The English Occupancy of North America

THE idea that the dangerous and increasing power of Spain and Rome in America should be checked had been growing in England ever since the arrival there, in 1565, of the Huguenots who escaped massacre by the Spaniards in Florida. The spark kindled by the betrayal of Hawkins, Drake, and others at Vera Cruz in September, 1568, never went out. “ The wings of man’s life are plumed with the feathers of death,” but the ideas of Cecil, Gilbert, Ralegh, Walsingham, Carleill, Sidney, and others did not die. Private and public enterprises for “ annoyinge the Kinge of Spaine" in America continued to be sent out from time to time; sometimes, “ under pretense of letters patent, to discover and inhabit ” the country, and sometimes openly to destroy or to make " prizal of the shipping of Spain.” From 1585 to 1603 there was actual war. After the conclusion of the treaty of peace (1604-1605) between England and Spain, “ the then only enemy of our nation and religion,” it was determined by many in England to take advantage of “ this opportunity " — “ commended by the English politicians” — for securing a part of America for the English race and religion.

This enterprise was necessarily a national one. The country selected by the English was claimed as a part of the Spanish Indies by Spain, a power with forces and resources both in Europe and in America, and with her claim supported by the interest of the great opposing religion; and England could secure possession thereof only by consent, by diplomacy, or by breaking the treaty and resorting to war.

It has been supposed that “ Spain set forth no claim to Virginia; that had she done so Gondomar would not have failed to urge it, and James I. would have been probably ready to recognize it.” But our earliest history has been built of imperfect material, and therefore the structure is very defective. Spain did not consent. James I. preferred diplomacy to war, and from the beginning the movement which finally resulted in securing a firm hold for England on a lot or portion in the New World was an affair of state, under the protection of the crown, under the supervision of the prime minister and privy council, and under the especial management of royal councils selected and appointed for that purpose ; “ it being a worck, to speake truth, which to bring to perfection required the power and the purse of a monarch.”

The enterprise was under the eye of Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury and secretary of state, until his death in May, 1612 ; then James I. (who said that “ he was the best secretary that he ever had ") looked after it for himself until March, 1614, when it became one of the special charges of Sir Ralph Winwood, the new prime minister. Every ambassador from England to foreign courts, especially Spain, France, and the Netherlands, was instructed to have a constant eye to the interest of this movement, and they kept the state office in England felly informed as to everything coming to their knowledge apt to injure or to aid it. The Spanish government was not less alert. The ambassadors of Spain in England made it their “ prime object,” and were especially vigilant, active, and aggressive.

Serious difficulties of almost every kind had to be met and overcome, not only in England and in Spain, but also en route and in Virginia. Therefore the successful prosecution of the enterprise required the most careful supervision and management not only of the great statesmen of that period, but also of the wonderful men of affairs who were then in charge of the several great companies for spreading abroad the interests of the English-speaking people.

On June 15, 1605, the treaty of peace between Spain and England was signed by Philip III. at Valladolid; his oath to the same being taken by Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham. After some delay incidental to the festivities and bull-fights with which he was entertained on the occasion (an account of which was written by Cervantes), Howard returned to England with the ratified treaty. And although it had to be handled with nice diplomacy by the statesmen of England, in the subsequent controversies with Spain regarding the colonies, it was this peace which made possible the settlement of the English “ across the Atlantic battleground in the far-distant land of Virginia.”

On July 18, 1605, Captain George Weymouth returned to Plymouth, England, from a voyage to America ; “ which accident,” says Sir Ferdinando Gorges, “ must be acknowledged as the means under God of putting on foot and giving life to our plantations.” Among the most active and influential men in putting this movement on foot were Sir John Popham, lord chief justice, and Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton.

The first draft for the proposed first Virginia charter, annexed to the petition for the same, was probably drawn by Sir John Popham. The petition was signed by Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, knights; Richard Hakluyt, clerk, prebendary of Westminster; Edward-Maria Wingfield, Thomas Hanham, and Ralegh Gilbert, esquires ; William Parker and George Popham, gentlemen, and divers others. It was granted by James I. The warrant for the charter was issued by the secretary of state (Robert Cecil); the charter was prepared by the attorney-general (Sir Edward Coke) and the solicitor-general (Sir John Dodderidge) ; and on April 10, 1606, it was passed under the great seal by the lord chancellor (Sir Thomas Egerton). It was a general charter, claiming for England all of America lying between 34° and 45° north latitude ; granting to two companies (one for North and the other for South Virginia) limited areas of indefinitely located lands; and subjecting the whole boundary, as well as the two proposed colonies and the two companies, to the control of one supreme royal council resident in England. Each colony was to have a separate subordinate council in Virginia, to govern, etc., there, according to such laws, ordinances, and instructions as should be afterwards ordered by the king. These remarkable articles, etc., were issued by James I. on November 20 following, in a single sentence of about four thousand words (probably one of the longest on record), in which he decreed a form of government for the colonies, but gave the appointment of the “ first several Councellours of those several Councells . . . for those two several Colonies,” etc., to “ His Councel of Virginia resident in England.”

The first expedition of the South Virginia Company was sent from London in December, 1606, in three ships : the Sarah Constant, Captain Christopher Newport, the commander of the voyage ; the Goodspced, Captain Bartholomew Gosnold, vice-admiral; and the Discovery, Captain John Ratcliffe. The fleet reached Virginia on April 26, 1607, and the site of Jamestown on May 13. (I am using the Old Style dates.) On the 14th of May they landed, the councilors met, and Captain Edward-Maria Wingfield was chosen to be the first president of the council by the votes of Newport, Gosnold, Ratcliffe, Martin, and Kendall. Captain John Smith had been appointed by the council in England to the council in Virginia, but he was restrained as a prisoner from the time of the departure from the Canaries, and was not admitted to the council in Virginia until June 10, 1607.

On June 22, leaving Wingfield president of the council in Virginia, Newport sailed for England ; he arrived at Plymouth on July 29, and at once reported to the secretary of state. He sailed from Plymouth on Friday, July 31, and arrived in London about the 15th of August. On the 12th of August, Zuñiga, the Spanish ambassador in England, wrote to Philip III. of Spain, notifying him of Newport’s return; and as soon as the vessel reached London he sent to ask an audience of James I. (who was then at Salisbury, on his western progress), “ in order to protest, in the name of the king of Spain, against the English establishing themselves in Virginia, a part of the Spanish Indies.” On one pretext or another, James I. put off the interview for over forty days, until September 27. From Zuñiga’s letters of sept.28/Oct.8 and October 6/16 it will be seen that the king, in his reply, in dealing with the treaty, follows the same line of diplomatic argument which had been laid down by the secretary of state in his speech before the committee of Parliament on June 15,¹ and that the secretary assured Zuñiga, with a bow, that he had “ discussed it with the king,” and that he had been met with the same (his own) reply. The matter was promptly brought before the Spanish council of state, and from their report of Oct.31/Nov.10, 1607, we learn that Juan Ferdinand de Velasco, the “ Condestable ” of Castile, an envoy to England for negotiating the treaty of 1604-1605, had been consulted by that council, and had given his views on this diplomatic transaction.

“ He reported that when he was making the treaty he considered that if he made a point of excluding the English from the Spanish Indies, and especially from Virginia, he would have to meet the difficulty that it was more than thirty years [Gilbert’s charter? or is this a reference to the evacuation of the country by the Spaniards in 1572 ?] since they had had peaceful possession of it; and that if he yielded the point, and acknowledged Virginia to be not a part of the Spanish Indies, a very dangerous door would be opened. For these reasons he determined not to contest these points openly, but to agree to it, as was done, that the navigation of the English should only be allowed in the Spanish dominion where of old and before the war it was usual to navigate, — by which agreement the English were tacitly excluded from navigating in the Spanish West Indies,”He also said “ it appeared difficult, to him to insist upon it as a right that all that is contiguous to the Spanish Indies was a part of them,” and for this reason he thought that “ it would be prudent to proceed cautiously.”

James I. had told the Spanish envoy, when negotiating this treaty, that “ he would not acknowledge any right to the crown of Spain which depended solely on ' the donative of the Pope, whose authority he disclaimed ; ’ or ‘ by the title of a dispersed possession of certain territories in the name of the rest.’ ” And after due consideration of the matter the whole Spanish council of state agreed that the proper thing to do was “ to drive out of Virginia all the English who were then there, and thus take actual possession, before they were reënforced ; ” and they asked Philip III. to “ order it to be seen to, that everything should be provided which might be necessary for proceeding forthwith to the accomplishment of this object.”

But Spain had another “ piece of work to treat of ” in the Netherlands. “ The time of the year was far spent, and Spain was not so sudden in such attempts.” However, the diplomatic war between the English and Spanish prime ministers, privy councils, and ambassadors continued to go on as vigorously as ever, for years. Among the diplomatic cards played were the treaty ; the prior rights of the English to the country, against the claims of Spain ; the condition of “ the colony was so desperate that it would finally die of itself ; ” the Spanish marriage with Henry, Prince of Wales, would settle the matter amicably, etc.

Among the obstacles placed in the way of Spain were the secrecy, subterfuge, and diplomacy which made everything uncertain. In 1611 Philip III. himself felt called upon to send a special expedition to Virginia, in order to obtain definite and reliable information as to the location of the colony and as to the condition of affairs therein ; and these spies most fortunately were captured by Captain James Davies (formerly of the North Virginia Company), and held as hostages in Virginia by Sir Thomas Dale. (But the “ Alcayde ” Molina sent from Jamestown such information as he could obtain, secretly sewed in “ between the soles of a shoe,” etc.) The Spaniards, however, captured and carried off Captain John Clark, who was afterwards (1620) the pilot of the Mayflower.

The great natural obstacle was the formation of James River, the strategic importance of which has been recognized as “ a commoditie to our Realme ” from that day to this, which made a successful attack on the colony with the Implements of war then in use almost impossible. The channel at the mouth of the river (Point Comfort) was soon commanded by a land battery, as was the channel at Jamestown, forty-two miles from the mouth of the river. And Gates and Dale, who had served long in Holland, soon made the bends in the river at Henricopolis and Bermuda Hundred well - nigh impregnable by cross - cuts, Dutch gaps, pales, and dikes.

Although Spain seems to have abandoned all idea of removing the English from the country by force, after Gondomar’s letter of December 7, 1616, she did not give up all hope of regaining-possession, and in the proposed marriage contract with Charles, Prince of Wales, in 1623, the Spaniards required, among other things, that “ James I. should surrender unto the king of Spain Virginia and the Bermudas, and altogether quit the Spanish West Indies.

Zuñiga was very discreet in dealing with James I. and the Earl of Salisbury, but he did not mince matters when writing to Philip III. He told the king of Spain plainly “ that the colony in Virginia should be uprooted at once ; that it would be serving God to drive these villains out from there, hanging them in time which was short enough for the purpose,” — that is, as quickly as possible. And he informed his king that “ he had at once found a confidential person to act as a spy on the council of Virginia.”

But, regardless of the demands and the espionage of Spain, the managers of the South Virginia Company “ freshly and cheerfully sent ” Newport back to Virginia with emigrants and supplies on October 8,1607. He reached Jamestown on Saturday evening, January 2, 1608, and found that factions had already sprung up in the council and among the colonists. On September 10, 1607, Ratcliffe, Martin, and Smith, the only other surviving members of the council in Virginia, had removed Wingfield not only from the presidency, but from the council, also, and then Martin and Smith had elected Ratcliffe to be president. After this Captain Gabriel Archer was added to the council. When the vessel arrived, Captain John Smith was a prisoner, condemned to be executed ; but Newport released him that evening, and on Monday morning (the 4th) he landed his supplies and succored the colonists.

On April 10, leaving Ratcliffe president of the council in Virginia, Newport returned to England, arriving there in May; and notwithstanding the fact that Spanish agencies were most actively at work, the managers in England “ had courage and constancie to releeve ” the colony again. They sent Newport back in the summer; he reached Jamestown late in September, and again succored “ the hungry and sick ” colonists.

On the 10th of September, 1608, Ratcliffe’s term expired, and the presidency was yielded to Captain John Smith, “ to whom by course it did belong.” He was the senior surviving member of the council; and, under the articles of government, “ the president could not continue in office above the space of one year.” In December, 1608, leaving Smith for the first time president of the council in Virginia, Newport sailed for England, reaching there late in January, 1609; “ at which returne experience of error in the equality of Governors, and some out-rages and follies committed by them, had a little shaken so tender a body.” And the managers of the enterprise, “ perceivinge that the plantation went rather backwards than forwards,” held special meetings at the Earl of Exeter’s house and elsewhere in London, and “ after consultation and advise [with Hakluyt, Hariot, and others[] of all the inconveniences in these three supplies [1606, 1607, and 1608], and finding them to arise out of two rootes, — the forme of Government, and length and danger of the passage by the southerly course of the [West] Indyes,” — determined to petition the king for a special charter granting such powers as would “ insure the correction of the errors already found out, as well as such others as in the future might assail them.”

In answer to this petition made by “ divers of our loving subjects, as well adventurers as planters of the said first colony,” the special charter was promptly granted by James I. The North Virginia colonists, haring abandoned their colony late in 1608, had arrived in England not long before Newport’s return from South Virginia ; and on February 17, 1609, the members of that company were invited to coöperate in the formation, under the new charter, of a new company for the purpose of making a concentrated effort, “ and, with one common and patient purse,” to secure for England a firm footing in America in the mild climate of South Virginia, in the remarkably strong position afforded for their purpose by the natural construction of James River, “ safe from any danger of the Salvages, or other ruin that may threaten us.” Many of the North Virginia Company accepted this invitation.

The first draft for the new charter, annexed to the petition, was probably drawn up late in January, 1609, by Sir Edwin Sandys ; the warrant for the charter was issued by the secretary of state (Robert Cecil) ; the charter was prepared by the attorney-general (Sir Henry Hobart) and the solicitor-general (Sir Francis Bacon) ; and it was finally passed under the great seal on May 23, 1609, by the lord chancellor (Sir Thomas Egerton).

This was really the first charter (and is frequently alluded to as such in the records) to a new company, composed of members of both old companies and others. It is usually called the Virginia Company of London, or the London Company for Virginia; but the full title of the new corporation was the Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London for the First Colony in Virginia. The charter “ erected them into a corporation and Body Politic,” and granted to them “ in perpetuity ” a large definitely located boundary of territory, and many other “ privileges, powers, liberties and authorities.”

Robert Cecil, Earl of Salisbury and secretary of state, heads the list, of this honorable company. “ And as the success of the plantation depended, next under the blessing of God and the support of the crown of England, upon the provident and good direction of the whole enterprise by a careful and understanding council,” James I. appointed for that purpose such a royal council, inserting their names in the ninth article of the charter ; and by the next article appointed Sir Thomas Smith (a member of the said council) to be the first treasurer (or governor) of the said company.

The form of government under the charter of 1606, as we have seen, was designed by James I. himself, but under this charter the royal council in England had full power to appoint and to remove officers, to establish the forms of government for the colony, etc. The fifteenth article, “ for divers reasons and considerations us thereunto especially moving,” ordered that as soon as the officers appointed by “ the Treasurer and Council ” arrived in Virginia “ the powers of the former President and Council there were to cease.”

Henry, Prince of Wales, was persuaded to become the especial “ Protector of Virginia.” A special supervision over the necessary change in the form of government in the colony, and the directions, orders, and instructions for regulating the same, were given by the managers to Henry, Earl of Southampton (the early patron of Shakespeare) ; William, Earl of Pembroke, and Philip, Earl of Montgomery (to whom the great folio Shakespeare of 1623 was dedicated) ; Robert Sidney, Viscount Lisle (Sir Philip Sidney’s brother, who went to the Low Country wars with his uncle Robert, Earl of Leicester) ; Theophilus, Lord Howard of Walden (whose mother was a secret pensioner of Spain) ; Edmond, Lord Sheffield (whose mother, “ the Lady Douglas Howard,” married secondly Robert, Earl of Leicester, who took Sheffield with him to the wars of the Reformation in the Low Countries in 1585) ; and George, Lord Carew of Clopton (who married in 1580 Joyce Clopton, to whom the Clopton estates ultimately passed, and from which estate Shakespeare bought in 1597 the house in which he died in 1616).

To the establishment of a government such as should “ meete with all the revealed inconveniences,”² the managers of the Virginia Company of London “ did nominate and appoint an able and worthy gentleman, Sir Thomas Gates, sole and absolute governor,” “ with the authority of a Vice-Roy,” “ and with him Sir George Summers, Admiral, and Captaino Newport, vice - Admirall of Virginia.” “ Gates and Sommers were appointed by commission to reside in the countrie to governe the Colonie,” and Newport was to continue to have charge of the voyages to Virginia.

The celebrated poet and divine, John Donne, sought the appointment of “ Secretary in Virginia ” at this time; but that office was given to William Straehey, another author and poet, who wrote “ the rugged sonnet ” on Ben jonson’s Sejanus, an account of The Tempest, etc. Captain Samuel Argall was selected to find out a different route to the colony.

The first fleet sent out by the Virginia Company of London sailed from England in June, 1609. Captain Christopher Newport was in command of the “ Admirall ” ship; Captain John Ratcliffe of the “ Vice-admirall; ” Captain John Martin in the “ Reare-admirall; ” then Captain Gabriel Archer, . . . Captain James Davies in the Virginia, late of the North Virginia Company, etc. The new commission, issued under the especial supervision of the abovesaid friends of Shakespeare, was on the “ Admirall ” ship. Under favorable circumstances this ship should have arrived in Virginia about August, 1609, when the change in the government would have taken place properly ; but the tempest arose,—

and drove the king’s ship, on which the governor was, to “ the still-vex’d Bermoothes.”

The old commission having been revoked, and the vessels which Ariel had dispersed meeting again at Jamestown without the new commission, there was no strictly legal government in Virginia from September, 1609, to the arrival of Gates in May, 1610. This want of legal government, for prudent reasons, was then generally given out as the cause of the disasters during that period ; but many other serious misfortunes were then obtaining in the colony.

Late in November, 1609, the remnant of “ Sir Thomas Gates his fleet,” returning from Virginia, reached England. Captain John Smith was sent back on board of one of the vessels, “ to answer some misdemeanors.” The fleet was “ laden with nothing but bad reports and letters of discouragement.” The colony had been found in a most deplorable condition, and had been left in but little if any better. The supplies carried over by the fleet had been destroyed or damaged by salt water during the tempest, and the colony had been necessarily left without sufficient provision or comforts of any kind, with a terrible disease (the yellow fever or the plague, or both) raging at Jamestown. The colonists were at war with the Indians; the legal governor had not arrived, and so far as was then known never would. “ The hand of God was heavy on the enterprise,”and " the hand of God reacheth all the earth ; who can avoid it, or dispute with Him ? ”

The return of this fleet marks the beginning of the crucial period of our earliest history.

“ When those gentlemen the adventurers here saw that the expectance of so great a preparation brought nothing home but adverse successe and bad reports, they for the most part with-drew themselves in despaire of the enterprise, and so gave it over, not enduring to repayre the ruines nor to supply what themselves had underwritten to discharge the deepe engagement whereinto the Company was drawne by their encouragement.”

The work was carried forward in England by a comparatively small number of " Constant Adventurers.”

Many of those who had been sent out as planters to Virginia, taking advantage of the lack of legal authority in the colony, returned to England in this fleet, “ giving out in all places where they come (to colour their own misbehaviour and the cause of their returne with some pretence) most vile and scandalous reports, both of the country itselfe, and of the cariage of the businesse there.”

Probably no one thing had a more depressing effect on the enterprise than the reports of the men who from time to time returned, or were sent back, from Virginia, and remained in England, excusing their conduct by criticising and fault-finding ; for they apparently spoke with a knowledge of the true state of affairs in Virginia ; and many in England, particularly those who had lost money or friends in the enterprise, were prone to hold the active managers responsible for every disaster and misfortune, and to believe any account that was derogatory to them.

To meet this serious crisis in the life of the enterprise, Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, was appointed by commission, dated February 28, 1610, to be “ Lord Governor and Captain-General of Virginia” for life, with ample authority “ both by Land and Sea.” He sailed from England in April, 1610, to Succor, to save, and to plant the first colony in Virginia which took root and grew.

The colonists had become so reduced when Sir Thomas Gates finally arrived, in May, 1610, that it was found necessary to abandon Jamestown ; and this was done on Thursday, June 7, 1610; but, most fortunately, they were met by the new supplies, under Lord De La Warr, and returned by him to Jamestown, where the old and the new planters landed on “ the 10th of June, being Sunday,” 1610.

The colony never prospered under the first form of government, and no colony was established under the first charter. The first four years (1616-1610) were regarded by “ the undertakers ” “ as an experimental period which gave more light by the errors thereof what to avoid than by the direction of the same what to follow.” Very many and more serious difficulties than any that had ever assailed the enterprise were yet to be met and overcome, and the outlook at times was to be very discouraging ; but the actual and continued life of the colony dates from June 10, 1610 (Old Style). The king’s “ Aristocraticall government by a President and Councell had been removed and those hatefull effects thereof together; while order and diligence repayred what confusion and faction had distempered.” ³

Of the thirteen members of the council in Virginia under the first form of government, Gosnold, Kendall, Scrivener, Waldo, and Wynne had died in Virginia, and Wingfield had returned to England before the issuing of the new commission (1609) ; Archer and Ratcliffe had been retained in the service of the new company, but had died in Virginia in the winter of 1609-1610 ; Smith had been removed from office and sent back to England, and was never in the active service of the Virginia Company of London, under whose auspices the colony was finally founded; ⁴ Martin, Newport, Percy, and West were still in active service, and engaged in the landing of June 10,1610. Percy seems to have given satisfaction so long as he remained, but he left the colony in April, 1612. Captains Christopher Newport, John Martin, and Francis West were the only Surviving members of the first form of government in Virginia whose services were deemed by the managers worthy of reward. Martin founded Brandon on James River, the West brothers established plantations at Shirley and Westover, and Newport’s heirs made a settlement near Newport News. They were all most deserving men; but the colony of Virginia was not founded by any one of them, and none of them ever pretended that it was.

The Virginia Company of London — containing members of both old companies — was not only securing the special grant to itself, but it was also protecting the claim of England from Florida to New France. Soon after De La Warr arrived, in 1610, Captain Samuel Argall was sent out, and a survey of the coast line claimed by England was made ; and this coast was thereafter continuously guarded and looked after by this company until the issuing of the special New England charter in 1620.

The colony of Virginia was founded, and the first hold for England on the lot or portion of the New World between 34° and 45° north latitude was secured, by the Virginia Company of London after many years of constant and patient labor, and at an expense of over four million dollars in present values, “under the blessing of God, under the support of the crown (the King, the Prime Minister, and the Privy Council), under the good management of a careful and understanding Council and officials in England, and under the faithful direction of able and worthy Governors in Virginia.”

James I., I. believe, is the only man alluded to in authoritative contemporary documents as “ the founder of Virginia,” “ the father of American colonization,” etc.

But there are references to Robert, Earl of Salisbury, to the same purport.

There was a diplomatic motive, especially in the communications with Spain, in the contemporary assertions that this company was a mere “Company of English Merchants trading to Virginia.” It was organized for the purpose of taking possession of a foreign country — claimed by Spain — for the crown of England, and was really an instrument of the state, “ next under the king,” under the management of his Majesty’s councils especially appointed for that purpose. The gentry were always in the majority in this council, but it is true that the most, active officials of the company from 1606 to 1619 were merchants; and it is also true that merchants were more numerous in the company than any other class, but they were never in the majority. Of about one thousand incorporators named in the charters of 1609 and 1612 less than four hundred and fifty were merchants; and three fourths of those added between 1612 and 1624 were not merchants.

The taking of the first firm hold for Protestant England on a country claimed by Catholic Spain without breaking the treaty, and almost without firing a gun, while the movement was constantly under the espionage of critics, spies, and enemies, foreign and domestic, is one of the most remarkable events in history. It could have been managed successfully only by men of the greatest skill and judgment, with splendid diplomacy and profound secrecy. And it would be hard indeed to find, in any age or nation, more capable men than those selected for “ His Majesty’s Council ” for the management of the London Company and colony of Virginia. The principal officials of this company (Sir Thomas Smith and others) were also members of “ His Majesty’s Council; ” and all of the great companies for new trades, discoveries, and colonization of that period were largely under the management of the same men, many of whom had been devoting themselves to such enterprises for a generation or more ; and it was chiefly owing to their intelligent management that the English colonies in America were founded, and that the commerce of Great Britain took its great rise.

The men who deserve the commanding place in our earliest annals for services rendered in Virginia were almost without exception old soldiers trained in the wars of the Reformation, and sailors who had fought Spain on the old Atlantic battleground. All contemporary accounts, save Captain John Smith’s, concur in placing at the head of the list, the men selected to rescue and to save the colony at the critical epochs. These were Sir Thomas Gates, the first governor, selected to reform the government in Virginia (May, 1609) ; Lord De La Warr, the first “ Lord Governor and Captain General,” selected to breast the crucial test; and Sir Thomas Dale, the first “ high marshall,” selected early in 1611 to meet emergencies, as he was afterwards chosen by the East India Company to protect their interests in the East Indies. But of those who “planted an English nation where none before had stood,” no men deserve our consideration more than those men who came to this country and devoted their lives to the plantation.

Briefly stated, the object of the enterprise was to check the increasing power of Spain and Rome in America, and to advance the interest of England and of the Protestant religion.

As the enterprise had to be carried on with diplomacy, secrecy was essen tial to success. Not only the officials, but every freeman of the company was bound by oath “ not to betray the secrets and privities of the company or colony ; not to write or to colour any accounts of the country.” And the records not only wore never accessible to the public, but abstracts alone were available to the generality of the company, — the whole being kept securely in “ the companies chest of evidences,” under the supervision of a comparatively few trusted officials ; and no history was compiled from them. All such matters as his Majesty’s council for Virginia wished the public to know were published by them or by their authority; but, for reasons of policy, they neither themselves published, nor authorized the publication of, any map, complete description of the colony, or full account of events therein.

Of course the English public must have wished to see maps of, and to read about, the new colonies and the new countries, as we do now about the centre of Africa; and a promising field was thus presented to those writers who catered to or for the public, and to those who wrote for some personal purpose, regardless of the wishes or interests of the managers of the enterprise. Some maps and descriptions of the country were published without authority from the council, and some personal narratives criticising past acts of the managers in England, and of some of their past agents in Virginia; but no contemporary account was published which conveyed a complete, accurate, and just idea of the movement which resulted in the beginning of this nation, of the managers, of their acts, of their motives, and of their faithful agents in Virginia while accomplishing their task.

It is not strange, therefore, that certain misrepresentations of our early history became current, and have largely affected the attitude which more recent historians have taken toward the planting of Virginia. Captain John Smith, a free lance, who asserted that the colonies in America were “ the fruites of his adventers and discoveries,” and who seems to have imagined that their continued existence in some way depended on him, was actively engaged for only a short time; but he devoted a large part of his life to publishing, selling, etc., unauthorized books about “ his children,” as he called the colonies, and professedly in their interest, but the interest of “ the father ” was never overlooked. Smith pushed himself to the front, whenever possible, in everything that was written by him, — discourse, description, narrative, and compilation; and “ he did not spare to appropriate many deserts to himself which he never performed, or to stuff his relacyons with many falsities and malycyous detractyons of others.” ⁵ And the personal narrative contained in his publications was the only one purporting to give a full history of the first planting of the colonies which was then published and made available to the publie. As “ first impressions are lasting,” it is especially unfortunate that this very objectionable partisan narrative should have been for over two hundred years “ almost, the only source from which we derived any knowledge of the infancy of our state.”

Schiller says that “ what is gray with age becomes religion.” Age has invested the Smith story with a sanctity which it never deserved; and on the faith of this story we have been taught to believe that “ the colony of Virginia was founded by Captain John Smith ; ” that he was “ the father of New England,” and “ the prime actor in settling the first English colonies in America ; ” that “ what Sir Francis Drake was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that was Captain John Smith in the reign of her successor ; ” that he was “ the only man in Virginia,” “ the rest of the council there being notoriously incompetent,” while “ the council in England was a marplot council,” etc. All of these opinions laudatory of Smith and condemnatory of his peers are fully sustained by the Smith stories, but they are not sustained by the facts. There had been factions in Virginia ; there were faultfinders in England, and differences of opinion there were of necessity. Some thought that Smith’s services in Virginia during 1607-1609 were deserving of some recognition or reward, while others did not, and that is the extent of Smith’s case. But this was really a matter of little consequence, save as a factor in the discussion over the wisdom of the change in the form of government in Virginia. It had no bearing on the final result of the enterprise, as whatever had been done in Virginia by the council, company, planters, Captain John Smith, or any one else prior to 1610, was swept away by the celebrated tempest and by matters mainly incidental thereto. The work of planting had to be done over again, and Captain John Smith had no part in carrying this work forward to success. The American enterprise never depended on him save in imagination. It was one of the most momentous strokes of national policy in the annals of history. The statesmen of England kept those of Spain St bay by diplomatic skill, while the managers of the enterprise were securing the first firm hold for England as rapidly as the circumstances would admit, and as quietly as possible. They accomplished their task, and left to Captain John Smith the easier rôle of writing the history with himself as centre.

Alexander Brown.