The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5)
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[Footnote 22: Charter.]
[Sidenote: Third voyage of Newport.]
The company, being thus enlarged, and enabled to take more effective
measures for the settlement of the country, soon fitted out nine
ships, with five hundred emigrants. Lord Delawar was constituted
governor and captain-general for life; and several other offices were
created. The direction of the expedition was again given to Newport;
to whom, and Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, powers were
severally granted to supersede the existing administration, and to
govern the colony until the arrival of Lord Delawar. With singular
indiscretion, the council omitted to establish precedence among these
gentlemen; who, being totally unable to settle this important point
among themselves, agreed to embark on board the same vessel, and to be
companions during the voyage. They were parted from the rest of the
fleet in a storm, and driven on Bermudas; having on board one hundred
and fifty men, a great portion of the provisions destined for the
colony, and the new commission and instructions of the council. The
residue of the squadron arrived safely in Virginia.
"A great part of the new company," says Mr. Stith, "consisted of
unruly sparks, packed off by their friends to escape worse destinies
at home. And the rest were chiefly made up of poor gentlemen, broken
tradesmen, rakes and libertines, footmen, and such others as were much
fitter to spoil and ruin a Commonwealth, than to help to raise or
maintain one. This lewd company, therefore, were led by their
seditious captains into many mischiefs and extravagancies. They
assumed to themselves the power of disposing of the government, and
conferred it sometimes on one, and sometimes on another. To-day the
old commission must rule, to-morrow the new, and next day neither. So
that all was anarchy and distraction."
The judgment of Smith was not long suspended. With the promptness and
decision which belong to vigorous minds, he determined that his own
authority was not legally revoked until the arrival of the new
commission, and therefore resolved to continue its exercise. Incapable
of holding the reins of government with a feeble hand, he exhibited,
on this emergency, that energy and good sense which never deserted him
when the occasion required them. After imprisoning the chief promoters
of sedition, and thereby restoring regularity and obedience, he, for
the double purpose of extending the colony, and of preventing the
mischiefs to be apprehended from so many turbulent spirits collected
in Jamestown, detached one hundred men to the falls of James river,
under the command of West, and the same number to Nansemond, under
that of Martin. These persons conducted their settlements with so
little judgment, that they soon converted all the neighbouring Indians
into enemies. After losing several parties, they found themselves in
absolute need of the support and direction of Smith. These were
readily afforded, until a melancholy accident deprived the colony of
the aid of a man whose talents had, more than once, rescued it from
that desperate condition into which folly and vice had plunged it.
Returning from a visit to the detachment stationed at the falls of
James river, his powder bag took fire, while he was sleeping in the
boat, and, in the explosion, he was so severely wounded as to be
confined to his bed. Being unable to obtain the aid of a surgeon in
the colony, he embarked for England about the beginning of October.
[Sidenote: Smith returns to England.]
[Sidenote: State of the colony.]
At his departure, the colony consisted of about five hundred
inhabitants. They were furnished with three ships, seven boats,
commodities ready for trade, ten weeks' provision in the public
stores, six mares and a horse, a large stock of hogs and poultry, some
sheep and goats, utensils for agriculture, nets for fishing, one
hundred trained and expert soldiers well acquainted with the Indians,
their language and habitations, twenty-four pieces of ordnance, and
three hundred muskets, with a sufficient quantity of arms and
ammunition.[23]
[Footnote 23: Stith.]
The fair prospects of the colony were soon blasted by a course of
folly and crime, of riot and insubordination.
Numerous pretenders advanced their claims to the supreme command. The
choice at length fell upon captain Percy, who derived much
consideration from his virtues, as well as from his illustrious
family; but his talents, at no time equal to this new and difficult
station, were rendered still less competent to the task, by a long
course of ill health. Being generally confined by sickness to his bed,
he was incapable of maintaining his authority; and total confusion
ensued, with its accustomed baneful consequences.
The Indians, no longer awed by the genius and vigour of Smith,
attacked the colony on all sides. West and Martin, after losing their
boats and nearly half their men, were driven into Jamestown. The stock
of provisions was lavishly wasted; and famine added its desolating
scourge to their other calamities. After devouring the skins of their
horses, and the Indians they had killed, the survivors fed on those of
their companions who had sunk under such accumulated misery. The
recollection of these tremendous sufferings was long retained, and,
for many years, this period was distinguished by the name of THE
STARVING TIME.[24]
[Footnote 24: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1610}
In six months, the colony was reduced, by these distresses, to sixty
persons, who could not have survived ten days longer, when they were
relieved from this state of despair by the arrival of Sir Thomas
Gates, Sir George Somers, and Captain Newport, from Bermuda.
[Sidenote: They abandon the country.]
The determination to abandon the country was immediately taken, and
the wretched remnant of the colony embarked on board the vessels, and
sailed for England. "None dropped a tear," says Mr. Chalmer, "because
none had enjoyed one day of happiness."
[Sidenote: Stopped by Lord Delawar.]
Fortunately, they met Lord Delawar, who prevailed on them to return;
and, on the 10th of June, resettled them at Jamestown.
{1611}
By mildness of temper, attention to business, and judicious exercise
of authority, this nobleman restored order and contentment to the
colony, and again impressed the Indians with respect for the English
name. Unfortunately, ill health obliged him to resign the government
which he placed in the hands of Mr. Percy, and sailed for the West
Indies, leaving in the colony about two hundred persons in possession
of the blessings of health, plenty, and peace.
[Sidenote: Sir Thomas Dale.]
On the 10th of May, Sir Thomas Dale, who had been appointed to the
government, arrived with a fresh supply of men and provisions, and
found the colony relapsing into a state of anarchy, idleness, and
want. It required all the authority of the new governor to maintain
public order, and to compel the idle and the dissolute to labour. Some
conspiracies having been detected, he proclaimed martial law, which
was immediately put in execution. This severity was then deemed
necessary, and is supposed to have saved the settlement.[25]
[Footnote 25: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
In the beginning of August, Sir Thomas Gates, who had been appointed
to succeed Sir Thomas Dale, arrived with six ships, and a considerable
supply of men and provisions. After receiving this addition to its
numbers, the colony again extended itself up James river; and several
new settlements were made.
{1612}
[Sidenote: New Charter.]
Extravagant accounts of the fertility of Bermuda having reached
England, the company became desirous of obtaining it as a place from
which Virginia might be supplied with provisions. Application was
therefore made to the crown for a new patent, to comprehend this
island; and, in March, a charter was issued, granting to the treasurer
and company all the islands situate in the ocean within three hundred
leagues of the coast of Virginia. By this charter, the corporation was
essentially new modelled. It was ordained that four general courts of
the adventurers should be holden annually, for the determination of
affairs of importance, and weekly meetings were directed, for the
transaction of common business. To promote the effectual settlement of
the plantation, license was given to open lotteries in any part of
England.[26]
[Footnote 26: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
These lotteries, which were the first ever drawn in England, brought
twenty-nine thousand pounds into the treasury of the company. When
they were discontinued, in 1620, on the complaint of the House of
Commons, they were declared to have "supplied the real food by which
Virginia had been nourished."
[Sidenote: Captain Argal seizes Pocahontas.]
About this time an event took place which was followed by important
consequences to the colony. Provisions in Jamestown continuing to be
scarce, and supplies from the neighbouring Indians, with whom the
English were often at war, being necessarily uncertain, captain Argal,
with two vessels, was sent round to the Potowmac for a cargo of corn.
While obtaining the cargo, he understood that Pocahontas, who had
remained steadfast in her attachment to the English, had absented
herself from the home of her father, and lay concealed in the
neighbourhood. By bribing some of those in whom she confided Argal
prevailed on her to come on board his vessel, where she was detained
respectfully, and brought to Jamestown. He was induced to take this
step by the hope that the possession of Pocahontas would give the
English an ascendancy over her father, who was known to dote on her.
In this, however, he was disappointed. Powhatan offered corn and
friendship, if they would first restore his daughter, but, with a
loftiness of spirit which claims respect, rejected every proposition
for conciliation which should not be preceded by that act of
reparation.
During her detention at Jamestown, she made an impression on the heart
of Mr. Rolf, a young gentleman of estimation in the colony, who
succeeded in gaining her affections. They were married with the
consent of Powhatan, who was entirely reconciled to the English by
that event, and continued, ever after, to be their sincere friend.
This connexion led also to a treaty with the Chiccahominies, a brave
and daring tribe, who submitted themselves to the English, and became
their tributaries.[27]
[Footnote 27: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1613}
About the same time, an important change took place in the internal
arrangements of the colony.
[Sidenote: Separate property in lands.]
Heretofore no separate property in lands had been acquired, and no
individual had laboured for himself. The lands had been held, cleared,
and cultivated in common, and their produce carried into a common
granary, from which it was distributed to all. This system was to be
ascribed, in some measure, to the unwise injunction contained in the
royal instructions, directing the colonists to trade together for five
years in one common stock. Its effect was such as ought to have been
foreseen. Industry, deprived of its due reward, exclusive property in
the produce of its toil, felt no sufficient stimulus to exertion, and
the public supplies were generally inadequate to the public
necessities. To remove this cause of perpetual scarcity, Sir Thomas
Dale divided a considerable portion of land into lots of three acres,
and granted one of them, in full property, to each individual.
Although the colonists were still required to devote a large portion
of labour to the public, a sudden change was made in their appearance
and habits. Industry, impelled by the certainty of recompense,
advanced with rapid strides; and the inhabitants were no longer in
fear of wanting bread, either for themselves, or for the emigrants
from England.[28]
[Footnote 28: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith. Beverly.]
{1614}
Early in the following year, Sir Thomas Gates returned to England,
leaving the government again with Sir Thomas Dale. This gentleman
detached captain Argal on an enterprise of which no immediate notice
was taken, but which was afterwards recollected with indignation.
The French, who had directed their course to the more northern parts
of the continent, had been among the first adventurers to North
America. Their voyages of discovery are of a very early date, and
their attempts to establish a colony were among the first which were
made. After several abortive efforts, a permanent settlement was made
in Canada, in the year 1604, and the foundation of Quebec was laid in
the year 1608. In November 1603, Henry IV. appointed De Mont
lieutenant-general of that part of the territory which he claimed,
lying in North America, between the 40th and 46th degrees of north
latitude, then called Acadie, with power to colonise and to rule it;
and he soon afterwards granted to the same gentleman and his
associates, an exclusive right to the commerce of peltry in Acadie and
the gulf of St. Lawrence. In consequence of these grants, a settlement
was formed in the subsequent year, on that coast, near the river St.
Croix; and in 1605, Port Royal was built on a more northern part of
the bay of Fundy.
The colony, receiving not much support from France, was feeble and
unprosperous, but retained quiet possession of the country. In a time
of profound peace, the expedition of Argal was directed against it. He
found it totally unprepared for defence. The inhabitants, who had
assiduously and successfully cultivated the friendship of the Indians,
were scattered abroad in the woods, engaged in their several pursuits;
and a ship and bark just arrived from France, laden with articles
necessary for the use of the colony, were surprised in port, and their
cargoes taken to Jamestown. After the departure of Argal, the French
resumed their former station.
The pretext for this predatory expedition was, that the French, by
settling in Acadie, had invaded the rights of the English, acquired by
the first discovery of the continent.
Argal also paid a visit to New York, then in possession of the Dutch;
which country he claimed under the pretext that captain Hudson was an
Englishman, and could not transfer the benefit of his discoveries from
his sovereign. He demanded possession of the place; and the Dutch
governor, being unable to resist, "peaceably submitted both himself
and his colony to the King of England, and the governor of Virginia
under him," and consented to pay a tribute. Argal then continued his
voyage to Jamestown. But another governor soon afterwards arriving
from Amsterdam with better means of asserting the title of his nation,
the payment of the tribute was refused, and the place put in a state
of defence.[29]
[Footnote 29: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Fifty acres of land laid off for each settler.]
The advantages resulting to the colony from allowing each individual
to labour, in part for himself, having soon become apparent, the
system of working in common to fill the public stores, seems to have
been totally relinquished; and, not long afterwards, fifty acres of
land, promised by the rules of the company to each emigrant, were
surveyed and delivered to those having the title.
{1615}
[Sidenote: Tobacco.]
About the same time, tobacco was first cultivated in Virginia.
This plant, although detested by the King, who even wrote a pamphlet
against it, which he styled a _counter blast_; although
discountenanced by the leading members of parliament, and even by the
company, who issued edicts against its cultivation; although extremely
unpleasant to persons not accustomed to it, and disagreeable in its
effects, surmounted all opposition, and has, by an unaccountable
caprice, been brought into general use, and become one of the most
considerable staples of America.[30]
[Footnote 30: Robertson.]
{1616}
[Sidenote: Yeardly.]
In the spring of the following year, Sir Thomas Dale sailed for
England, leaving the government in the hands of Mr. George Yeardly,
who, after a lax administration of one year, was succeeded by captain
Argal.
{1617}
[Sidenote: Argal.]
Argal was a man of talents and energy, but selfish, haughty, and
tyrannical. He continued martial law during a season of peace; and a
Mr. Brewster, who was tried under this arbitrary system, for
contemptuous words spoken of the governor, was sentenced to suffer
death. He obtained with difficulty an appeal to the treasurer and
company in England, by whom the sentence was reversed.[31]
[Footnote 31: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Mr. Yeardly.]
While martial law was, according to Stith, the common law of the land,
the governor seems to have been the sole legislator. His general
edicts mark the severity of his rule. He ordered that merchandise
should be sold at an advance of twenty-five _per centum_, and tobacco
taken in payment at the rate of three shillings per pound, under the
penalty of three years' servitude to the company; that no person
should traffic privately with the Indians, or teach them the use of
fire arms, under pain of death; that no person should hunt deer or
hogs without the governor's permission; that no man should shoot,
unless in his own necessary defence, until a new supply of ammunition
should arrive, on pain of a year's personal service; that none should
go on board the ships at Jamestown, without the governor's leave; that
every person should go to church on Sundays and holidays, under the
penalty of slavery during the following week for the first offence,
during a month for the second, and during a year and a day for the
third. The rigour of this administration necessarily exciting much
discontent, the complaints of the Virginians at length made their way
to the company. Lord Delawar being dead, Mr. Yeardly was appointed
captain-general, with instructions to examine the wrongs of the
colonists, and to redress them.[32]
[Footnote 32: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
{1619}
The new governor arrived in April, and soon after, to the
inexpressible joy of the inhabitants, declared his determination to
convoke a colonial assembly.
This is an important era in the history of Virginia. Heretofore, all
legislative authority had been exercised, either by the corporation in
England, or by their officers in the colony. The people had no voice,
either personally, or by their representatives, in the government of
themselves; and their most important concerns were managed by persons
often unacquainted with their situation, and always possessing
interests different from theirs. They now felicitated themselves on
having really the privileges of Englishmen.
[Sidenote: First colonial assembly.]
This first assembly met at Jamestown on the 19th of June. The colony
being not then divided into counties, the members were elected by the
different boroughs, amounting at that time to seven. From this
circumstance the popular branch of the legislature received the
appellation of the house of burgesses, which it retained until all
connexion with England was dissolved.
The assembly, composed of the governor, the council, and burgesses,
met together in one apartment, and there discussed the various matters
which came before them. The laws then enacted, which, it is believed,
are no longer extant, were transmitted to England for the approbation
of the treasurer and company.[33]
[Footnote 33: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: First arrival of females,]
{1620}
Although the emigrations from England continued to be considerable,
few females had crossed the Atlantic. Men without wives could not
consider their residence in the country as permanent, and must intend
after amassing some wealth, to return to their native land. To remove
this impediment to the population of the colony, ninety girls, of
humble fortune and spotless character, were transported by the company
to Virginia; and in the subsequent year, they were followed by sixty
of the same description. They were received by the young planters as a
blessing which substituted domestic happiness for the cheerless gloom
of solitude; and the face of the country was essentially changed.[34]
The prospect of becoming parents was accompanied with the anxieties
for the welfare of their children; and the education of youth soon
became an object of attention. The necessity of seminaries of learning
was felt, and several steps were taken towards founding the college,
afterwards established by William and Mary.
[Footnote 34: Mr. Stith says the price for a wife was at
first, one hundred, and afterwards, one hundred and fifty
pounds of tobacco; and a debt so contracted was made of
higher dignity than any other.]
[Sidenote: and of convicts.]
About the same time the company received orders from the King to
convey to Virginia one hundred idle and dissolute persons, then in
custody of the knight marshal. These were the first convicts
transported to America. The policy which dictated this measure was
soon perceived to be not less wise than it was humane. Men who, in
Europe, were the pests of the body politic, made an acceptable
addition to the stock of labour in the colony; and, in a new world,
where the temptations to crime seldom presented themselves, many of
them became useful members of society.
{1621}
[Sidenote: African slaves.]
Heretofore the commerce of Virginia had been engrossed by the
corporation. In the year 1620, this distressing and unprofitable
monopoly was given up, and the trade was open to all. The free
competition produced by this change of system was of essential
advantage to the colony, but was the immediate cause of introducing a
species of population which has had vast influence on the past, and
may affect the future destinies of America, to an extent which human
wisdom can neither foresee nor control. A Dutch vessel, availing
itself of this commercial liberty, brought into James river twenty
Africans, who were immediately purchased as slaves.[35]
[Footnote 35: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]
[Sidenote: Two councils established.]
In July, the company passed an ordinance establishing a frame of
government for the colony. This instrument provided that there should
be two supreme councils in Virginia, the one to be called the Council
of State, to be appointed and displaced by the treasurer and company,
and to assist the governor with advice on executive subjects; the
other to be denominated the General Assembly, and to consist of the
governor, the council of state, and burgesses; to be chosen for the
present, by the inhabitants of every town, hundred, or settlement, in
the colony, two for each. The assembly was empowered to enact general
laws for the government of the colony, reserving a negative to the
governor. Its acts were not to be in force until confirmed by the
general court in England, and the ratification returned under its
seal. On the other hand, no order of the general court was to bind the
colony until assented to by the assembly.
{1622}
A controversy concerning the importation of tobacco into the European
dominions of the crown, which had for some time existed between the
King and the company, was, at length, adjusted.
The King had demanded high duties on that article, while he permitted
its importation from the dominions of Spain, and also restrained its
direct exportation from Virginia, to the warehouses of the company in
Holland, to which expedient his exactions had driven them. It was at
length agreed that they should enjoy the sole right of importing that
commodity into the kingdom, for which they should pay a duty of nine
pence per pound, in lieu of all charges, and that the whole production
of the colony should be brought to England.
[Sidenote: County courts.]
The industry, population, and produce of the colony, were now greatly
increased. At peace with the Indians, they had extended their
settlements to the Rappahannock and to the Potowmac. This change of
circumstances having rendered it inconvenient to bring all causes to
Jamestown before the governor and council, who had heretofore
exercised all judicial power in the country, inferior courts were
established, to sit in convenient places, in order to render justice
more cheap and accessible to the people. Thus originated the county
courts of Virginia.
[Sidenote: Indian conspiracy to massacre all the whites.]
In this year the cup of prosperity, which the colonists had begun to
taste, was dashed from their lips by an event which shook the colony
to its foundation. In 1618, Powhatan died, and was succeeded, in his
dominions and in his influence over all the neighbouring tribes, by
Opechancanough, a bold and cunning chief, as remarkable for his
jealousy and hatred of the new settlers, as for his qualifications to
execute the designs suggested by his resentments. He renewed, however,
the stipulations of Powhatan; and, for a considerable time, the
general peace remained undisturbed. The colonists, unsuspicious of
danger, observed neither the Indians nor their machinations. Engaged
entirely in the pursuits of agriculture, they neglected their military
exercises, and every useful precaution. Meanwhile, the Indians, being
often employed as hunters, were furnished with fire arms, and taught
to use them. They were admitted, at all times, freely into the
habitations of the English, as harmless visitants, were fed at their
tables, and lodged in their chambers. During this state of friendly
intercourse, the plan of a general massacre, which should involve man,
woman, and child, in indiscriminate slaughter, was formed with cold
and unrelenting deliberation. The tribes in the neighbourhood of the
English, except those on the eastern shore of the Chesapeak, who were
not trusted with the plan, were successively gained over; and,
notwithstanding the perpetual intercourse between them and the white
people, the most impenetrable secrecy was observed. So deep and dark
was their dissimulation, that they were accustomed to borrow boats
from the English to cross the river, in order to concert and mature
their execrable designs.