134 SMITH BECOMES PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL. CHAP. borders of that remote river to remain for some years IV. longer the fabled dwelling-place of a giant progeny.1 1608. He was the first to make known to the English the fame of the Mohawks, "who dwelt upon a great water, and had many boats, and many men," and, as it seemed to the feebler Algonquin tribes, "made war upon all the world; " in the Chesapeake Bay he encountered a little fleet of their canoes.2 The Patapsco was discovered and explored, and Smith probably entered the harbor of Baltimore. The majestic Potomac, which at its mouth is seven miles broad, especially invited curiosity; and passing beyond the heights of Vernon and the city of Washington, he ascended to the falls above Georgetown. Nor did he merely explore the rivers and inlets. He penetrated the territories, established friendly relations with the native tribes, and laid the foundation for future beneficial intercourse. The map which he prepared and sent to the company in London," is still extant, and delineates correctly the great outlines of nature. The expedition was worthy the romantic age of American history. Sept. 10. 5 Three days after his return, Smith was made president of the council. Order and industry began to be diffused by his energetic administration, when Newport, with a second supply, entered the river. About seventy new emigrants arrived; two of them, it merits notice, were females. The angry covetousness of a greedy but disappointed corporation was now fully displayed. As if their command could transmute minerals, narrow the continent, and awaken the dead, 1 Burk, i. 123. 2 Smith, i. 181-183. 3 Stith, 64. 4 Compare Smith, i. 177, with Stith, 65, and Smith's map. 5 In the Richmond edition, opposite page 149; in Purchas, iv., opposite page 1691. 6 Smith's letter, in Hist. i. 202. SMITH'S ADMINISTRATION. 135 IV. they demanded a lump of gold, or a certain passage to CHAP. the South Sea, or, a feigned humanity added, one of the lost company, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh. The charge of the voyage was two thousand pounds; unless the ships should return full freighted with commodities, corresponding in value to the costs of the adventure, the colonists were threatened, that "they should be left in Virginia as banished men." Neither had experience taught the company to engage suitable persons for Virginia. "When you send again," Smith was obliged to write, "I entreat you rather send but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, black smiths, masons, and diggers up of trees' roots, well provided, than a thousand of such as we have." After the departure of the ships, Smith employed 1609 his authority to enforce industry. Six hours in the day were spent in work; the rest might be given to pastime. The gentlemen had been taught the use of the axe, and had become accomplished woodcutters. "He who would not work, might not eat;" and Jamestown assumed the appearance of a regular place of abode. Yet so little land had been cultivated-not more than thirty or forty acres in all-that it was still necessary for Englishmen to solicit food from the indolent Indians; and Europeans, to preserve themselves from starving, were billeted among the sons of the forest. Thus the season passed away; of two hundred in the colony, not more than seven died.3 The golden anticipations of the London, company had not been realized. But the cause of failure appeared in the policy, which had grasped at sudden 1 Smith, i. 192, 193. 2 Smith's letter, in History, i. 200, 201; also, Smith's advertise ments for the unexperienced, in iii. 3 Smith, i. 202, 222-229. 136 THE SECOND CHARTER OF VIRGINIA. 2 CHAP. emoluments; the enthusiasm of the English seemed IV. exalted by the train of misfortunes; and more vast 1609. and honorable plans were conceived, which were to be effected by more numerous and opulent associates. Not only were the limits of the colony extended, the company, was enlarged by the subscriptions of many of the nobility and gentry of England, and of the tradesmen of London; and the name of the powerful Cecil, the inveterate enemy and successful rival of Raleigh, appears at the head of those, who were to carry into execution the vast design to which Raleigh, now a close prisoner in the tower, had first awakened the attention of his countrymen. At the request of the corporation, which was become a very powerful body, without any regard to the rights or wishes of those who had already emigrated under the sanction of May existing laws, the constitution of Virginia was radically changed. 23, The new charter transferred to the company the powers which had before been reserved to the king. The supreme council in England was now to be chosen by the stockholders themselves, and, in the exercise of the powers of legislation and government, was independent of the monarch. The governor in Virginia might rule the colonists with uncontrolled authority, according to the tenor of the instructions and laws established by the council, or, in want of them, according to his own good discretion, even in cases capital and criminal, not less than civil; and, in the event of mutiny or rebellion, he might declare martial law, being himself the judge of the necessity of the measure, NEW EMIGRATION FROM ENGLAND. 137 IV. and the executive officer in its administration. Thus CHAP. the lives, liberty and fortune of the colonists were placed at the arbitrary will of a governor who was to be 1609. appointed by a commercial corporation. As yet not one valuable civil privilege was conceded to the emigrants.1 Splendid as were the auspices of the new charter, unlimited as were the powers of the patentees, the next events in the colony were still more disastrous. Lord De La Ware, distinguished for his virtues, as well as rank, received the appointment of governor and captain-general for life; an avarice which would listen to no possibility of defeat, and which already dreamed of a flourishing empire in America, surrounded him with stately officers, suited by their titles and nominal charges to the dignity of an opulent kingdom.3 The condition of the public mind favored colonization; swarms of people desired to be transported; and the adventurers, with cheerful alacrity, contributed freewill offerings. The widely-diffused enthusiasm soon enabled the company to despatch a fleet of nine vessels, containing more than five hundred emigrants. The admiral of the fleet was Newport, who, with Sir Thomas Gates and Sir George Somers, was authorized to administer the affairs of the colony till the arrival of Lord Delaware.5 The three commissioners had embarked on board the same ship. When near the coast of Virginia, a hurricane' separated the admiral from the rest of his fleet; and his vessel was stranded on the rocks of the Ber 1 Chalmers, 25. 2 Walpole's Royal and Noble Authors, enlarged by Th. Park, ii. 180-183. 3 Smith, in iii. Mass. Hist. Coll. iii. 11, and Smith, ii. 106. 4 True Declaration of Virginia, 18 VOL. I. published by the Council of Vir- 5 Smith, i. 233, 234; or Purchas, 6 True Declaration, 19 and 21. 138 SMITH RETURNS TO ENGLAND. CHAP. mudas. A small ketch perished; and seven ships only arrived in Virginia. IV. 1609. A new dilemma ensued. The old charter was abrogated; and, as there was in the settlement no one who had any authority from the new patentees, anarchy seemed at hand. The emigrants of the last arrival were dissolute gallants, packed off to escape worse destinies at home, broken tradesmen, gentlemen impoverished in spirit and fortune; rakes and libertines, men more fitted to corrupt than to found a commonwealth. It was not the will of God that the new state should be formed of these materials; that such men should be the fathers of a progeny, born on the American soil, who were one day to assert American liberty by their eloquence, and defend it by their valor. Hopeless as the determination appeared, Smith resolutely maintained his authority over the unruly herd, and devised new expeditions and new settlements, to furnish them occupation and support. At last, an accidental explosion of gunpowder disabled him, by inflicting wounds which the surgical skill of Virginia could not relieve.3 Delegating his authority to Percy, he embarked for England. Extreme suffering from his wounds and the ingratitude of his employers were the fruits of his services. He received, for his sacrifices and his perilous exertions, not one foot of land, not the house he himself had built, not the field his own hands had planted, nor any reward but the applause of his conscience and the world. He was the Father of Virginia, the true leader who first planted the Saxon race within the borders of the United States. His 1733, 1734. Secretary Strachy's 1 Smith, i. 234. 2 Ibid. i. 235. Stith, 103. 3 Smith, i. 239. 4 Smith, ii. 102. Virginia's Verger, in Purchas, iv. 1815. |