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CHAP. mudas. A small ketch perished; and seven ships IV. only arrived in Virginia.

1609.

A new dilemma ensued. The old charter was ab rogated; 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. 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
account, in Purchas, iv. 1735-
1738. True Declaration of Vir-
ginia, 21-26.

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

CHARACTER OF JOHN SMITH. THE STARVING TIME.

139

IV.

1609

judgment had ever been clear in the midst of general CHAP despondency. He united the highest spirit of adventure with consummate powers of action. His courage and self-possession accomplished what others esteemed desperate. Fruitful in expedients, he was prompt in execution. Though he had been harassed by the persecutions of malignant envy, he never revived the memory of the faults of his enemies. He was accustomed to lead, not to send his men to danger; would suffer want rather than borrow, and starve sooner than not pay.' He had nothing counterfeit in his nature; but was open, honest, and sincere. He clearly discerned, that it was the true interest of England not to seek in Virginia for gold and sudden wealth, but to enforce regular industry. "Nothing," said he, "is to be expected thence, but by labor.”2

The colonists, no longer controlled by an acknowledged authority, were soon abandoned to improvident idleness. Their ample stock of provisions was rapidly consumed; and further supplies were refused by the Indians, whose friendship had been due to the personal influence of Smith, and who now regarded the English with a fatal contempt. Stragglers from the town were cut off; parties, which begged food in the Indian cabins, were deliberately murdered; and plans were laid to starve and destroy the whole company. The horrors of famine ensued; while a band of about thirty, seizing on a ship, escaped to become pirates, and to plead their desperate necessity as an excuse for their crimes.3 Smith, at his departure, had left more than

2 Answers in Smith, ii. 106.
3 True Declaration, 35-39.
Compare Stith, 116, 117; Smith,

1 Smith, i. 241. It is hardly necessary to add, that much of Smith's General Historie is a compilation of the works of others. Compare ii. 2. Belknap, i. 303, 304.

IV.

CHAP. four hundred and ninety persons in the colony;1 in six months, indolence, vice, and famine, reduced the number to sixty; and these were so feeble and dejected, that, if relief had been delayed but ten days longer, they also must have utterly perished."

1610.

Sir Thomas Gates and the passengers, whose ship had been wrecked on the rocks of the Bermudas, had reached the shore without the loss of a life. The liberal fertility of the uninhabited island, teeming with natural products, for nine months sustained them in affluence. From the cedars which they felled, and the wrecks of their old ship, they, with admirable perseverance, constructed two vessels, in which they now embarked for Virginia,3 in the hope of a happy welcome to the abundance of a prosperous colony. May How great, then, was their horror, as they came among 24. the scenes of death and misery, of which the gloom

7.

was increased by the prospect of continued scarcity! Four pinnaces remained in the river; nor could the extremity of distress listen to any other course, than to sail for Newfoundland, and seek safety by dispersing the company among the ships of English fishermen.a June The colonists-such is human nature-desired to burn the town in which they had been so wretched, and the exercise of their infantile vengeance was prevented only by the energy of Gates," who was himself the last to desert the settlement. "None dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." They fell June down the stream with the tide; but, the next morning, as they drew near the mouth of the river, they encountered the long-boat of Lord Delaware, who had

8.

1 Smith, i. 240.

2 Purchas, iv. 1732 and 1766. Stith, 117. True Declaration, 47, or Smith, ii. 4, says four days.

3 True Declaration of Virginia, 23-26.

4 Ibid. 43, 44.

5 Ibid. 45. Smith, 11. 3.

LORD DELAWARE RESTORES VIRGINIA.

141

IV

arrived on the coast with emigrants and supplies. CHAP. The fugitives bore up the helm, and, favored by the wind, were that night once more at the fort in James- 1610 town.1

It was on the tenth day of June, that the restauration of the colony was solemnly begun by supplications to God. A deep sense of the infinite mercies of his providence overawed the colonists who had been spared by famine, the emigrants who had been shipwrecked and yet preserved, and the new comers who found wretchedness and want, where they had expected the contentment of abundance. The firmness of their resolution repelled despair. "It is," said they, "the arm of the Lord of Hosts, who would have his people pass the Red Sea and the wilderness, and then possess the land of Canaan." Dangers avoided inspire trust in Providence. "Doubt not," said the emigrants to the people of England," God will raise our state and build his church in this excellent clime." After solemn exercises of religion, Lord Delaware caused his commission to be read; a consultation was immediately held on the good of the colony; and its government was organized with mildness but decision. The evils of faction were healed by the unity of the administration, and the dignity and virtues of the governor; and the colonists, excited by mutual emulation, performed their tasks with alacrity. At the beginning of the day, they assembled in the little church, which was kept neatly trimmed with the wild flowers of the country ; 3 next, they returned to their houses to receive their allowance of food. The settled hours of labor were from six in the morning till ten, and from two in the 3 Purchas, iv. 1753.

1 True Declaration, 45, 46. 2 Ibid. 48.

3

IV.

CHAP. afternoon till four. The houses were warm and secure, covered above with strong boards, and matted 1610. on the inside after the fashion of the Indian wigwams. Security and affluence were returning. But the health of Lord Delaware sunk under the cares of his situation and the diseases of the climate; and, after a lingering sickness, he was compelled to leave the administration with Percy, and return to England.' The colony, at this time, consisted of about two hundred men; but the departure of the governor was a disastrous event, which produced not only despondency at Jamestown, but " a damp of coldness" in the hearts of the London company; and a great reaction in the popular mind in England. In the age when the theatre was the chief place of public amusement and resort, Virginia was introduced by the stage-poets as a theme of scorn and derision.2 "This plantation," complained they of Jamestown, "has undergone the reproofs of the base world; our own brethren laugh us to scorne; and papists and players, the scum and dregs of the earth, mocke such as help to build up the walls of Jerusalem.” 3

1611

Fortunately, the adventurers, before the ill success of Lord Delaware was known, had despatched Sir Thomas Dale, "a worthy and experienced soldier in the Low Countries," with liberal supplies. He arrived May safely in the colony, and assumed the government, which he soon afterwards administered upon the basis of martial law. The code, written in blood, and printed and sent to Virginia by the treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith, on his own authority, and without the

10.

1 The New Life of Virginia, 1612, republished in ii. Mass. Hist. Coll. vii. 199-223, and by P. Force, 1835. The Relation of Lord De la Warre, printed in 1611, is before me.

2 Epistle Dedicatorie to the New Life of Virginia. In Force, p. 4.

3 For the Colony in Virginea Britannia, Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martial. London, 1612.

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