1608 ber. He had been absent a little more than three months, had explored the winding coast of the great bay for fully three thousand miles, had encountered hostile savages by hundreds and thousands, had been driven hither and thither by storms, once wrecked, once stung by a poisonous fish and brought so near to death that his comrades digged his grave; now he was come back to the colony with a MAP OF THE CHESAPEAKE, which he sent by Newport to England, and which is still preserved. Only one man had been lost on the expedition. Richard Fetherstone had died, and was buried on the Rappahannoc. Within three days after Smith's return to Jamestown he was formally elected president. He entered at once upon the duties of his office, correcting abuses, enforcing the laws and restoring order to the distracted colony. There was a marked change for the better; gold-hunting became unpopular, and the rest of the year was noted as a season of great prosperity. Late in the autumn Newport arrived with seventy additional immigrants, increasing the number to more than two hundred. The health was so good that only seven deaths occurred between September 140-9 and May of the following year. Excellent discipline was maintained. Every well man was obliged to work six hours a day. New houses were built, new fields fenced in; and all through the winter the sound of axe and saw and hammer gave token of a prosperous and growing village. Such was the condition of affairs in the spring of 1609. John Smith left amestown in 16394 wont to England.pages 1647 VIRGINIA. THE SECOND CHARTER. ON the 23d of May, 1609, King James, without consulting the wishes of his American colonists, revoked their constitution, and granted to the London Company a new charter, by the terms of which the government of Virginia was completely changed. The territory included under the new patent extended from Cape Fear to Sandy Hook, and westward to the Pacific Ocean. The members of the Superior Council were now to be chosen by the stockholders of the company, vacancies were to be filled by the councilors, who were also empowered to elect a governor from their own number. The council was at once organized in accordance with this charter, and the excellent Lord De La Ware chosen governor for life. With him were joined in authority Sir Thomas Gates, lieutenant-general; Sir George Somers, admiral; Christopher Newport, vice-admiral; Sir Thomas Dale, high marshal; Sir Ferdinand Wainman, master of horse; and other dignitaries of similar sort. Attracted by the influence of these noblemen, a large company of more than five hundred emigrants was speedily collected, and early in June a fleet of nine vessels sailed for America. Lord Delaware did not himself accompany the expedition, but delegated his authority to three commissioners, Somers, Gates and Newport. About the middle of July the ships, then passing the West Indies, were overtaken and scattered by a storm. One small vessel was wrecked, and another, having on board the commissioners of Lord Delaware, was driven ashore on one of the Bermuda Islands, where the crew remained until April of the following year; the other seven ships came safely to James town. But who should now be governor? Captain Smith was at first dis-t posed to give up his office, but in a few days the affairs of the colony were plainly going to ruin, and he was urged by the old settlers and the better class of new-comers to continue in authority. Accordingly, declaring that his powers as president under the old constitution did not cease until some one should arrive from England properly commissioned to supersede him, he kept resolutely to the discharge of his duties, although in daily peril of his life. He arrested Ratcliffe* and Archer, put some of the most rebellious brawlers in prison, and then, in order to distract the attention of the rest, planned two new settlements, one, of a hundred and twenty men, under the command of Martin, to be established at Nansemond; the other, of the same number, under Captain West, to form a colony at the falls of the James. Both companies behaved badly. In a few days after their departure troubles arose between West's men and the Indians. The president was sent for in order to settle the difficulty; but finding his efforts unavailing, he returned to Jamestown. On his way down the river, while asleep in the boat, a bag of gunpowder lying near by exploded, burning and tearing his flesh so terribly that in his agony he leaped overboard. Being rescued from the river, he was carried to the fort, where he lay for some time racked with fever and tortured with his wounds. Finally, despairing of relief under the imperfect medical treatment which the colony afforded, he decided to return to England. He accordingly delegated his authority to Sir George Percy, a brother of the earl of Northumberland, and about the middle of Sep* This man's real name was not Ratcliffe, but Sicklemore. He had been president of the colony in 1607, and was an accomplished thief as well as an impostor. 1609 tember, 1609, left the scene of his heroic toils and sufferings, never to return. There remained at Jamestown a colony of four hundred and ninety persons, well armed, well sheltered and well supplied. But such was the viciousness and profligacy of the greater number, and such the insubordination and want of proper leadership, after Smith's departure, that by the beginning of winter the settlement was face to face with starvation. The Indians became hostile and hovered around the plantations, stragglers were intercepted and murdered, houses were fired at every opportunity, disease returned to add to the desolation, and cold and hunger completed the terrors of a winter which was long remembered with a shudder and called THE STARVING TIME. By the last of March there were only sixty persons alive, and these, if help had not come speedily, could hardly have lived a fortnight. Meanwhile, Sir Thomas Gates and his companions, who had been shipwrecked in the Bermudas, had constructed out of the materials of their old ship, with such additional timber as they could cut from the forest, two small vessels, and set sail for Virginia. They came in full expectation of a joyful greeting from a happy colony. What, therefore, was their disappointment and grief when a few wan, half-starved wretches crawled out of their cabins to beg for bread! Whatever stores the commissioners had brought with them were distributed to the famishing settlers, and Gates assumed control of the government. But the colonists had now fully determined to abandon for ever a place which promised them nothing but disaster and death. In vain did the commissioners remonstrate; they were almost driven by the clamors around them to yield to the common will. An agreement was made to sail for Newfoundland; there the remnant of the Virginia colony should be distributed among the fishermen until such time as some friendly ship might carry them back to England. On the 8th of June Jamestown was abandoned. The disheartened settlers, now grown resentful, were anxious before leaving to burn the town, but Gates defeated this design, and was himself the last man to go on board. Four pinnaces lay at their moorings in the river; embarking in these, the colonists dropped down with the tide, and it seemed as though the enterprise of Raleigh and Gosnold had ended in failure and humiliation. But Lord Delaware was already on his way to America. Before the escaping settlers had passed out of the mouth of the river, the ships of the noble governor came in sight. Here were additional immigrants, plentiful supplies and promise of better things to come. Would the colonists return? The majority gave a reluctant consent, and before nightfall the fires were again kindled on the hearthstones of the deserted village. The next day was given to religious services; the governor caused his commission to be read, and entered upon the discharge of his duties. The amiability and virtue of his life, no less than the mildness and decision of his administration, endeared him to all and inspired the colony with hope. Autumn came, and Lord Delaware fell sick. Against his own will, and to the great regret of the colony, he was compelled to return to England. Having reluctantly delegated his authority to Percy—the same who had been the deputy of Captain Smith-the good Delaware set sail for his own country. It was an event of great discouragement; but fortunately, before a knowledge of the governor's departure reached England, the Superior Council had despatched a new shipload of stores and another company of emigrants, under command of Sir Thomas Dale. The vessel arrived at Jamestown on the 10th of May, and Percy was superseded by the captain, who bore a commission from the council. Dale had been a military officer in the wars of the Netherlands, and he now adopted a system of martial law as the basis of his administration. He was, however, a man so tolerant and just that very little complaint was made on account of his arbitrary method of governing. One of Dale's first acts was to write to the council in England, requesting that body to send out immediately as large a number of colonists as possible, with an abundance of supplies. For once the council acted promptly; and in the latter part of August, Sir Thomas Gates arrived with a fleet of six ships, having on board three hundred immigrants and a large quantity of stores. There was great thanksgiving in the colony, a fresh enthusiasm was enkindled, and contentment came with a sense of security. Thus far the property of the settlers at Jamestown had been held in common. The colonists had worked together, and in time of harvest deposited their products in storehouses which were under the control of the governor and council. Now the right of holding private property was recognized. Governor Gates had the lands divided so that each settler should have three acres of his own; every family might cultivate a garden and plant an orchard, the fruits of which no one but the owner was allowed to gather. The benefits of this system of labor were at once apparent. The laborers, as soon as each was permitted to claim the rewards of his own toil, became cheerful and industrious. There were now seven hundred persons in the colony; new plantations were laid out on every side, and new settlements were formed on both banks of the river and at considerable distances from Jamestown. The promise of an American State, so long deferred, seemed at last to be realized. 1612 1613 Argill EARLY CHAPTER XI. 70113 VIRGINIA.-THE THIRD CHARTER. ARLY in the year 1612 the London Company obtained from the king a third patent, by the terms of which the character of the government was entirely changed. The Superior Council was abolished and the powers of that body transferred to the stockholders, who were authorized to hold public meetings, to elect their own officers, to discuss and decide all questions of law and right, and to govern the colony on their own responsibility. The cause of this change was the unprofitableness of the colony as a financial enterprise, and the consequent dissatisfaction of the company with the management of the council. The new patent, although not so intended by the king, was a great step toward a democratic form of government in Virginia. 2. The year 1613 was marked by two important events, both of them resulting from the lawless behavior of Captain Samuel Argall. While absent on an expedition up the Potomac River he learned that Pocahontas, who had had some difficulty with her father's tribe, was residing in that neighborhood. Procuring the help of a treacherous Indian family, the English captain enticed the unsuspecting girl on board his vessel and carried her captive to Jamestown. The authorities of the colony, instead of punishing Argall for this atrocity, aggravated the outrage by demanding that Powhatan should pay a heavy ransom for his daughter's liberation. The old king indignantly refused, and ordered his tribes to prepare for war. Meanwhile, Pocahontas, who seems not to have been greatly grieved on account of her captivity, was converted to the Christian faith and became by baptism a member of the Episcopal Church. She was led to this course of action chiefly by the instruction and persuasion of John Rolfe, a worthy young man of the colony, who after the baptism of the princess sought her in marriage. Powhatan and his chief men gave their consent, and the nuptials were duly celebrated in the spring of the following year. By this means war was averted, and a bond of union established between the Indians and the whites. 3. Two years later Rolfe and his wife went to England, where they were received in the highest circles of society. Captain Smith gave them a letter of introduction to Queen Anne, and many other flattering atten |