderable, and the early efforts to accomplish the
object, were feeble.
The first expedition for the southern colony consisted of one vessel
of a hundred tons, and two barks, carrying one hundred and five men,
destined to remain in the country.
{1606}
[Sidenote: Voyage of Newport.]
The command of this small squadron was given to captain Newport, who,
on the 19th of December, sailed from the Thames. Three sealed packets
were delivered to him, one addressed to himself, a second to captain
Bartholomew Gosnald, and the third to captain John Radcliffe,
containing the names of the council for this colony. These packets
were accompanied with instructions directing that they should be
opened, and the names of his Majesty's council proclaimed, within
twenty-four hours after their arrival on the coast of Virginia, and
not before. The council were then to proceed to the choice of a
president, who was to have two votes. To this unaccountable
concealment have those dissensions been attributed, which distracted
the colonists on their passage, and which afterwards impeded the
progress of their settlement.[12]
[Footnote 12: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
{1607}
[Sidenote: Is driven into the Chesapeake.]
Newport, whose place of destination was Roanoke, took the circuitous
route by the West India islands, and had a long passage of four
months. The reckoning had been out for three days, and serious
propositions had been made for returning to England, when a fortunate
storm drove him to the mouth of the Chesapeake. On the 26th of April,
he descried cape Henry, and soon afterward cape Charles. A party of
about thirty men, which went on shore at cape Henry, was immediately
attacked by the natives, and, in the skirmish which ensued, several
were wounded on both sides.
{May 13th.}
The first act of the colonists was the selection of a spot for their
settlement. They proceeded up a large river, called by the natives
Powhatan, and agreed to make their first establishment upon a
peninsula, on its northern side. In compliment to their sovereign,
this place was named Jamestown, and the river was called James. Having
disembarked, and opened the sealed packets brought from England, the
members of the council proceeded to the election of a president, and
Mr. Wingfield was chosen. But, under frivolous pretexts, they excluded
from his seat among them, John Smith, one of the most extraordinary
men of his age, whose courage and talents had excited their envy.
During the passage, he had been imprisoned on the extravagant charge
of intending to murder the council, usurp the government, and make
himself king of Virginia.[13]
[Footnote 13: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
The first indications of a permanent settlement in their country, seem
to have excited the jealousy of the natives. Displeased with the
intrusion, or dissatisfied with the conduct of the intruders, they
soon formed the design of expelling, or destroying, these unwelcome
and formidable visitors. In execution of this intention, they attacked
the colonists suddenly, while at work, and unsuspicious of their
hostility; but were driven, terrified, into the woods by the fire from
the ship. On the failure of this attempt, a temporary accommodation
was effected.
Newport, though named of the council, had been ordered to return to
England. As the time of his departure approached, the accusers of
Smith, attempting to conceal their jealousy by the affectation of
humanity, proposed that he also should return, instead of being
prosecuted in Virginia; but, with the pride of conscious innocence, he
demanded a trial; and, being honourably acquitted, took his seat in
the council.
About the 15th of June, Newport sailed for England, leaving behind him
one of the barks, and about one hundred colonists. While he remained,
they had partaken of the food allowed the sailors; but after his
departure, they were reduced to the necessity of subsisting on the
distributions from the public stores, which had sustained great damage
during their long passage. These were both scanty, and unwholesome;
the allowance to each man, for a day, being only a pint of worm-eaten
wheat and barley. This wretched food increased the malignity of the
diseases generated by the climate, among men exposed to all its
rigours. Before the month of September, fifty of the company were
buried; among whom was Bartholomew Gosnald, who had planned the
expedition, and had contributed greatly towards its prosecution. Their
distress was increased by internal dissension. The president was
charged with embezzling the best stores of the colony, and with
feasting at his private table, on beef, bread, and _aqua vitae_, while
famine and death devoured his fellow adventurers. The odium against
him was completed by the detection of an attempt to escape from them
and their calamities, in the bark which had been left by Newport. In
the burst of general indignation which followed the discovery of this
meditated desertion, he was deposed, and Radcliffe chosen to succeed
him.[14]
[Footnote 14: Stith. Smith.]
As misfortune is not unfrequently the parent of moderation and
reflection, this state of misery produced a system of conduct towards
the neighbouring Indians, which, for the moment, disarmed their
resentments, and induced them to bring in such supplies as the country
afforded at that season. It produced another effect of equal
importance. A sense of imminent and common danger called forth those
talents which were fitted to the exigency, and compelled submission to
them. On captain Smith, who had preserved his health unimpaired, his
spirits unbroken, and his judgment unclouded, amidst this general
misery and dejection, all eyes were turned, and in him, all actual
authority was placed by common consent. His example soon gave energy
to others.
He erected such rude fortifications as would resist the sudden attacks
of the savages, and constructed such habitations as, by sheltering the
survivors from the weather, contributed to restore and preserve their
health, while his own accommodation gave place to that of all others.
In the season of gathering corn, he penetrated into the country at the
head of small parties, and by presents and caresses to those who were
well disposed, and by attacking with open force, and defeating those
who were hostile, he obtained abundant supplies.
While thus actively and usefully employed abroad, he was not permitted
to withdraw his attention from the domestic concerns of the colony.
Incapacity for command is seldom accompanied by a willingness to
relinquish power; and it will excite no surprise that the late
president saw, with regret, another placed above him. As unworthy
minds most readily devise unworthy means, he sought, by intriguing
with the factious, and fomenting their discontents, to regain his lost
authority; and when these attempts were disconcerted, he formed a
conspiracy with some of the principal persons in the colony, to escape
in the bark, and thus to desert the country. The vigilance of Smith
detected these machinations, and his vigour defeated them.[15]
[Footnote 15: Stith.]
[Sidenote: Smith is captured by the Indians,]
[Sidenote: is condemned to death,]
[Sidenote: saved by Pocahontas.]
The prospect which now presented itself of preserving the colony in
quiet and plenty, until supplies could be received from England, was
obscured by an event which threatened, at first, the most disastrous
consequences. In attempting to explore Chiccahomini river to its
source, Smith was discovered and attacked by a numerous body of
Indians; and in endeavouring, after a gallant defence, to make his
escape, he sank up to his neck in a swamp, and was obliged to
surrender. The wonder and veneration which he excited by the
exhibition of a mariner's compass, saved him from immediate death. He
was conducted in triumph, through several towns, to the palace of
Powhatan, the most potent king in that part of the country, who doomed
him to be put to death by placing his head upon a stone, and beating
out his brains with a club. At the place of execution, with his head
bowed down to receive the blow, he was rescued from a fate which
appeared to be inevitable, by that enthusiastic and impassioned
humanity which, in every climate, and in every state of society, finds
its home in the female bosom. Pocahontas, the king's favourite
daughter, then about thirteen years of age, whose entreaties for his
life had been ineffectual, rushed between him and the executioner, and
folding his head in her arms, and laying hers upon it, arrested the
fatal blow. Her father was then prevailed upon to spare his life, and
he was sent back to Jamestown.[16]
[Footnote 16: Stith.]
[Sidenote: Returns to Jamestown.]
On arriving at that place, after an absence of seven weeks, he found
the colony reduced to thirty-eight persons, who seemed determined to
abandon a country which appeared to them so unfavourable to human
life. He came just in time to prevent the execution of this design.
Alternately employing persuasion, threats, and even violence, he
induced the majority to relinquish their intention; then turning the
guns of the fort on the bark, on board which were the most determined,
he compelled her to remain, or sink in the river.[17]
[Footnote 17: Stith.]
By a judicious regulation of intercourse with the Indians, over whom
he had gained considerable influence, he restored plenty to the
colony, and preserved it until the arrival of two vessels which had
been dispatched from England under the command of captain Newport,
with a supply of provisions and instruments of husbandry, and with a
reinforcement of one hundred and twenty persons, composed of many
gentlemen, several refiners, gold smiths, and jewellers, and a few
labourers.
The influence of Smith disappeared with the danger which had produced
it, and was succeeded by an improvident relaxation of discipline,
productive of the most pernicious consequences.[18]
[Footnote 18: Ibid.]
[Sidenote: A glittering earth mistaken for gold dust.]
About this time, a shining earth, mistaken by the colonists for gold
dust, was found in a small stream of water near Jamestown. Their
raging thirst for gold was re-excited by this incident. Smith, in his
History of Virginia, describing the frenzy of the moment, says, "there
was no thought, no discourse, no hope, and no work, but to dig gold,
wash gold, refine gold, and load gold. And, notwithstanding captain
Smith's warm and judicious representations how absurd it was to
neglect other things of immediate use and necessity, to load such a
drunken ship with gilded dust, yet was he overruled, and her returns
were made in a parcel of glittering dirt, which is to be found in
various parts of the country, and which they, very sanguinely,
concluded to be gold dust."
{1608}
The two vessels returned laden, one with this dirt, and the other with
cedar. This is the first remittance ever made from America by an
English colony.
The effects of this fatal delusion were soon felt, and the colony
again began to suffer that distress, from scarcity of food, which had
before brought it, more than once, to the brink of ruin.
[Sidenote: Smith explores the Chesapeake.]
The researches of the English settlers had not yet extended beyond the
country adjacent to James river. Smith had formed the bold design of
exploring the great bay of Chesapeake, examining the mighty rivers
which empty into it, opening an intercourse with the nations
inhabiting their borders, and acquiring a knowledge of the state of
their cultivation and population. Accompanied by Doctor Russel, he
engaged in this hardy enterprise in an open boat of about three tons
burthen, and with a crew of thirteen men. On the 2d of June, he
descended the river in company with the last of Newport's two vessels,
and, parting with her at the capes, began his survey at cape Charles.
With great fatigue and danger, he examined every river, inlet, and
bay, on both sides of the Chesapeake, as far as the mouth of the
Rappahannock. His provisions being exhausted, he returned, and arrived
at Jamestown on the 21st of July. He found the colony in the utmost
confusion and disorder. All those who came last with Newport were
sick; the danger of famine was imminent; and the clamour against the
president was loud, and universal. The seasonable arrival of Smith
restrained their fury. The accounts he gave of his discoveries, and
the hope he entertained that the waters of the Chesapeake communicated
with the south sea,[19] extended their views and revived their
spirits. They contented themselves with deposing their president, and,
having in vain urged Smith to accept that office, elected his friend
Mr. Scrivener as vice president.
[Footnote 19: This error might very possibly be produced by
the Indians representing the great western lakes as seas.]
After employing three days in making arrangements for obtaining
regular supplies, and for the government of the colony, Smith again
sailed with twelve men, to complete his researches into the countries
on the Chesapeake.
From this voyage he returned on the seventh of September; having
advanced as far as the river Susquehannah, and visited all the
countries on both shores of the bay. He entered most of the large
creeks, sailed up many of the great rivers to their falls, and made
accurate observations on the extensive territories through which he
passed, and on the various tribes inhabiting them, with whom he,
alternately, fought, negotiated, and traded. In every situation, he
displayed judgment, courage, and that presence of mind which is
essential to the character of a commander; and never failed, finally,
to inspire the savages he encountered, with the most exalted opinion
of himself and of his nation.
When we consider that he sailed above three thousand miles in an open
boat; when we contemplate the dangers and the hardships he
encountered; when we reflect on the valuable additions he made to the
stock of knowledge respecting America; we shall not hesitate to say
that few voyages of discovery, undertaken at any time, reflect more
honour on those engaged in them. "So full and exact," says Dr.
Robertson, "are his accounts of that large portion of the American
continent comprehended in the two provinces of Virginia and Maryland,
that after the progress of information and research for a century and
a half, his map exhibits no inaccurate view of both countries, and is
the original, on which all subsequent delineations and descriptions
have been formed."[20]
[Footnote 20: Dr. Robertson must allude to the country below
the falls of the great rivers.]
[Illustration: Ruins of the Old Brick Church Built at Jamestown in
1639
_Settled by the English in 1607, on the banks of the James River about
32 miles from its mouth, it was at Jamestown that the first
legislative assembly in America was held in 1619, and here in the same
year slavery was first introduced into the original thirteen colonies.
The site of the settlement, which was originally a peninsula, but is
now an island, is owned by the Association for the Preservation of
Virginia Antiquities. Besides the ruins of the church shown here those
of the fort and of two or three houses built more than a hundred years
before the Declaration of Independence was signed are still
standing._]
[Sidenote: Is chosen president.]
On his return from this expedition, Smith was chosen president of the
council; and, yielding to the general wish, accepted the office. Soon
after, Newport arrived with an additional supply of settlers, among
whom were the two first females who adventured to the present colony;
but he came without provisions.
The judicious administration of the president, however, supplied the
wants of the colonists, and restrained the turbulent. Encouraged by
his example, and coerced by his authority, a spirit of industry and
subordination was created among them, which was the parent of plenty
and of peace.[21]
[Footnote 21: Robertson. Chalmer.]
{1609}
[Sidenote: New Charter.]
The company in England, though disappointed in the hope of discovering
a passage to the Pacific, and of finding mines of the precious metals,
still indulged in golden dreams of future wealth. To increase their
funds, as well as their influence and reputation, by the acquisition
of additional numbers, to explain and enlarge their powers and
privileges, and to ensure a colonial government conforming to their
own views and wishes, the company petitioned for a new charter, which
was granted on the 23d of May. Some of the first nobility and gentry
of the country, and most of the companies of London, with a numerous
body of merchants and tradesmen, were added to the former adventurers,
and they were all incorporated, by the name of "The treasurer and
company of adventurers of the city of London, for the first colony in
Virginia." To them were granted, in absolute property, the lands
extending from Cape or Point Comfort, along the sea coast, two hundred
miles to the northward, and from the same point, along the sea coast,
two hundred miles to the southward, and up into the land, throughout,
from sea to sea, west and north-west; and also all the islands lying
within one hundred miles of the coast of both seas of the precinct
aforesaid: to be holden as of the manor of East Greenwich, in free and
common soccage, and paying, in lieu of all services, one-fifth of the
gold and silver that should be found. The corporation was authorised
to convey, under its common seal, particular portions of these lands
to subjects or denizens, on such conditions as might promote the
intentions of the grant. The powers of the president and council in
Virginia were abrogated, and a new council in England was established,
with power to the company to fill all vacancies therein by election.
This council was empowered to appoint and remove all officers for the
colony, and to make all ordinances for its government, not contrary to
the laws of England; and to rule the colonists according to such
ordinances. License was given to transport to Virginia, all persons
willing to go thither, and to export merchandise free from customs for
seven years. There was also granted, for twenty-one years, freedom
from all subsidies in Virginia, and from all impositions on
importations and exportations from or to any of the King's dominions,
"except only the five pounds in the hundred due for customs." The
colonists were declared to be entitled to the rights of natural
subjects. The governor was empowered to establish martial law in case
of rebellion or mutiny; and, to prevent the superstitions of the
Church of Rome from taking root in the plantation, it was declared
that none should pass into Virginia, but such as shall have first
taken the oath of supremacy.[22]