USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 4
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b " Representing the country so so agreeable, that Paradise itself delightful and desirable, so pleasant and plentiful,-the climate and air
ing and fruitful,-and all other things seemed to be there in its first native lustre." Beverley's Hist. Va., 2.
:
56
ELIZABETH BESTOWS A NAME. [CHAP. I.
summer and autumn, for the wants of winter,-its people were children of another age, when virtue triumphed, and vice was yet unknown. The court and the Queen were alike enlisted, and looked to this discovery as one of the brightest spots in her lustrous reign.
For a land so distinguished in natural charms, and to which England designed to devote the ex- panding energies of her people, a name was to be found worthy of future love. The Queen selected " Virginia," and none can deplore the graceful choice. She remembered her own unmarried state; and connecting, it may be, with this the virgin pu- rity which yet seemed to linger amid these favoured regions,ª she bestowed a name which has since in- terwoven itself with the most sensitive cords of a million of hearts. Had Elizabeth carried to her grave a reputation as unsullied for chastity' as it is unassailable for intellectual force, her memory might now be regarded with the most sacred affec- tion by the sons and daughters of her favoured colony.
Raleigh had now obtained the honour of knight- hood and a seat in Parliament; and, deriving from his lucrative monopoly means for farther effort, he
a Beverley's Hist. Va., 3; Ban- alted birth, refined education, sove- croft's U. S., i. 108; Burk's Hist. Va., i. 51; Grahame's Colon. Hist. U. S., i. 22.
reign power, and splendid intellect, may be accompanied by the temper of a tigress, and the profligacy of a
b It is not a grateful task to as- "courtesan. See Hume's Eng., iv., sail the memory of the dead,-but note. D., 468; Lingard's Hist. Eng., viii. 296. truth has not failed to show in this queen melancholy evidence that ex-
57
LIGHT INJURY-DEEP REVENGE.
1585.]
made diligent preparation for despatching another fleet to Virginia. The second expedition consisted of seven vessels, large and small; and that gallant spirit, Sir Richard Grenville himself, was at its head.ª . The war with Spain was now in progress, and the richly laden vessels from South America and the West Indies offered tempting prizes to English bravery. Sir Richard sailed from Ply- mouth the 9th of April, passed the Canaries and West Indies, captured two Spanish ships, ran im- minent hazard of being wrecked on the dangerous headland now known as Cape Fear, and reached Wococon on the 26th of June. Manteo was brought back to his native land, and proved an invaluable guide and interpreter to his newly-made friends.
But their amicable relations with the natives were now to receive a rude shock, from which they never recovered. At Aquascogoc, an Indian stole from the adventurers a silver cup; and, on being de- tected, he did not return it as speedily as was de-
sired. (July 16.) For this enormous offence, the English burned the town, and barbarously de- stroyed the growing corn. The affrighted inhabi- tants fled to the woods, and thus a poisoned arrow was planted in their bosoms, which rankled unto the end.b A silver cup, in the eyes of European avarice, was a loss which could only be atoned by ruin and devastation; and had the unhappy savage stolen the only child of the boldest settler, a more
ª Hakluyt, iii. 251, in Belknap, knap, i. 309; Frost's Pict. Hist., i. 306.
i. 77.
b Smith's Hist. Va., i. 86; Bel-
58
RALPH LANE.
[CHAP. I.
furious vengeance could not have followed! To such conduct does America owe the undying hatred of the aboriginal tenants of her land, and the bur- den of infamy that she must bear when weighed in the scales of immaculate justice.
A serious attempt was now made to found a co- lony. One hundred and eight men were left on the island of Roanoke, comprising in their number some of the boldest hearts, and many of the best- cultivated minds that had left the mother country. Among them was Thomas Heriot, whom Raleigh had sent out with a full knowledge of his scientific acquirements, his love of investigation, and his moral worth.
Sir Richard Grenville returned to England, where he arrived in September, bringing with him a rich Spanish prize.
The settlers, thus left to their own resources, seem to have done little in the all-important task of clearing the country and planting corn for future necessities. Ralph Lane had been appointed go- vernor, a man uniting military knowledge with ex- perience in the sea. He undertook several voyages of exploration, penetrated north as far as Elizabeth River and a town on Chesapeake Bay,ª and south to Secotan, eighty leagues from Roanoke. But his most famous expedition was up Albemarle Sound and the Chowan River, of his adventures in which he has himself given us a description, in a letter preserved by Captain Smith. The king of the Chowanocks was known by the title of Menatonon.
a Smith's Hist. Va., i. 87; Burk's Hist. Va., i. 56.
59
A SEARCH FOR PEARLS.
1585.]
He was lame in one of his lower limbs, but his spirit seems to have been one of uncommon acti- vity and shrewdness. He told the credulous Eng- lish of a country, four days' journey beyond them, where they might hope for abundant riches. This country lay on the sea; and its king, from the wa- ters around his island retreat, drew magnificent pearls in such numbers that they were commonly used in his garments and household conveniences.a Instantly the fancies of the eager listeners were fired with the hope of attaining this wealth; and notwithstanding the scarcity of food, and the dan- ger of an assault by "two or three thousand" sa- vages, they continued to toil up the river. They laboured on until they had nothing for sustenance, except two dogs of the mastiff species, and the sas- safras leaves which grew in great abundance around them. , Upon this inviting fare they were fain to nourish their bodies, while their souls were fed upon the hope of finally entering this region of pearls ; but at length, in a state near to starvation, they returned to Roanoke, having made no disco- very even so valuable as a copper spring high up the Chowan River, concerning which the Indians had excited their hopes.
Thomas Heriot employed his time in researches
a " He taketh that abundance of ing in some respects to Lane's nar- pearle that not onely his skins and his nobles, but also his beds and houses are garnished therewith." Ralph Layne's narrative, in Smith, i. 88.
b A copper mine river, correspond-
rative, was discovered in another part of America, by Mr. Hearne, under a commission from the Hud- son's Bay Company. It empties into the Northern Ocean. Murray's En- cyclop. Geog., iii. 341.
60
ENMITY OF PEMISSAPAN.
[CHAP. I.
more rational than those which sought for pearls amid the wilderness of America. He intermingled freely with the Indian tribes, studied their habits, their manners, their language, and origin. He sought to teach them a theology more exalted than the fancies of their singular superstition, and to ex- pand their minds by a display of the instruments of European science. He acquired a vast fund of information as to the state of the original country, its people and its products,-and to his labours we may yet be indebted in the progress of this narra- tive.'
But we have reason to believe that a great part of the colonists contributed nothing to the success of the scheme, and did much to render it fruitless.
The natives, who had received the first adven- turers with unsuspecting hospitality, were now estranged by the certain prospect of seeing their provisions taken away and their homes wrested from them by civilized pretenders. Wingina, the king of the country, had never been cordial, and he now became their implacable foe. Nothing but a superstitious reverence of the Bible-the fire- arms, and the medicinal remedies of the colonists, restrained his early enmity ; but at length, upon the death of his father, Ensenore, who had been the steady friend of the whites, he prepared for , vengeance. In accordance with a custom common among the Indians, he had changed his name to Pemissapan, and now drew around him followers
a "Observations of Mr. Thomas hame's Colon. Hist. U. S., i. 23, 24; Heriot," in Smith, i. 94, 99; Gra- Bancroft, i. 111-113.
61
DEATH OF PEMISSAPAN.
1586.]
to aid in his scheme of death. Twenty or more were to surround the hut of Lane, drive him forth with fire, and slay him while thus defenceless. The leader destroyed, the rest of the colonists were to be gradually exhausted by starving, until they should fall an easy prey to the savages. But this well-concerted plan was betrayed to the Eng- lish-a rencontre occurred, and several Indians
were slain. - The settlers considered themselves justifiable in meeting the treachery of the foe by a stratagem, which drew Pemissapan and eight of his principal men within their reach, and they were all shot down in the skirmish.ª
(1586.) But this success did not assuage the hunger of the famished colonists. They were re- duced to extremity, when a seasonable relief ap- peared on their coasts. (June 8.) While despair was taking possession of their bosoms, the white sails of a distant fleet were seen, and Sir Francis Drake, with twenty-three ships, was soon in their waters. He had been cruising in search of the Spaniards in the West Indies, and had been di- rected by the Queen to visit the Virginia Colony. His quick perception instantly discerned the wants of the settlers, and he provided for them a ship well stored with provisions, and furnished with boats to serve in emergency. But a violent storm drove his fleet to sea, and reduced to wreck the vessel intended to sustain the settlers. Their re- solution gave way; it seemed as though Divine and human powers were united against them, and,
ª Lane's Narrative, in Smith, i. 91, 92 ; Belknap, i. 310.
62
ROANOKE DESERTED.
[CHAP. I.
in utter despondency, they entreated Drake to re- ceive them in his fleet, and carry them to England. He yielded to their wishes. They embarked the 18th June, and, on the 27th July, they landed once more on the shores of their mother-land.
Thus, after a residence of nearly twelve months in Virginia, the first colonists deserted the country which had been offered as containing all that the heart of man could desire. Little was gained by their abortive attempt beyond an increased know- ledge of the new world, and another lesson in the great book of depraved human nature.
It would be pleasing to the lover of Virginia to be able to record the final good fortune of Walter Raleigh, but nothing resulted from his patent, ex- cept successive disaster and an appalling consum- mation. The determined knight had sent a shipa to seek the colony ; and this arrived after the dis- heartened settlers had sailed with Sir Francis Drake, and thus, finding the island deserted, it re- turned to England. Two weeks afterwards, Sir Richard Grenville arrived with two ships well ap- pointed ; but no flourishing settlement greeted his eager eyes. Unwilling to abandon the semblance of hope, he left fifteenb men on the island, well
a Smith's Va., i. 99; Beverley, 8. knap, i. 311, Beverley, 8, Keith, 47, b Hakluyt says, "fifteen," iii. 323, Burk, i. 62, Grahame, i. 26, and of cited by Bancroft, i. 103. This num- the writer of "Contributions to the History of Virginia," in the S. and W. Literary Messenger and Review, for August, 1846, p. 473; but Hak- luyt's authority is conclusive. ber is adopted by Marshall, i. 19, Frost, Pictor. Hist. U. S., i. 80, and the author of the Outline in Howe, 20. For "fifty," we have the autho- rity of Smith, i. 99, Stith, 22, Bel-
63
ROANOKE DESERTED.
1587.]
provided with all things essential to their comfort, and then spread his sails for England.
(1587.) In the succeeding year, Raleigh pre- pared for another attempt. Convinced that the bay of Chesapeake, which had been discovered by Lane, afforded greater advantages for a colony, he directed his adventurers to seek its shores, and gave them a charter of incorporation for the city of Raleighª-a name that North Carolina has since, with merited gratitude, bestowed upon her most favoured town. John White assumed com- mand of this expedition, and they were soon in the waters of Virginia. (July 22.) The cape, to which maritime terrors have given an expressive name, threatened them with shipwreck, but at length they arrived in safety at Hatteras, and immediately despatched a party to Roanoke to seek the settlers left by Sir Richard Grenville. A melancholy si- lence pervàded the spot-the huts were yet stand- ing, but rank weeds and vines had overspread them and striven to reclaim to the wilderness the abortive efforts of human labour. Not one man could be found, but the bones of one unhappy vic- tim told in gloomy eloquence of conflict and of death.b From the reluctant statements of the na- tives, they gathered the belief that these men had either all perished under the attacks of overwhelm- ing numbers, or had gradually wasted away under the approaches of disease and famine.
A discovery so mournful held out no cheering
a Oldy's Life of Raleigh, xxxvi. ;
Belknap, i. 311.
b Smith's Va., i. 100; Belknap, i. 312 ; Howe's Hist. Collec., 20.
-
64
A BAPTISM AND A BIRTH.
[CHAP. I.
prospects to the new adventurers; yet they deter- mined to renew the attempt upon the islands ad- joining Hatteras. About one hundred and fifteen persons were landed and prepared for their novel life. The Indians were no longer pacific; the spirit of Wingina had diffused itself through every bosom, and the unfortunate mistake, which caused the death of a friendly savage,ª contributed much to the general hostility. But amid so much that was unpropitious, two events occurred to shed a faint light upon their days. (Aug. 13.) Manteo, the faithful friend of the early visiters was baptized with the simple though solemn rites of the Chris- tian faith, and upon him was bestowed the sound- ing title of Lord of Dessamonpeake ;b and a few days after, the first child of European parentage was born upon the soil of America. Eleanor, daughter of Governor White, had married Ananias Dare, and, on the 18th of August, she gave birth to a female, upon whom was immediately bestowed the sweet name of Virginia.º It is sad to reflect, that the gentle infant of an English mother, and the first whose eyes were opened upon the new world, should have been destined to a life of priva- tion and to a death of early oblivion.
.
But the colonists needed many things from the mother-land, and determined to send the governor to procure them. He was unwilling to leave them under circumstances so strongly appealing to his
a Smith's Va., i. 101.
b Burk's Va., i. 64.
" Smith's Va., i. 102 ; Belknap, i.
312; Burk's Va., i. 64; Frost's Pic- tor. Hist., i. 81:
1587.]
THE LOST COLONY. 65
paternal heart, but yielded to the general wish, and sailed on the 27th August. But many causes now opposed his success in the mother-country. Spain was threatening a descent with her formi- dable Armada, and England was alive with prepa- ration to meet the shock. Raleigh and Grenville entered with enthusiasm into the interests of their country, and were no longer in a state to furnish aid for a distant colony. Not until April 22d, 1588, could they prepare two small barks for a voyage to Virginia, and these, drawn away by their eager thirst for Spanish prizes laden with Mexican gold, wandered from their route, and were driven back by superior enemies to their original ports.ª
Yielding to his disappointment and mortifica- tion at these repeated disasters, and exhausted in money by his enormous outlays, Raleigh no longer hoped for success from his own exertions. Forty thousand pounds had been expended and no return had been made. On the 7th March, 1589, he assigned his patent to Thomas Smith, Richard Hakluyt, and others, who had the means and the experience of merchants, or rather he extended to them the rights enjoyed under his patent and ex- ercised by him in giving the charter for the " City of Raleigh."b With this assignment, he gave one hundred pounds for the propagation of Christian principles among the savages of Virginia." But
a Belknap, i. 314. c Grahame's Colon. Hist. United b Hazard's State Papers, i. 42, 45. States, i. 29 ; Campbell's Va., 23, See Bancroft's United States, i. 122; 24.
Belknap's American Biog., i. 314.
VOL. I.
5
66
THE LOST COLONY.
[CHAP. I.
the energetic soul of Raleigh no longer ruled, and doubtful zeal impelled the assignees. Not until March, 1590, could Governor White obtain three ships for his purposes; and though their names might have incited him, by the motives both of earthly hope and of religious trust,a yet he pre- ferred an avaricious cruise among the West India Isles, to a speed which might, peradventure, have preserved the life of his daughter. He arrived at Hatteras the 15th August, and sought the settlers left there three years before. The curling smoke of grass and trees in flame gave them encourage- ment, but they sought in vain their long-neglected friends. On the bark of a tree was found the word, " Croatan," legibly inscribed, and White hoped, from the absence of the cross, which he himself had suggested as a sign of distress, that the settlers were still in being; but as they proceeded to Croa- tan, a furious storm arose, and drove them from the coast, and their dismayed spirits could find no re- lief except in a return to England. No lingering trace has ever marked the fate of this unhappy colony. The generous Raleigh in vain sent five successive messengers to seek and save.b They were gone, and whither no tongue was left to tell. Modern ingenuity may be indulged in the forlorn suggestion that they were amalgamated among their savage neighbours, but sober thought will rather fear that they perished under the mingled weight of famine, of disappointed hope, and of In-
a They were " the Hopewell, the John."-Hubbard's Note to Belknap, John Evangelist, and the Little i. 315. b Belknap, i. 317.
.
67
GRENVILLE AND RALEIGH.
1591.]
dian barbarity. And if, in closing this mournful page in the history of Virginia, a feeling heart could consent to have its sadness yet farther in- creased, it might, with generous sympathy, turn to the fate of the leaders, who had so nobly striven for the success of the colonists. In an age of great men, Sir Richard Grenville was the bravest of the brave. In 1591, he commanded the Revenge, in the squadron of Lord Thomas Howard, when they were suddenly surprised at the Azores, by an over- whelming Spanish fleet, sent out to convoy their merchantmen. Lord Howard and all of his squad- ron, except the Revenge, got to sea and made good their retreat, but the heroic Grenville was left to cope single-handed with fifty-seven armed ships of Spain. History does not record a scene of more desperate heroism than was now displayed. From three o'clock in the afternoon until daybreak, he combated with numbers who poured upon him from every point. Fifteen times the Spaniards gained the deck of the Revenge, and as often were they driven back by English valour. At length, when his deck was slippery with the blood of his bravest men,-himself bleeding from many wounds, -his powder nearly exhausted, and his ship a per- fect wreck, the unconquerable Grenville proposed to his crew at once to sink their bark and leave no trophy to their enemy. But, though many ap- plauded, this rash proposal was overruled; the Revenge struck her colours, and, two days after, Grenville died of his wounds aboard the admiral's ship. In his own words, he had a "joyful and
68
HOPE DISAPPOINTED.
[CHAP. I
quiet mind" in death, and his enemies could not refuse their admiration to a heroism so exalted and triumphant even in defeat.ª
But the fate of Grenville was full of brightness when compared with that of Walter Raleigh. The great events of his life and his death are too well known to need a formal statement; but it is to be feared that few have entered into the inner temple of his soul, and read there his true history. Had David Hume been willing to sacrifice his obtrusive love of the Stuarts to a generous desire to do justice to an enthusiastic character, he might have found in Raleigh something more than a false and dream- ing visionary ;b and the cruel delay which held the axe suspended for fifteen years over the victim, only that it might finally fall in execution of accu- mulated injustice, added to the already darkened escutcheon of James a blot which will never be washed away.
Thus the generous efforts of English hearts had been vain. Money had been freely poured out, but had brought no recompense. Savage jealousies had been roused, and savage enmity had commenced its work; devoted colonists had sunk in death on the soil of America; and when Elizabeth descended to her grave, not one English inhabitant could be found amid the inviting plains of the new world.c
b Hume's Eng., iv. 110, chap. 43. Aiken's Memoirs of the Court of Queen Elizabeth, ii. 264.
a See the full account in Miss
c Robertson's America, i. 400; Grahame's Colon. Hist. U. S., i. 29.
1
5
CHAPTER II.
Elizabeth dies-Is succeeded by James I .- His character-Progress of the spirit of liberty in England-General activity and excitement-Desire for colonizing-Peace with Spain-One of its effects-Bartholomew Gos- nold-His successful voyage-Richard Hakluyt-Charter granted by King James to the London and Plymouth Companies-Preparations for the voyage-The King's articles of instruction-Their prominent traits considered-First colonists to Virginia-Cavaliers-Gentlemen-Few labourers or mechanics-They sail from Blackwall-Are driven to Chesapeake Bay-The River Powhatan-Jamestown-John Smith-His early history-Secret correspondence-Three duels-Smith a captive in Tartary-His arrival in Virginia-Visit to King Powhatan-Distress of the colonists-President Wingfield-The aborigines-Tribes in Vir- ginia-Giants-Manners of the natives-Women-Learning and ora- tory-Religion-Government and laws-Their gradual decay in Ame- rica-Conflict of Smith with the savages-Approach of winter.
THE melancholy result which attended the effort of Raleigh, operated during several years to check the spirit of colonization ; but it was not destined finally to destroy it. As we approach the time when the first permanent settlement was to be made in America, we pause for a moment to reflect upon the circumstances which gave to it importance, and which rendered the movement of a discordant band of adventurers the source of life to a nation, and of renewed vigour to a world.
The last and most powerful of a renowned dy- nasty had ceased to reign. Elizabeth had sunk beneath the struggles of a spirit wasted by its own intense energy, and crushed by the death of a fa-
70
ACCESSION OF JAMES I.'
[CHAP. II.
vourite whom her own hand had consigned to the scaffold. To the vacant throne of England suc- ceeded a prince whose brow had already borne a. crown, and who united in his person the hereditary honours of two royal families. But the world needed no protracted experience to show that the hand of a Tudor no longer grasped the sceptre. James Stuart had been educated in Scotland; and, perhaps, had not his fortunes called him to a more ample field of action, he might have descended to his grave with a character at least respectable for moderation, if not renowned for wisdom. His ad- vancement to a post which required all the power of self-sustained courage, and all the sagacity, of well-balanced intellect, served only to present his defects in bold relief. Vain of his talents, and in- flated with the flattery of the designing, he sought to display his useless learning in works of the pen, which are known only to be ridiculed. He believed himself a master of kingcraft and political science, yet was he so ignorant of the laws of nations as to excite the surprise of the Spanish courtª and the scorn of his own advisers. His domestic virtues had no strength more enduring than that which they derived from silly fondness and selfish design; nor will the world easily ascribe generous affections to a heart which refused to oppose more than a feeble remonstrance to the injustice which finally took away the life of his beautiful mother. His timid soul shrank from contests and enterprises, to which his love of dominion would have urged him.
2 Hume's England, iv., chap. xlv., 216.
71
HIS CHARACTER.
1603.]
Born and reared in a land where the claims of pre- lacy had been rejected, he had repeatedly promised that he would protect and sustain the church insti- tutions of his native clime, yet the atmosphere of England wrought in him an instantaneous change. He gave full sway to the strong love he had always felt for episcopal government ; and he has not been suspected, without cause, of a bias to popery, too controlling to be subdued, yet too dangerous to be openly indulged. Even upon the discovery of the plot by which the most conscientious of the popish party intended to discharge what they believed to be a solemn duty to God and to the church,' the religious prepossessions of James could not be con- cealed. The mortal fear of being blown up with gunpowder might indeed require the torture and execution of Guy Fawkes; but the king, in his speech to Parliament, spake with great moderation of Roman Catholics in general, and denounced, in plain terms, the " hateful uncharitableness of puri- tans."" In his principles of government, this mo- narch was among the most imperious and uncom- promising that ever filled the English throne. Con- ducted by a singular course of events from a place comparatively humble to one of paramount dignity, he believed himself to be the special favourite of heaven, and would willingly have retained the enor- mous prerogative bequeathed to him by his prede-
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