Colonial Virginia, by J. A. C. and T. B. Thames

Table Of Contents

CHAPTEB PAGE

I. The Lost Colony of Roanoke Island 3

II. A Great Tbtjst — The London Company 16

Chapter I. The Lost Colony Of Roanoke Island

It is a far cry from San Salvador to Jamestown. More than a century elapsed after the discovery pf the Western Continent by Columbus before a permanent settlement by the English was effected. As late as the beginning of the seventeenth century it looked as though Spanish preoccupancy was to remain unchallenged. Aside from a few hundred Spaniards at St. Augustine and Santa Fe, there were no white men to be found within the present limits of the United States. There had, however, been brave and frequent efforts to plant an English colony on the American shores. In spite of repeated disasters and bitter disappointments, it was never difficult to find Englishmen who were willing to make the bold venture. The spirit of the Crusaders lingered long after the Crusades were done with. The call of the South Sea, the golden dream of the Eldorado, the incessant dread of Catholic aggression and of Spanish encroachment, made it always possible to secure both men and means for every serious effort at colonization.

Five years after Columbus pointed the way to the new lands, John and Sebastian Cabot, sailing under the English flag, touched upon the shores of North America and claimed the new continent for England. Henry VII., to show his gratitude, presented to the Cabots the munificent gift of £10.

Frobisher and Gilbert bravely ventured into the cold and desolate regions of the extreme northern coast, each seeking a passage to the Orient. Later, Gilbert sought to secure the English in their claim to North America.

Drake, with dauntless and infinite piracy, "plowed a furrow around the world," compassing the western coast as far north as Oregon, naming it New Albion, and claiming it for England.

Raleigh, in superb faith and sacrifice, himself sent out two colonies. The first of these quailed before the dangers and desolations of the wilderness, and went back home. Of the second there remained only the undeciphered word "Crotoan," blazed upon a tree, to tell of the fatal tragedy that came upon the settlers in their lonely island home.

Gbsnold, eschewing the older and more genial route by the Canaries, espoused the open sea, and blazed a new path across the ocean, saving a week's sailing time and shortening the route by a thousand miles.

Of these expeditions and attempts at settlement, those of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and Sir Walter Raleigh were the most serious and elaborate. These were half-brothers. Millais has a great picture called "The Boyhood of Sir Walter Raleigh." A veteran sailor is relating stories of strange seas and shores to two lads. In their eyes is a far-away look that compasses distance and undiscovered shores, and in their ears is the incessant call of the sea. One of these lads is Sir Walter Raleigh and the other is Sir Humphrey Gilbert, his half-brother.

Gilbert was a patriot, soldier and seaman, esteemed worthy of a place by the great Admiral Drake. There can be re doubt but that Millais's picture was suggested by the conferences that these two brothers must often have had together touching the finding awd settlement of the American shores

In June, 1578, Gilbert got from Queen Elizabeth letters patent, authorizing him to make discoveries and to plant colonies in that part of the New World not occupied by any Christian prince. Several unsuccessful expeditions were made. However, in 1583, Gilbert sailed from Plymouth, England, with a fleet of five small ships, the largest of which, in honor of his half-brother, was named Raleigh. He was not long in reaching St. John's harbor, Newfoundland. Here he found thirty-six fishing vessels, the owners of which at first refused him permission to land, but on his showing the commission of his Queen they reluctantly yielded. Going immediately ashore he took possession of the land in the name of the crown of England.

The land was bleak, the climate was inhospitable, and for one reason and another the men soon fell sick, and anally they gave up the enterprise and returned to England.

Sir Humphrey Gilbert embarked in a "mere trivial yacht," called The Squirrel, of only ten tons burden. In it he explored the dangerous coasts of Cape Breton, and refused to leave the little vessel and the little company with whom he had passed so many perils. After having gone about three leagues from Newfoundland, the little vessel sprang a leak and made slow headway in the face of a furious storm. He insisted, however, that he must remain with his comrades, and when last seen he was sitting in the stern of the boat with a book in his hand, and cried repeatedly to the sailors in the Golden Hind, "We are as near heaven by sea as by land." The captain of the Golden Hind reported that "about twelve of the clock suddenly the light of The Squirrel disappeared, and withal our watch cried out, 'Our general is cast away,' which was too true, for in that moment the frigate was devoured and swallowed up in the sea." Thus perished one of the bravest forerunners of American colonization, and thus failed one of the most daring ventures in the settlement of the new continent.

Raleigh was not discouraged by the failure and death of his brother.; In 1584 he secured from the Queen a charter with the right to establish colonies in any part of the New World. It seemed to him wise that exploring parties should be sent out to designate the places where it would be best to plant new colonies. He therefore sent out two ships to explore the coasts of North America, one commanded by Captain Arthur Barlow, and the other by Captain Philip Amadas. These two explorers crossed the ocean and landed on the shores of North Carolina, somewhere in the region of Cape Hatteras. They were greatly charmed with the country into which they had come. The Hatteras Indians proved most friendly and hospitable, and their King, Wingina, gave them a most cordial invitation to visit his land and people. On the acceptance of this invitation they were treated with marked hospitality, especially by the wife of the great chief. Of her it was said : "She was small, pretty and bashful, clothed in a leather mantle with the fur turned in. Her long, dark hair was restrained by a band of white coral ; strings of beads hung from her cars and reached her waist."

These explorers were greatly impressed with the beauty and fertility of the land. The forests of pines, live-oak, tulip trees and tall cedars were filled with wild turkey and other game. The water seemed to be literally teeming with fish, crabs and oysters. On their return to England they reported that this new land far exceeded the land of old Canaan, and that it was more beautiful and fertile than the land which "flows with milk and honey." Their stay in the new country had been long enough for them to make friends with many of the Indians, and they carried back to England two natives bv the names of Manteo and Wanchese.

Raleigh was 'delighted with the report that they brought back, and the Virgin Queen Elizabeth became enthusiastic, and in her own honor named the new country VIRGINIA.

As designated by Queen Elizabeth, Virginia was a broad expanse of territory, the boundaries of which were not definitely known. An old chronicler said : "The bounds thereof on the east side are the ocean, on the south lieth Florida, on the north Nova Francea ; as for the west, the limits thereof are unknown."

In the meanwhile Sir Walter Raleigh was continually growing in favor at the court. The Queen was exceedingly fascinated with his gallant and courtly manners. About this time he was made a knight and became a member of Parliament. In order that he might have the means wherewith to realize his colonial schemes, the Queen granted him a monopcly of the tax on wine. Having thus secured the means, he determined to follow up the explorations already made by an effort to plant a colony in the New World. He entrusted the general management of the enterprise to the great English seaman, Sir Richard Grenville. Such was the interest in the effort to establish a colony that Grenville was accompanied by Thomas Cavendish, the distinguished navigator; Thomas Harriot, the best known mathematician of England, and John White, the artist, who drew the illustrations of the country that were used in DeBry's edition of Harriot's description of Virginia, known as "A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land in Virginia." This was the same John White who was afterwards made Governor of Raleigh's second colony. He made seventy-six pictures in water colors, of which twenty-three were engraved by DeBry. A visitor to the British Museum can see in the Grenville Library every one of these originals of priceless value.

Late in June, 1585, Roanoke Island, at the mouth of Albemarie Sound, was reached and selected as a place on which to plant the colony. There were one hundred and eight settlers. The Indian Mante -ned with them and at once announced to Wingina, the King of the Hatteras Indians, the arrival of his English friends.

After exploring the coast within a range of eighty miles, Grenville left the colony in charge of John Lane. Lane continued exploring even to Chesapeake Bay, and visited the present site of Norfolk. He was undoubtedly the first Englishman to view Hampton Roads and the surrounding country.

The colony of Roanoke Island never prospered. The colonists had come with the expectation that the fertility of the land would make work unnecessary. They had considerable trouble with the Indians, mainly on account of their own harsh and unjust treatment of them. With the lack of industry and of real purpose to remain in the new country, together with their spirit of enmity toward the aborigines, the failure of the colony was inevitable.

In the fall of the year they spied a fleet of twenty-three ships, which proved to be English sails under the charge of Sir Francis Drake, returning to England after a cruise in South American waters. Carrying out instructions that he had received from Queen Elizabeth, he was visiting the colonists to ascertain their condition and needs. So grave was the situation that he agreed with them that they should return with him at once to England. The houses were abandoned, but not destroyed. The colonists carried back with them tobacco, Indian corn and potatoes, three products of the American continent which were not known in England. Raleigh planted the potatoes on his estate in Ireland, and since that day they have become the chief food of the lush people, and on this account they are commonly called 'T.'ish potatoes."

Queen Elizabeth.

The use of tobacco soon came to be a fad in England, both among the men and women. The story is told that Raleigh persuaded the Queen to try a pipe of tobacco. After two or three puffs she became greatly nauseated, at which a number of maids of honor laughed, while others declared that Raleigh had poisoned the Queen. She soon recovered, however, and, in disgust with her ladies of the court, forced them all to undergo her experience. Another story is told that Raleigh wagered with the Queen that he could weigh the smoke which. was expended from a pipeful of tobacco. The Queen accepted the wager, whereupon Raleigh weighed the tobacco, smoked it, weighed the ashes and declared that the smoke represented the difference. We are also told that one day while Raleigh was smoking in his room his servant came in bringing him a glass of ale. Seeing the smoke come from hia master's mouth, he threw the glass of ale on his master, lushed out and gave the fire alarm. By the time of King James the First the smoking of tobacco became prevalent throughout all England. The King could not indalge himself without being made sick, and consequently became a strenuous opponent of the use of the weed, and wrote a violent and not very dignified book, "The Counter Blast," in which His Majesty declared that smoking was a vile offense against humanity and a curse to Christianity.

Raleigh refused to be discouraged even by the failure of his first colony beginning under such favorable auspices and having such fair promise of permanent success. In his far-seeing vision he took in always the possibility of an England in the New World, and he determined to make yet another attempt. So it fell out that in 1587 he sent out three other vessels, with John White as governor, with instructions to plant a colony on Chesapeake Bay or on the Elizabeth River. If these instructions had been carried out, Raleigh's second

IO COLONIAL VIRGINIA.

colony would have been planted at Sewell's Point, near the spot where the Jamestown Exposition Company is to commemorate the first permanent settlement of 1607.

Unfortunately for the colonists, their pilot took them back to Albemarle Sound, and after some debate, it was reluctantly concluded to plant there the second time a colony on Roanoke Island. This expedition was composed of men, women and children. A short time after they landed, the governor's daughter, Eleanor, gave birth to the first English child born in America. She was christened "Virginia" in honor of the new country. Just a week before the christening of Virginia, Manteo had been baptized into the Christian faith, doubtless the first trophy of the Christian religion from among the aborigines of America.

In a little while the colonists were at war with the Indians, and the large store of supplies that they had brought with them, under bad management, was dwindling perceptibly. It was thought best that Governor White should at once return to England for additional supplies. He went away, leaving on the island eighty-nine men, seventeen women and eleven children.

White was gone for three years. On his return to England he found Raleigh, Grenville and Lane gathered about the Queen in earnest and urgent preparation for Spanish invasion. In the midst of such engagements and excitements Raleigh, in his abundant enthusiasm, found time to form a company for prosecuting the purpose of maintaining an English colony in America. Among those interested in this company were Sir Thomas Smith, afterwards the treasurer of the London Company, and Richard Hakluyt, Dean of Westminster, and author of a celebrated b'ook of voyages. With two ships White was dispatched under the auspices of this new company with supplies for Roanoke Island. Unfortunately his

THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE ISLAND, n

ships fell in with privateers and, after a bloody engagement, were disabled and compelled to return to England.

The Spanish Armada was so imminent that no furcher thought could be given to the lonely colonists on the Island of Roanoke. Neither men nor ships could be spared for other enterprises ; all were needed, and at once, to meet the coming Armada. Drake, Grenville and Lane, and others interested with them in the schemes of colonization, were conspicuous in that great naval conflict. When the Armada was defeated, and England's supremacy on the sea established, thought was immediately given to the settlers at Roanoke Island. Meanwhile three years had passed and no word had come from them and no word had gone to them. But with such dispatch as the confusion of the times permitted, Raleigh and White organized a relief expedition and sent ships and supplies to the rescue of the lonely settlers. When the expedition reached the island there was nowhere to be seen any sign or token of the colonists. Houses were in ruins and covered with vines. Around the doors grew vegetation which indicated that for a year at least the colony had been abandoned. Before leaving for England it had been agreed between White and the colonists that should it be found necessary to abandon the settlement before his return they should leave a mark on a tree by which he might know whither they had gone. It was understood that a cross would be the sign that they had left the colony in distress. He searched over the island and at last upon a tree he saw plainly graven the word "Croatan." There was, however, no cross to indicate that they had left in distress. After a rather desultory search of the neighborhood he returned home, reporting that the colony was lost. As a matter of fact, no really serious or diligent search was ever made for the lost colonists. Raleigh sent out, indeed, all told, five expeditions, but they only came to the immediate neighborhood of Roanoke Island, and made neither a wide nor a thorough search for their lost countrymen. "Croatan" therefore remains an undeciphered word ; no man knows what was in the mind of the settler who carved it in the live-oak tree on Roanpke Island. If the island had been swallowed up by the sea this colony could not have been more completely lest to human sight and kin. History will probably never relate what became of thes,e brave men and women. Indians, however, reported to the first settlers of Jamestown their knowledge of the paleface to the south. Some creditable historians believe that through the veins of the Croatan Indians of North Carolina flows the blood of Raleigh's settlers, and maintain that the settlers, forsaking their island home, were adopted by the Croatan Indians, and after a while intermarried with them. It is not improbable, therefore, that among the survivors of that old tribe are some to-day who are the descendants of Virginia Dare, the first English child born on American soil.

The State of North Carolina has not been unmindful of the historical significance of Raleigh's attempt at settlement within its borders. Its capital city is named after this great English statesman; and upon the site of old Fort Raleigh there has been erected a monument commemorating this great, if unsuccessful, enterprise. Upon the monument is written this inscription:

"On this site in July-August, 1585 (O. S.), colonists, sent out from England by Sir Walter Raleigh, built a fort, called by them 'The New Fort in Virginia.'

"These colonists were the first settlers of the English race in America. They returned to England in July, 1586, with Sir Francis Drake.

"Near this place was born, on the 18th of August, 1587, Virginia Dare, the first child of English parents born in America, daughter of Ananias Dare and

Eleanor White, his wife, members of another band of colonists, sent out by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1587.

"On Sunday, August 20, 1587, Virginia Dare was baptized. Manteo, the friendly chief of the Hatteras Indians, had been baptized on the Sunday preceding. These baptisms were the first known celebrations of a Christian sacrament in the territory of the thirteen original United States."

None of the early English efforts at colonization were altogether failures, for each of them contributed something to the world's wider knowledge, and made more sure the ultimate success that followed. Together they constituted that inevitable John the Baptist, whose voice crying in the wilderness, and whose hands casting up the King's highway, prepared the way for the coming of larger dispensation.

This chapter must not be dismissed without an added word concerning Sir Walter Raleigh, the prophet and apostle of American colonization. Concerning him, Canon Kingsly said, "To this one man, under the providence of God, the whole "United States of America owe their existence."

First and last, he spent upon these efforts at colonization forty thousand pounds, which, in his day, was nc mean fortune. For this there was no return except the satisfaction that his efforts made more possible the realization of the dream that had been the inspiration of his life. His mighty heart beat responsive to the great times in which he lived. It was the era of the renaissance in literature, of reform in religion and of commercial enterprise and adventure. Canon Farrar says most beautifully of this period, "The glory of England in that day was as when the aloe rushes into its crimson flower." Trie flower of chivalry, of letters, of the arts and sciences, was breaking into the imperial bloom of the Elizabethan day. This atmosphere was congenial to Raleigh's great spirit, and

J4 COLONIAL VIRGINIA.

he stood conspicuous in that splendid coteiie that gathered about the Elizabethan court. In him gathered at once the refinements, the culture, the high moral earnestness, the chivalry and daring of his unequaled day, and to him, as to no other man, came clear, full and steadfast, the vision of a new England, representing and perpetuating the old England upon the western shores beyond the sea.

In him came all the contrasts and paradox of life. If there was to him a bright and glorious day, there was also a long and dark night. If in the noonday of his splendid career "he was a man at whom men gazed as at a star," in the evening he staggered toward the infinite night, a lonely man, decrepit and discredited.

In the reign of James I. he was unjustly accused of treason, and imprisoned for a number of years. During this time he wrote his "History pf the World," and constantly urged the colonizing of America. In 1618, eleven years after the Settlement of Jamestown, he was executed. With a single day's notice he went forth to his execution, not reluctant or afraid.

On the morning of his execution he was visited by his wife and a number of his friends. They were slow to leave, so Raleigh dismissed them, saying, "I have a long journey to make, therefore I must take my leave of you." When they had departed he turned to the executioner and asked if he might see the ax. The headsman hesitated, whereupon Raleigh said to him calmly : "Let me see it. Dost thou think I am afraid of it?" Having passed his fingers across the blade, he calmly remarked : "It is a sharp medicine, but one that will cure all of my diseases." He then walked to the scaffold and said to the executioner: "When I stretch forth my hands, dispatch me." Thereupon he quietly laid his head upon the block, with his face to the east, and stretched forth his hands. The executioner was so unnerved that he either did not observe Raleigh's action, or was unwilling to proceed with the execution. Raleigh again stretched forth his hands, and still the executioner made no motion. Then Raleigh cried, "What dost thou fear? Strike, man! strike!" At last the executioner raised the ax and with one stroke severed from the body the head of England's polished courtier and far-seeing statesman.

Raleigh had proposed England's colonial policy and had lived to see the establishment of a successful colony. In the very year that he was executed the London Company had reorganized, and was preparing to give to Sir Georg-e Yeardley, as Governor of Virginia, instructions which were to result in the establishment of the first legislative assembly in America ; instructions broad enough in their scope to pave the way for an American democracy.

In the Tercentennial Commemoration of 1907 Raleigh will not be forgotten. The Daughters of the American Revolution are planning to place on Jamestown Island a reproduction of Hayes-Barton, the birthplace of Raleigh, whom Dean Stanley has designated as "The Father of the United States."

Some years ago, under the direction of Canon Farrar, there was placed in Westminster Abbey a memorial window, given by Americans, to commemorate this brilliant statesman and his great labors on behalf of American colonization. On this window was inscribed the following lines from James Russell Lowell, the American Minister at the Court of St. James:

"From England's breast we drew

Such milk as bids us remember whence we came. Proud of her past, wherefrom our present grew, This window we inscribe with Raleigh's name."

Chapter II. A Great Trust— The London Company

The efforts at colonization made by Gilbert and by Raleigh showed that the task was too large and grave to be discharged by individual resource. The failures of Raleigh especially emphasized that the planting of colonies should not be undertaken by individuals. Soon it began to be conceived that what might not be done by an individual might be achieved by a corporation. Thus early in the development of our civilization came the suggestion of a trust or combine, the last and consummate flower of which we have in these days.

The proposal of a great commercial company for colonizing and christianizing the New World, when suggested in England, was seized upon with exceeding avidity. It seems as though the spirit of daring and adventure, hitherto expressed in other ways^ sought now to find expression in the great commercial and colonizing schemes. The conception of trading companies developed from an idea indigenous to English soil and multiplied most rapidly in Holland, France, Sweden, Denmark, and even in Scotland and Russia. An incomplete list will show that from the years 1554 to 1698 there were in these various countries not less than seventy of these companies chartered for commercial and colonizing purposes. Usually the companies were organized with regard both to colonizing and to commerce. The two ideas were mutually dependent, the success of one carrying with it the success of the other. According to exigency, therefore, emphasis was put upon the one or the other idea as circumstances seemed to require. These companies were awarded by the crown certain privileges of trade, grants of territory and rights of government, subject to such scrutiny and modifications as the government might afterwards seek to impose. The returns to the crown were to be in certain tributes, increase of commerce and extension of territory.

Of the English chartered companies, for wealth, scope of operation and influence, stability and permanency, the East India Company was the most conspicuous. It received its charter from Queen Elizabeth in 1600, and was given an absolute monopoly over trade in all countries lying between the Cape of Good Hope and the Straits of Magellan. The charter was granted to over one hundred and twenty-five stockholders, and its government was placed in the hands of a governor, deputy governor, and twenty-four members of a directing hoard to be chosen annually by the stockholders in their general assembly or court. This company is of importance in relation to Virginia because its charter was closely followed by King James. Moreover, the British East India Company was the most remarkable trading and colonizing company that the world ever saw. It conquered all of India for England, laid the foundation of great wealth for British merchants, and was not finally dissolved until 1874.

Before the last failure of Raleigh's efforts the idea of chartering a company to colonize Virginia occurred tc him, and to that end he effected an organization for carrying out his scheme. He turned over to it part, if not all, of the rights and concessions that he had secured from the Queen. Somewhat later than this a more serious and general movement occurred looking to a chartered company organized more nearly along the lines of the East India Company and other companies then in existence. To encourage this movement there appeared an exceedingly able and effective' document, supposed to have been inspired and written by Mr. Hakluyt. The paper set forth "Reasons or motives for raising of a publique stocke to be imploied for the peopling and discovering of such countries as maye be founde most convenient for the supplie of those defects which this realme of England most requireth." Concerning the necessity for such an organization, the paper makes this cogent statement: "Private purees are cowld compforts to adventurers, and have ever ben founde fatall to all interprices hitherto undertaken by the English, by reason of the delaies, jealocies and unwillingnes to backe the project which succeeded not at the first attempt."

The success of a similar scheme organized in Holland is cited as an example of what might be done under English auspices: "The example of the Hollanders is verie pregnante by a maine backe or stocke having effected marvelous matters in traffique and navigacon in a few years." The real argument of the paper is that England, to keep abreast with other nations of the world, will have to build up her commerce, and that England's chances for colonial dominions yielding large revenues would be cut off if France and Spain are allowed to monopolize the American lands. The result of colonizing would mean that the "merchandize increasing thereby, the realme will be inriched yearly by manie thousand pounds, and the King's imposte and customs increased." Very adroitly does the paper seek to insinuate the scheme into the King's favor: "It would savour too much of affectacon of a popular state to levie monies without imparting some convenient portion to His Majestic. That portion ought not to be smale that it should seame to undervalue the King's greatness and favour." Wise Mr. Hakluyt.

Finally, in the year 1606, the King granted a charter to two companies known as the London and Plymouth Companies, it being understood that the sphere of operation of the Plymouth Company should be in northern Virginia, and that of the London Company should be in southern Virginia, it being stipulated that the southern boundary of northern Virginia should come to the Potomac River, and that the northern boundary of southern Virginia should reach as far as the Hudson River. In other words, the lands between the Huds'on and Potomac Rivers were assigned to both companies, with the proviso that the company last planting a colony should not come nearer than one hundred miles of any settlement previously founded by the other company.