The sup- of a Charter which would now be rejected with disdain, posed defects of the as a violent invasion of the sacred and inalienable rights Charter. Reasons for its ready of liberty, the first permanent settlements in America were established." Although this remark may be true in fact, it is not, historically, a fair or just comment upon the case presented to our consideration. It is easy enough for us, looking back from the position which we now occupy, upon these governmental regu-. lations, to discover the existence of those political elements which afterwards became so obnoxious to the colonists, and ultimately so fatal to the power of the Crown in America. But while to our more enlightened view, they may seem so wholly to disregard the actual political rights of the settlers, and so disastrously to invade their liberties, we are not surprised that they met with so ready an acquiescence on the part of the respective Proprietors. It must be remembered that the territory on which these settlements were to be ceptance. made, was claimed by, and it was not questioned that the title resided in the Crown: And it could hardly be supposed that the Crown would divest itself of all interest or concern in its occupancy or its government. The object aimed at, and it was so expressed in the Charter, was, to make the country available and pro aim of the ductive as a part of its dominions. The advantages to Nature and be derived from the adventure, both to the settlers and compact it to the proprietors, were regarded as a sufficient comcontained. pensation, or equivalent, for the conditions and restraints to which they were subjected. It was simply a compact, more commercial than political in many of its details, between the Sovereign and his subjects, for the use and occupation of this portion of his domain; to enter into which each party had its own peculiar motives and inducements. It is, therefore, but doing justice to the spirit, the designs, and the relations, of the several parties to the compact: It is but justice to the prevailing political opinions of the age in which it originated: And more truly is it justice to the after GOVERNMENT OF UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER. PART I. of the progress of free principles, and the subsequent devel- The aim opments of civil and religious liberty in both England First Coloand America, to say that the plan thus devised for a set-ny. tlement of the country, however imperfect or exceptionable it may now appear, was originally framed with a view to protect and promote the rights and interests of the respective parties to the compact. The history of the Old World has recorded how slowly, up to this period, the human mind awakened from the slumber which had bound it, and came out from amid the darkness which in the middle ages had humbled it; and in the brighter progress of our own annals in the New, we shall see how gloriously it ultimately cast off the fetters which ignorance, and prejudice, and superstition, and bigotry, and oppression, had for ages thrown around it. "From this period," says Dr. Robertson again, "the progress of the two provinces-Virginia and New England-form a regular and connected story. The former in the South, and the latter in the North, may be con-Dr. Robertsidered as the original and parent Colonies, in imitation ment. of which and under whose shelter, all others have been successively planted and reared." son's state with refer land. This is well enough to say in rounding a period, or closing a chapter, but it is very carelessly expressed and is not sustained by strict historical verity. The history of the Second Colony I shall have occasion The two more particularly to refer to in the Second Part of this ence to work; at present it is sufficient to say that the Colo-New Engnies of New England were none of them the offspring of either of these Companies. It may seem captious or trifling to raise the issue, but the fact has so much to do with the marked difference which exists in the character of the people, and the peculiarities of their institutions, in the two sections, that it becomes important to be observed. The causes which some years after this date brought about the settlement of New England, were not felt or understood by, were indeed unknown PART I. General remarks. VIRGINIA, to, the policy which dictated the planting of Virginia. There was in either a difference of motives and of aims widely divergent, and the difference between them is found to run through nearly all their early history, governmental, political, literary, and religious. At the same time it is true, that the same causes which led to the settlement of the former, had in time a liberalizing influence upon the institutions and government of the latter. Each in its origin, and as it grew, was necessarily measurably affected by the state of things in the Parent Country. With the one it was emigration and adventure, guided by the wisdom of maturer years and a ripened experience; while with the other it was development under the more feeble and fragile condition of infant life. The one was born, and had much of its material growth, before the political elements embraced in the Protestantism of the Reformation were fairly developed in England; while the other owed its very existence to their fuller, freer, and more obvious activity. The one was the favorite and for many years the petted offspring of royalty, the other was the neglected and despised child of misfortune, of parental hate and persecution, of domestic tyranny and op The First- pression. America. prior attention. I have already had occasion to observe the peculiar disadvantages under which the first settlements on our Continent were originated and effected. Without enterImport- ing into a minute detail of the trials, hardships, dantheir early gers and sufferings, to which the early adventurers were history. exposed, we may find abundant matter for pleasing and ance of profitable speculation in tracing the growth of their infant communities, and marking their advancement through all their varied perils, until we find them assuming a rank and consideration which, from its intimate bearing on our own Governmental History, de UNDER THE FIRST CHARTER OF JAMES I. PART I. serves our most interested attention. "It will exhibit The First Expedition London a spectacle no less striking than instructive, and pre-of the First sents an opportunity which rarely occurs, of contem- Colony, or plating a society in the first moment of its political Company, existence, and of observing how its spirit forms in its Dec. 1606. infant state; how its principles begin to unfold as it advances; and how those characteristic qualities which distinguish its maturer age are successively acquired." * * Robert son. The first expedition which was fitted out for Virginia, embarked under the auspices of The Company composing The First Colony, at London. It sailed under the direction of Capt. Newport, on the nineteenth day of December, A. D. 1606. It consisted of one Vessel of about one hundred tons burthen, two Barques, and one hundred and five persons. They bore with them sealed documents which contained the names of The Council appointed for the government of the Colony or Plantation in America, which were to be opened and the persons proclaimed members of the Colonial Council, within twenty-four hours after their arrival on the coast of Virginia. The point of their destination was Roanoke. DestinaAfter having been out at sea for about four months tion of the they lost their reckoning, and while deliberating upon the expediency of returning to England, they encountered a violent gale which drove them into the mouth Are driven of the Chesapeake Bay. On the twenty-sixth day of April, Chesa 1607, they descried its southern point which they called peake Bay. Cape Henry. A small party attempted to land, but being opposed by the natives, and some of them being seriously wounded, they returned again to their vessel. A few days afterwards they discovered a point of land which they called Cape Charles. They then entered the mouth of a large River which they called James' James RivRiver, in honor of their Sovereign, Proceeding some ered, 1607. distance up its channel they neared the shore, and on the twenty-second day of June landed and planted a settlement which they called James' Town. Opening Town their documents they at once proclaimed the names of planted. adventure. into the er discov James' The First the members of the Colonial Council, who proceeded of the settlement. field was chosen. Capt. Newport sailed for England on the fifteenth day of July following, leaving at James' Town one small vessel, and one hundred and four colo nists. Previous to his departure their necessities were Condition supplied from the stores which had been laden on board of the ships. That which was left to them, having received much damage during the voyage, was rendered additionally deleterious and unpalatable by the action of the climate and the progress of decay. Thus they became more susceptible to disease, and before the frosts of winter came to check the sickness which broke out among them, about fifty of their number were consigned to the grave. The hardships to which the survivors settlers. were subjected rendered them impatient of discipline, Difficulties produced a jealousy of the superior comfort in which among the their President was supposed to live, gave rise to dissatisfaction and dissension which resulted in his being deposed, and Mr. Radcliff was elected to fill the vacancy. Election The new President, however, had no more means, nor President; yet the ability, to heal the maladies which now threathis embar- ened the extinction of the Colony. Its numbers were rassments. few, they were without wholesome provisions, were of a new scantily clothed, and were withal enfeebled by exposure to the debilitating effects of the climate. To all these sources of embarrassment were added the annoyances and apprehension arising from the hostility of the natives. If human instrumentality could effect it, it needed the outlay of superior energy, and the influence of a daring and commanding spirit, to accomplish their preservation. In this emergency Capt. John Smith was sen Presi- chosen to superintend its affairs. By his impetuous energy and exertions a small fort was erected, of raw materials, for their defence, the natives were discomfited, and the just expiring Colony was restored to a healthful vigor. Capt. dent. Without knowing that this feeble settlement, composed |