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Tous las autres exemplalres originaux sont filmte en commenpant par la premidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impreasion ou d'illustration et en terminant par la darnlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. Un des symboles sulvants apparaftra sur la darniire image do cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signlfle "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signlfle "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmfo A des taux da reduction difftrants. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour §tra reproduit en un soul cllch6, il est f llm« A partir da Tangle supiriaur gauche, de gauche h drolte, et de haut en bas, an prenant la nombra d'Images nAcessniri). Les diegrammaa sulvants i!'Mstrant la mitiioda. 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 r % T H B r ',!.% 'I HISTORY O F . i^ 'i' tl Am erica. BOOKS IX. AND X. . . r • ? ' . . I' ■*" ?l -4 r } a o %.Jl THE HISTORY OF A M E R I C A. BOOKS IX. AND X. , ' ' '■>>. "■' CONTAINIMG TH^ BISTORT OF VIRGINIA, . TO THE TEAR 1688} AND r^B HI STORY OF NEW ENGLAND, TQ THE TEAR 1 65 2. By WILLIAM ROBERTSON, D,D. raiNciPAi or the umvbrsitt or bdimbdroh, HiiToaiooiAPHCR, TO Nit MAJESTY rOR tCOTLANO, AND MBMBXK Or THB '' BOYAL ACADEMY OP litlTOBY AT MADRID. / LONDON: Printed for A. Strahan ; T. Cadill Jun. and W. Davies (Siicceflbr* to Mr. Cadell) in tlie Strand ; and E. Balfour, Edinburgh. MOCCXCVI. / ^U Sir V :ii:'i I 'I O /' ' :> i ;i a .M / -,T ^ ^ ^>iaoci ;>K ;v^ :•..,.' ) ) , ' ,u.a ■'•:. ;';:o^ -I^lAT/UIVI ■pf'rtU^ ,,4 ,rc' " ■ f«, ■. I W** ROBERTSON. QUBEK-STREET, y ' "' ' . ■ 't ' ■ ' ' i f ' -' ■ t Edinburchi Aj^ril 1796. - ... r -^ .. * ^--. ■■.'■ ...... ;v .■ ■'.%?:-.;;■? 1.-;:' .:»;:i.: i , f-** Giiii. ,'•■ J'f i,-'' .■ THE K .• J oi^iir.k 1L> -^0 1, .1:1 ,, ,;• HISTORY ■■■■■■ / :• ,• a , ' 'rid ih. . J 'O •• I A y^ny.'i.n hi ■'I n:A.Jtf..'E.-il-..I ^C A. i:3Jj^-:\r^3. :^':...^i jvi;, i/""- BOOK IX. •-f v*-'-' ■'*■., ■ ' ■ ' . ry^HE ddminions of Great Britain in :; X America are next in extent to thofe of Spain. Its acquifitions there are a re-^ compence due to thofe enterprifing talents ^'hich prompted the Englifli to enter early on the career of difcovery, and to purfue it with perfevering ardour. England was the fecond nation that ventured to vifit the New World. The account of Columbus's fuccefsful voyage filled all Europe with J J aftoniftiment and admiration. But in Eng- land it did fomething more j it excited a B vehement BOOK IX. Spirit of adventurd awakened in Eng- land by Colum- bas'i dis- coveries i ,^piw <^ fc » J^-#iw checked BuT though the EngUfh had fpirit to fuinefsin" ^^^^ ^^^^ fchemc, they had not, at that pc- Son^*^ , ^^^^* attained to fuch (kill in navigation as qualified them for carrying it into execution. \ From the inconfiderate ambition of its mo- narchs, the nation had long wafted its genius and adivity in pernicious and ineffedtual eflbrta -^ -v* »■- f.-i .'.'■ w' *lj .U7 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3 efTorts to conquer France. When this ill- BOOK direded ardour began to abate, the fatal conteft between the houfes of York and Lancafter turned the arms of one half of the kingdom againft the other, and exhauft- ed the vigour of both. During the courfe of two centuries, while induftry and com- merce were making gradual progrefs, both in the fouth and north of Europe, the Englifh continued fo blind to the advan- tages of their own fituation, that they hardly began to bend their thoughts to- wards thofe objects and purfuits, to which "^ they are indebted for their prefent opulence " and power. While the trading veflels of * Italy, Spain, and Portugal, as well as thofe *^^ of the Hans Towns, vifited the moft re- mote ports in Europe, and carried on an adive intercourfe with its various nations, the £ngli{h did little more than creep along &eir own coafts, in fmall barks, which con- veyed the productions of one county to an- other. Their commence was almoft wholly pafliTe* Their wants were fupplicd by -lii sj- »; B2 X ftrangers; i N: '*''-~^"'''*^> - i- >;/ ;l ri'-jQfL • •- ' •• •' • ■, ■ ■; ■•■ " 'i .:'T HISTORY OF AMERICA. B 6 o K ftrangers ; and whatever neceflary or luxury of life their own country ^id not yield, was imported in foreign bottoms. The crofs of St. George was feldom difplayed beyond the precinds of the narrow feas. Hardly any Engliih fhip traded with Spain or Portugal, before the beginning of the fifteenth cen- tury J and half a century more elapfed be- fore the Englifh mariners became fo adven- turous as to enter the Mediterranean. ^^^ In this infancy of navigation, Henry could not commit the conduit: of an arma- under the ment, deftined to explore unknown reei- command ' ^ * -2 of Cabot, ons, to his own fubjeds. He irivefted Gio- ; r . vanniGaboto, a Venetian adventurer, wl^o ^ y had fettled in Briflol, with the chief com-* ■ mand ; and ifTued a commilTion tohima^d his three fons, empowering them to fail, . under the banner of England, towards tiie eafl, north or weft, in order to difcover countries Unoccupied by any Chriftian fla^e ; . to take pofTeirion of them in his name, and . to carry, on an exclufive trade with the in- habitants, £xpedU tion from Bridol, ,. I awniMw^Wwifc*** I iilMf[|fMill"~TTii ^■" 4i»il"i*«" ^mm. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1497. May. habitants, under condition of paying a fifth B 00 K part of the free profit on every voyage to the crown. This commiflion was granted on March 5th, 1495, in lefs than two years after the return of Columbus from Ame- rica*. But Cabot (for that is the name he affumed in England, and by which he is heft known) did not fet out on his voy- age for two years. He, together with his fecond fon Sebailian, embarked at Briftol, on board a fhip furnifhed by the king, and was accompanied by four fmall barks, fitted Out by the merchants of that city. - ••-■••■• - .^^ ■• -• :■■ .'■ ) ;j; As in that age the moft eminent navi- Cabot gators, formed by the inftrudions of Co- New- lumbus, or animated by his example, were f°"j*^" guided by ideas derived from his fuperior and fails 1 1 J 1 • <-i 1 1 1 along the knowledge and experience, Cabot had coaifof adopted the fyftem of that great man, con- ""S'"** cerning the probability of opening a new and fhorter paffage to the Eaft Indies, by I I -;Jlft -!)?:>,, i * Hakluyt, iii. 4. holding HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK holding a weftern courfe. The opinion which Columbus had formed, with refpe^b to the iflands which he had difcovered, was univerfally received. They were fuppofed to lie contiguous to the great continent of India, and to conftitute a part of the valt countries comprehended under that general name, Cabot, accordingly, deemed it pro- bable, that by fleering to the north-weft, he might reach India by a ftiorter courfe than that which Columbus had taken, and hoped to fall in with the coaft of Cathay, or China, of whofe fertility and opulence the defcriptions of Marco Polo had excited high ideas. Alter failing for fome weeks • u djLie weft, and nearly on the parallel of the ,i port from which he took hi? departure, he *. difcovered 9. large ifland, which he called '^^■'' J^rima Vifta^ and his failors Newfoundland; and in a few days he defcried a fmaller ifle, to which he gave the name of St, Junc»4. John. He landed on both thefe, made fome obfervations on their foil and pro- ^u^ions, an4 brought oJF three of the na. "-~i -m 1I11111111H1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. tives. Continuing his courfe weftward, he B o o K foon reached the continent of North Ame- \ m ^ ^ rica, and failed along it from the fifty-fixth to the thirty-eighth degree of latitude,* from the coaft of Labrador to that of Vir- ginia. As his chief objedt was to dif- cover fome inlet that might open a paifage to the weft, it does not appear that he landed any where during this extenfive run ; and he returned to England, without at- tempting either fettlement or conqueft in any part of that continent*. If it had been Henry's purpofe to Henry profecute the obje£b of the commiilion ^\^y given by him to Cabot, and to take pof- 9*'*°*** feflion of the countries which he had diC- very; covered, the fuccefs of this voyage muft have anfwered his moft fanguine expect- ations. His fubjedts were, undoubtedly, the firft Europeans who had vifited that j>'.if '\ • Monfon*8 Naval Trads, in ChurchiU's CoUea. Ui. 211. ;?'■■ ■■f'fMr;: B4 part ,.), 1 f h • 1^1 g, HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK part of the American continent, ami were entitled to whatever right of property prior difcovcry is fuppofcd to confer. Countries ^hich ftretched in an uninterrupted courfc through fuch a large portion of the tem- perate zone, opened a profpe£k of fettling to advantage under mild climates, and in a fertile foil. But by the time that Cabot re^ turned to England, he found both the ftate of afFairs and the king's inclination unfa* vourable to any fcheme the execution of which would have required ttanquillity and leifure. Henry was involved in a war with Scotland, and his kingdom was not yet fully compofed after the commotion excited by a formidable infurre^ion of his owA fubjeds in the weft. An ambalTador from Ferdinand of Arragon was then in Lon-^. don ; and as Henry fet a high value upon the friendfliip of that monarch, for whojfe charadter he profeflcd much admiration^ perhaps from its fimilarity to his own, and was endeavouring to fkengthen their union by negociating the marriage which after^ „ , . - wards '^^;^ *,,.,, HISTORY OF AMERICA. wards took place between his eldeft Ton and B the princefs Catharine, he was cautioua of giving any offence to a prince, jealous to excefs of all ' his rights. From the, po- , fition of the iflands and continent which Cabot had difcovered, it was evident that they lay within the limits of the ample donative which the bounty of Alexan- der VI. had conferred upon Ferdinand and Ifabella. No perfon, in that age, queftioned^, the validity of a papal grant ; and Ferdi- nand wa& not of a temper to rclinquifti any^ claim to which he had a fhadow of, title. » Submiffipn to the authority of the Pope, and deference for an ally whom he courted, feem to have concurred with Henry's own ^ fituation, in determining him to abandon a fcheme, in which he had engaged with fome degree of ardour and expe^ation»,j Np attempt towards difcovery was made in England during the remainder of his reign ; and Sebaftian Cabot, find- ing no encouragement for his adlive ta- ' ,, . lents '-.-Si U-; 10 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B K lents there, entered into the fervice of r« ■ sic Spain*. nor his imacdi- ate fuc- ccffon. This is the mofl probable account of the fudden cefTation of Henry's aftivity, after fuch fuccefs in his firft eflay as might have encouraged him to perfevere. The ad- vantages of commerce, as well as its na- ture, were fo little underftood in Eng- land about this period, that by an adl of parliament in the year 1488, the taking of intereft for the ufe of money was pro- hibited under fevere penalties f . And by V-> *Soine fchemes of difcovery feem to have been formed in England towards the beginning of the (ix» teenth century. But as there is no other memorial of them, than what remains in a patent granted by the king to the adventurers) it is probable that they were feeble or abortive proje£ls. If any attempt had been made in confequence of this patent, it would not have efcaped the knowledge of a compiler fo in« duftrious and inquiHtive as Hakluyt. In his patent, Henry re(lri£ts the adventurers from encroaching on the countries difcovered by the kings of Portugal, or any other prince in confederacy with, England. Ry- iner's Foedera, vol. xiii. p. 37. t 3 Hen. VII. c. 5. another HISTORY OF AMERICA. St % another law, the profit arifing from deal- book ing in bills of exchange was condemned as favouring of ufury *. It is not furprifmg, then, that no great effort fhould be made to extend trade, by a nation whofe commer*_ cial ideas were flill fo crude and illiberal. But it is more difficult to difcover what prevented this fcheme of Henry VII. from being refumed during the reigns of his fon and grandfon ; and to give any reafon why no attempt was made, either to explore the northern continent of America more fully, or to fettle in it. Henry VIII. was frequently at open enmity with Spain : the value of the Spanifh acquifitions in America had become fo well known, as might have excited his defire to obtain fome footing in thofe opulent regions ; and during a con- fiderable part of his reign, the prohibitions in a papal bull would not have retrained him from making encroachment upon the ISpanifh dominions^ But the reign of • 3 Hen. VII. c. 6. Henry IS HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK Henry was not favourable to the progrefs of difcovcry. During one period of it, the a(ftive part which he took in the af- fairs of the continent, and the vigour with which he engaged in the conteft between the two mighty rivals, Charles V. and Francis I , gave full occupation to the en*-*^ tcrprifing fpirit both of the king and of his nobility. During another period of his ad-, miniftration, his famous controverfy with the court of Rome kept the nation in per- petual agitation and fufpenfe. Engrofled by thofe objeds, neither the king nor the nobles had inclination or leifure to turn their attention to new purfuits j and with-^ out their patronage and " aid, the com.. ' mercial part of the nation was too in-^i confiderable to make any effort of con- fequence. Though England, by its total feparation from the church of Rome, foon '• after the acceflion of Edward VI., difn claimed that authority, which, by its pre- ' fumptuous partition of the globe between two favourite nations, circumfcribed the 9 activity HISTORY OF AMERICA. ',t «3 ^JC'";!.;;' jaili'vlty of every other fiate within very BOOK , jiari;ow limits, yet a feeble minority, dif- traaed with fadion, was not a jundlure for forming fchemes of doubtful fuccefs and re- mote utility. The bigotry of Mary, and her marriage with Philip, difpofed her to pay a facred regard to that grant of the Holy See, which vefted in a hufband, on whom {h6 doated, an exclulive right to every part of the New World. . Thus, through a fmgular fucceffion of various caufes, fixty-one years elapfed from the time that the Engliih difcovercd North. America, during which their monarchs gave little attention to that country which was deftlned to be an- nexed to their crown, and to be a chief Source of its opulence and power. f^,,rf ■^ rl '-• ■■' ■■•■■ • ■■■■ y- ■ / ••'■■■ ,,, But though the public contributed little ExpedU towards the progrefs of difcovery, naval south* Ikill, knowledge of commerce, and a fpirit ^^"^^V of enterprize, began to fpread among the command Engliih. During the reign 6f Henry VIII. baftiw feveral new channels of trade were opened, ^*^°^' and ^j^^;£ir^wi'*C-*^'« ■ ,^^w, I **■' \iitiMT di I'm <■» fcwi-ii* twn |^tf^«*w - ■- '■■ — — . , ^ _. || . || -fcrf^i ■i.^ | ,i.,-i , -»■—'■ f , III - fc iiiii I ,, fT* — ■■"" HISTORY OF AMERICA. t^ 1516. BOOK and private adventurers vifited remote countries with which England had form :r\j no intercourfe. Some merchants of Briftol having fitted out two (hips for the fouthern regions of America, committed the conduA of them to Sebaftian Cabot, who had quit- ted the fervice of Spain. He vifited the coafts of Brafil, and touched at the iflands of Hifpaniola and Puerto Rico; and though this voyage fcems not to have been bene- ficial to the adventurers, it extended the fphere of Englifh navigation, and added to the national (lock of nautical fcience *, Though difappointed in their expectations of profit in this firft elTay, the merchants were not difcouraged. They fent, fuo- cefifively, feveral vefl'els from different ports towards the fame quarter, and feem to have carried on an interloping trade in the Portuguefe fettlements with fuccefs f . . Nor was it only towards the weft, that tlie afti- vity of the Engli(h was direded. Other if; "^j;, .V • Hakluyt, iii. 498. t Ibid. iii. 700. merchants . >. ■ V-' .'')- HISTORT OF AMERICA. merchants began to extend their commercial views to the eaft ; and by eftabli(hing an intercourfe with feveral iflands in the Ar- chipelago, and with Tome of the towns on the coaft of Syria, they found a new mar- ket for woollen cloths, (the only manu- facture which the nation had begun to cul- tivate,) and fupplied their coiintrymen with various productions of the eaft, formerly unknown, or received from the Venetians at an exorbitant price *, 15 BOOK IX. ^rt't But the difcovcry of a fliorter paflage to the Eaft Indies, by the north-weft, was ftill the favourite project of the nation, which beheld, with envy, the vaft wealth that flowed into Portugal, from its com- merce with thofe regions. The fcheme was accordingly twice refumed under the long adminiftration of Henry VIII. ; firft, with fome flender aid from the king, and then by private merchants. Both voyages Unfuc- Ccfsful It' tempu to difcover « north- well paf- fage to the In- dies. 1527 and J 536. Hakluyt, ii. 96, &c. '^'^r were ••* ' ■Will ■■! wjiyplH^MWaw ^ nil i^ ^^'^iw ii«nift.>i i6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. m ...I BOO K^were difaftrous and iinfucccfiiful. In the former, one of the (hips was loft. In the latter, the ftock of provifions was fo ill- proportioned to the number of the crew, that although they were but fix months at fea, many perilhed with hunger, and the furvivors were conftraincd to fupport life by feeding on the bodies of their dead companions . IV J? n, .lljf^it,! eaft paf- fagc. Sir Hugh The vigour of the commercial fplrit did b^'Sin' not relax in the reign of Edward VI. The fearch of gi.{>at fifhery on (he banks of Newfoundland became an objed of attention j and from fome regulations for the encouragement of that branch of trade, it fccms to have been profecuted with adlivity and fuc- cefs t- But the profpcd'V of opening a communication with China and thti Spice Iflands, by fome other route than round the Cape of Good Hope, ftill continued to al- lure the Englilh, more than any fcheme i.ii? V • Hakluyt, i. 213, &c. i'li. np, 130. f Ibid. iii. 13 it t of I p«i mi iiS t M iiJi MM ,K *i w >l tiii » »>m in> w»i;ii i' HISTORY OF AMERICA. »7 of adventure. Cabot, whofe opinion was BOOK defervedly of high authority in whatever \ -^.^^i related to naval enterprife, warmly urged the Englifh to make another attempt to dif- cover this paflage. As it had been thrice fearched for in vain, by fleering towards the north-weft, he propofcd that a trial fhould now be made by the north-eaft y and fup- ported this advice by fuch plauiible reafons aiid conjedlures, as excited fanguine expect- ations of fuccefs. Several noblemtn and perfons of rank, together with fome prin- cipal merchants, having aftbciated for this purpofe, were incorporated, by a charter from the king, under the title of The Company of Merchant Adventurers for the Difcovery of Regions, Dominions, Iflands, and Places unknown. Cabot, who was appointed governor of this company, foon 1553; fitted out two ihips and a bark, furnifhed with inftrudions in his own hand, which difcover the great extent both of his naval .(kill antd mercantile fagacity. « ' c Sir , , , i w .-..- % » , l4 H" ' '* i^»' W l l 1 ^ ' * "' I**"-* " '* * ' ■' .•'•^JsJ HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK IX. Sir Hugh Willoughby, who was en- trufted with the command, flood diredly Mayio. northwards along the coaft of Norway* and doubled the North Cape. But in that tempeftuous ocean, his fmall fquadron was ieparated in a violent ftorm. Willough- by' s fhip and the bark took refuge in an ob- fcure harbour in a defert part of Ruffian Lapland, where he and all his companions were frozen to death. Richard Chancclour, the captain of the other veffel, was more fortunate ; he entered the White Sea, and winters at wintered in fafety at Archangel. Though angel. no veflcl of any foreign nation had ever vifited that quarter of the globe before, the inhabitants received their new vifitors with an hofpitality which would have done ho- . nour to a more polifhed people. The :•;; Englifli learned there, that this was a pro- vince of a vaft empire, fubjed to the Great Duke or Czar of Mufcovy, who refidedin a great city twelve hundred miles from Chancelour, with a fpirit be- ccJming Wil. loughby pendies. One of his (hip; Archangel. . wj>j»i»»i •■ • HISTORY Ot AMERICA. coming an officer employed in an expe- dition for difcovery, did not hefitate a mo- ment about the part which he ought to take, and fet out for that diftant capital. On his arrival in Mofcow, he was ad- mitted to audience, and delivered >i letter which the captain of each (hip had received from Edward VI. for the fovereiga of whatever country they fhould difcover, to John Vafilowitz, who at that time filled the Ruiiian throne. John, though he ruled over his fubje^s with the cruelty and ca- price of a barbarous defpot, was not de- ftitute of political fagacity. He inftantly perceived the happy confequences that might, flow from opening an intercourfe between his dominions and the weftern nations of Europe ; and, delighted with the .; fortunate event to which he was indebted for this unexpected benefit, he treated Chancelour with great refpedt ; and, by a letter to the king of England, invited his Aibjedts to trade in the Ruffian dominions, J:>.. c 2 with '«> The cap* tain vifits Mofcow, Feb. I5S4* .fld HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK with ample promifes of protedion and favour*. .,._ . ;v -^ ■■^■*.A. <•! V ' Trid« opened with |tv;'.'0 Chancelour, on his return, found Mary feated on tfie Englllh throne. The fuccefs of this voyage, the difcovcry of a ne\7 courfe of navigation, the eftablifhment of commerce with a vaft empire, tlie name of which was then hardly known in the weft, and the hope of arriving, in this di- rection, at thofe regions which had been fo long the object of defire, excited a won- derful ardour to profecute the defign with greater vigour. Mary, implicitly guided by her hufband in every a ^i}:i^-i;UA'j^ ' "f-A ^^, :lit.*' >^'NoR were their attempts to open a'Commu- communieation with India made only in'withiiw : ' ' r'%- ■-:". r ' '^''' ■ V ' , X -..0^ :d: Iq p': j., ■ ; dia by • .,.r . ..^ * HaUuyt, i. 258, &c. , -^.v * ^*"**- - - ■ ' * > c 3 \ this IHl as HISTOI^Y OF AMERICA. BOOK this channel. They appointed fome of their ia^fcors to accompany the Ruffian caravans, which travelled into Perfia by the way of Aftracan and the Cafpian Sea, inftnifting them to penetrate as far as poC* fible towards the eaft, and to endeavour, not only to eftablifh a trade with thofq countries, but to acquire every information that might afford any light towards thq difcovery of a paflfage to China by the north-eail *. Notwithftanding a variety of dangers to which they were expofed in travelling through fo many provinces, in-« habited by fierce and licentious nations, fome of thefe fadors reached Bokara, in the proving^ of Chorafan; and though prevented from advancing farther by the civil wars which defolated the country, Ihey returned to Europe with fome hope^ of extending the commerce of the Com-r pany into Perfia, and with much intelli- gence concerning the ftate of thofe remotQ regions of the eaft f . * Hakluyt. i. 301, f IWd. »• 310, &c. :ira' • / • ::>■-:,■ HISTORY OF AMERICA. 25 >■'■; ' The fuccefsful progrefs of the Merchant BOOK Adventurers in difcovery, rouzed the emu- *.^^L^ lation of their countrymen, and turned their ^^^P jfj,,, adivity into new channels. A commercial «»? o^ 111 Africa. intercourfe, hitherto unattempted by the Englifli, having been opened with the coaft of Barbary, the fpecimens which that af- forded of the valuable productions of Africa, invited fome enterprifing navi- gators to vifit the more remote provinces of that quarter of the globe. They failed along its weftern fhore, traded in different ports on both fides of the Line, and after acquiring confiderable knowledge of thofc countries, returned with a cargo of gold- duft, ivory, and other rich commodities, iiltle known at that time in England. This commerce with Africa feems to have been iT'irfued with vigour, and was at that tim^ no lefs innocent than lucrative ; for as the Englifli had then no demand for flaves, they carried it on for many years, without vio- lating the rights of humanity. Thus far did the En^lifh advance during a period m C4 whicK 'h-- 24 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK which may be confidered as the infant date of their navigation and commerce $ and feeble as its fleps at that time may appear to us, we trace them with an interefting curiofity, and look back with fatisfadion to the early effays of that fpirit which we now behold in the full maturity of its ftrength. Even in thofe iirft efforts of the Englifh, an intelligent obferver will difcern prefages of their future Improvement. As foon as the adivity of the nation was put in motion, it took various directions, and ex- erted itfelf in each with that fteady, perfe- vering induftry, which is the foul ^nd guide of commerce. Neither difcouraged by the hardfhips and dangers to which they were expofed in thofe northern feas which they firft attempted to explore, nor afraid of venturing into the fultry climates of the torrid zone, the Englifh, during the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., ^n4 Mary, opened fome of the moft confiderr able fources of their commercial opulence, and gave a beginijing to their trade with ;: • •'• ;. > Turkey, A HISTORY OF AMERICA. 25 Turkey, with Africa, with Ruffia, and BOOK with Newfoundland, ■^.j. ^^ *. v. ... ..,. . ♦ '■•J ;UiW '.'P"'. ''♦■ By the progrefs which England had ^^^^^^^ already made in navigation and commerce, aufpicious ' , to difco* it was now prepared for advancing far- very* ther ; and on the acceflion of Elizabeth to the throne, a period commenced, extremely aufpicious to this fpirit which was rifing in the nation. The domeftic tranquillity of the kingdom, maintained, almofl without interruption, during the courfe of a long and profperous reign ; the peace with fo- reign nations, that fubfifted more than twenty years after Elizabeth was feated on the throne ; the Queen's attentive eco- , nomy, which exempted her fubjecis from the burden of taxes oppreflive to trade ; • the popularity of her adminiftration ; were all favourable to commercial enterprife, and called it forth into vigorous exertion. The difcerning eye of Elizabeth having early perceived that the fecurity of a king- dom, environed by the fea, depended on • ' • its ■■.^■.>»« — ■tH.^ll f M^MMMlJBIPtlllillll 111"""' amm^ ' •^6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 3 O o K its naval force, fhe began her government with adding to the number and ftrength of the royal navy; which, during a factious minority, and a reign intent on no objedt but that of fupprefling herefy, had been neglected, and fuft'ered to decay. She filled her arfenals with naval {lores ; (lie built feveral fhips of great force, accord- ing to the ideas of that age, and encouraged )ier fubjedls to imitate her example, that they might no longer depend on foreign- ers from whom the Englifh had hitherto purchafed all veflel^ of any confiderable |)urden*. By thofe efforts, the fkill of the Engliih artificers was improved, the number of failors increafed, and the at- tention of the public turned to the navy, as the mofl important national obje^> In- ftead of abandoning any of the new chan- nels of commerce which had been opened, in the three preceding reigns, the Engliih frequented them with greater afTiduity, aftd • Ciimd. Annale?. p. 70. edit. 1615 ; fol. the .imt>!M0t& >.:?^4«Sir.ift:«3p». HISTORY OF AMERICA. a? the patronage of their fovereign added vi- BOOK gouT :o all their efforts. In order to fecure >, -^■,j to them the continuance of their exclufive trade with Ruflia, Elizabeth cultivated the connection with John Vafilowitz, which had been formed by her predecelTor, and, by fucceflive embaffies, gained his confidence /; fo thoroughly, that the Englifli enjoyed that lucrative privilege during his long ^ \ reign. She encouraged the Company of Merchant Adventurers, whofe monopoly of the Ruflian trade was confirmed by aA of parliament *, to refume jtheir defign of penetrating into Perfia by land. Their fe- 1562. cond attempt, conduced with greater pru*- dence, or undertaken at a more favourable - ' juncture than the firft, was more fucceflt ful. Their agents arrived in the Perfian court, and obtained fuch protection and immunities from the Shah, that for a courfe of years they carried on a gainful com<* Uierce in his kingdom f ; and by fre-. y Jfakluyt, i. ^d^ .| f Ibid. i. 344, &c, V, <|Henting &fcy -^^itsiiu^. "mmmfi'mtsm' :«PW*'- h ( Froblfher makes three at- temrjs to difcover the north> wed paf- fage. '577. and 1578. HISTORY OF AMERICA. quentlng the various provinces of Pcrfia, became fo well acquainted with the ^afl riches of the eaft, as ftrengthened their dc- fign of opening a more direct intercourfe with thofe fertile regions by Tea. •. But as every effort to accomplifh this by the north-eaft had proved abortive, a fcheme was formed, under the patronage of the Earl of Warwick, the head of the enterpiifmg family of Dudley, to make a new attempt, by holding an oppolite c.ourfe by the north-weft. The conduct of this enterprife was committed to Martin Fro- biflier, an officer of experience and repu- tation. In three fucceffive voyages he ex- plored the inhofpitable coaft of Labrador, and that of Greenland, (to which Elizabeth gave the name of Meta Incognita^ without difcovering any probable appearance of that paffage to India for which he fought. This new difappointment was fenfibly felt, and might have damped the fpirit of naval cnterprize amdng the Englifli, if it had not refumed •*lm I III *- i ,^. ' M .11 .IMW H I W ''^ ^ HISTOR-Y OF AMERICA. *9 OK X. rcfumed frelh vigour, amidft the general B o exultation of the nation, upon the fuccefs- ful expedition of Francis Drake. That sir Fran. bold navigator, emulous of the glory which f^■^^^ ^ound Magellan had acquired by failing round the «''« ^<"*'*' globe, formed a fcheme of attempting a voyage, which all Europe had admired for fixty years, without venturing to follow the Portuguefe difcoverer in his adventurous courfe. Drake undertook this with a feeble fquadron, in which the largeft veflel did not exceed a hundred tons, and he ac- complifhcd it, with no lefs credit to him- felf, than honour to his country. Fven in this voyage, conducted with other views, Drake feems not to have been inattentive to the favourite object of his countrymen, the difcovery of a new route to India. Before he quitted the Pacific Ocean, in order to ftretch towards the Phillippine iflands, he ranged along the coaft of California, as high as the latitude of forty-two degrees north, in hopes of difcovering, on that fide, »ths communication between the two feas, which n • y i.'i r.ijKj J had "^NPWlP'S'^wllS?*-. i^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK had fo often been i'carched for in vain on IX. the other. But this was the only unfuc- cefsful attempt of Drake. The exceffive cold of the climate, intolerable to men who had long been accuftomed to tropical heat, i)bliged him to i\op (liort in his progrefs towards the north ^, and whether or not there be anypaflage from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean in that quarter, is a point ftill unalcertained *. t^,. ■^^■,i.%i,..\ y. : , .^ . mm. Enthufi. From this period, the Englifli feem to difcovery. have confided in their own abilities and courage, as equal to any naval enterprize. They had now vifited every region to , which navigation extended in that age, and had rivalled the nation of higheft re- pute for naval (kill in its mofl fplendid ex- ploit. But notwithftanding the knowledge which they had acquired of the different quarters of the g>obe, they had not hitherto attempted any fettlement out of their own ur * Hakluyt, iit. 440. Camd. Annsl. 301, &c. country. HISTORY OF AMERICA. JX country. Their merchants had not yet BOOK acquired fuch a degree, either of wealth or of political influence, as were requifite to- wards carrying a fcheme of colonization into execution. Perfons of noble birth were deflitute of the ideas and information which might have difpofed them to pa- tronizc fuch a deflgn. The growing^ power of Spain, however, and the afcendant over the other nations of Europe to which it had attained under Charles V. and his fon, na- turally turned the attention of mankind to- wards the importance of thofe fettlements in the New World, to which they were fo much indebted for that pre-eminence. The intercourfe between Spain and England, during the reign of Philip and Maryj the refort of the Spanifli nobility to the Englifh court, while Philip refided there ; the ftudy of the Spaniih language, which became faihionable ; and the tranflation of feveral hiftories of America into Englifh, diffufed gradually through the nation a mx)re dif- tind knowledge of the policy of Spain in I 'f tm' planting Mii^^MmSiiK^ ' " • .mmv - 32 HISTORY OF AMERICA. JJ! > * t h. ® ^v ^ pJ^nting its colonies, and of the advan- tages which it derived from them. When hoftilities commenced between Elizabeth and Philip, the profpefb of annoying Spain by Tea opened a new career to the enter- prifmg fpirit of the Englifli nobility. Al- moft every eminent leader of the age aimed at diftinguifhing himfelf by naval exploits; That fervice, and the ideas connefted with it, the difcovery of unknown countries, the cftablifliment of diftant colonies, and the enriching of commerce by new commodi- ties, became familiar to perfons of rank. '*' Firft pro je£l of a In confequence of all thofe concurring coionyin caufcs, the Englifli began fcrioufly to form Ameiica V^^^^ °f fettling colonies in thofe parts of America, which hitherto they had only vifited. The projectors and patrons of thefe plans were moftly perfons of rank and influence. Among them. Sir Hum- phry Gilbert, of Compton in Devonfliirfc', • ought to be mentioned with the diftindion .due to the conductor of the firft EnglifK 'if*' -' colony ,TJ.. ,- V HISTORY OF AMERICA. 33 urriiig form rts of only ms of rank iutti" dion lony colony to America. He had early ren- book dered himfelf confpicuous by his military \^^^L^ fervices both in France and Ireland ; and having afterwards turned his attention to naval affairs, he publilhed a difcourfc con- cerning the probability of a north-weft paifage, which difcovered no inconfiderable portion both of learning and ingenuity, mingled with the enthufiafm, the credu- lity, and fanguine expectations which iiii- cite men to new and hazardous under- takings*. With thofe talents, he was deemed a proper perlon to be employed in eftablifhing a new colony, and eafily obtained from the Queen letters patent, Junen, vetting in him fufficient powers for this purpoie. v *^I#hI -^ \:'lAi':J - . . As this is the firft charter to a colony, Charter granted by the Crown of England, the ar- b"^e»n tides in it merit particular attention, as they J]j"' vnfold the ideas of that age, with refpea to * Hakluyt, iii. ii. .;- --f the J \ ■■ 34 HISTORY OF AMERICA. i. i -/ B O o K the nature of fuch fettlements. Elizabeth authorizes him to difcover and take pof- feflion of all remote and barbarous lands, unoccupied by any Chriftian prince or people. She veils in him, his heirs and afligns for ever, the full right of property in the foil of thofe countries whereof he fhall take polTeflion. She permits fuch of her fubjeds, as were willing to accom- pany Gilbert in his voyage, to go and fettle in the countries which he fhall plant. She empowers him, his heirs and afligns, to difpofe of whatever portion of thofe lands he ihall judge meet to perfons fettled there, in fee-fimple, according to the laws of England. She ordains, that all the lands granted to Gilbert (hall hold of the Crown of England by homage, on payment of the fifth part of the gold or filver ore found there. She confers upon him, his heirs and afligns, the complete jurifdidions and royjdties, as well marine a« other, within the faid lands and feas thereunto adjoin- ing ; and as their common fafety and ift- tcreft A. Elizabeth ike pof- IS lands, ince or :irs and >roperty reof he fuch of accom- 50 and I plant, gns, to : lands there, ws of i lands CJrown of the found heirs s and ^^ithin ijoin- d in- tereft HISTORY OF AMERICA. 35 v« *i' tereft would render good government ne- ^^^^ ceflary in their new fettlements, fhe gave Gilbert, his heirs and affigns, full power to convid, punifli, pardon, govern, and rule, by their good difcretion and policy, as well in caufes capital or criminal as ci- vil, both marine and other, all perfons who fhall from time to time fettle withia the faid countries, according to fuch da" tutes, laws, and ordinances as fhall be by him, his heirs and afligns, devifed and eftabliftied for their better government. She declared, that all who fettled there Ihould have and enjoy all the privileges of free denizens and natives of England, any law, cuftom, or ufage to the contrary not- withftanding. And finally, fhe prohibited all perfons from attempting to fettle within two hundred leagues of any place which Sir Humphry Gilbert, or his affociates, ihall have occupied, during the fpace of fix year?*. :':f*:\V'. •<*■'% . * Ilakluyt, in. 135, S 2 •.H With t •."^1 ROOK IX. Firll c,\- poditioir. fails. :^ I i;8v HISTORY OF AMERICA. With thofc extraordinary powers, fuited to the high notions of authority and pre- rogative prevalent in England during the ii.\teenth century, but very repugnant to more recent ideas with rcfpedl to the rights of free men, who voluntarily unite t(^ fonn a colony, Gilbert began to colle<^ allbciatcs, and lo prepare for embarkation. His own charader, and the zealous ef- forts of his half-brother, Walter Ralegh, who, even in his early youth, difplayed thofe fplendid talents, and that undaunted fpirit, which create admiration and confi- dence, foon procured him a fufficient num- ber of followers. But his fuccef^was not fuited either to the fanguine hopes of his countrymen, or to the expence of his preparations. Two expeditions, both of which he conducted in perfon, ended dif- aihouny. In the laft, he himfelf perifhcd, without having efteded his intendetl fettle- mci\t on the continent of America, or per- forming any thing more worthy of no- tice, than the empty formality of taking - •» poiTeiTion jM'ii'i^,: ',- A. rs, Anted nd pre- ing the :nant to to the y unite > colled rkation. ous ef- Rulegh, ifplayed iauntcd [1 confi- it num- vas not of his of his 'Oth of led dif- ;rifhcd, 1 fettle- or per- of no- taking [Tellion HISTORY OF AMERICA. 37 f.si polTeflion of the ifland of Newfoundland, B O o K in the name of his fovcreign. The dil- — r~^ feniious among his officers; the licentious and ungovernable fpirit of fome of his crew; his total ignorance of the countries which he purpofed to occupy ; his misfor- '-' tune in approaching the continent too far towards the north, where the inhofpi tabic coaft of Cape Breton did not invite them to fettle ; the (hipwreck of his largeft vef- fel ; and above all, the fcanty provifion which the funds of a private man could '^ "- 1 make of what was requifuc fur eftablifhing *" .u.n a new colony, were the true caufes to which the failure of the enterprife muft be imputed, not to any deficiency of abili- ties or refolution in its leader*. - -^ J . '^'^^ Jo lU^ * But the mifcarriage of a fcheme, in Thepinn which Gilbert had wafted his fortune, did by Ra- not difcourage Ralegh. He adopted all his ^^^' brother's ideas ; and applying to the »■"»■• • * Hakluyt, Hi. 143, &c. D 3 Queen, ■■w^TMMMtM ^^ 38 HISTORY OF AMERICA. r- < BOOK Queen, in whofe favour he ftood high at ^_ ' ■ that time, he procured a patent, with ju- '5^+' rifdidion and prerogatives as ample as had been granted unto Gilbert *. Ralegh, no lefs eager to execute than to undertake the April 27. fcheme, inftantly difpatched two fmall veflels, under the command of Amadas and Barlow, two officers of truft, to vifit the countries which he intended to fettle, and to acquire fome previous knowledge of their coafts, their foil, and productions. Difcovery In ordcr to avoid Gilbert's error, in holding nia. ^"^^ " too far north, they took their courfe by the Canaries and the Weft India illands, and approached the North American continent by the Gulph of Florida. Unfortunately their chief refearches were made in that part of the country now known by the name of North Carolina, the province in America moft deftitute of commodious har- " hours. They touched firft at an ifland, which they call Wokocon Improbably Oca- i' t* ■ Hakluyt, iii. 243. koke), '■■r& ■'v-i ♦,.1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 59 kokej, fituatcd on the inlet into Pamplicoe B 00 K Sound, and then at Raonoke, near the \ — ^— # mouth of Albemarle Sound. In both, they had fome intercourfe with the na- tives, whom they found to be favages, with all the chara£teriftic qualities of un- civilized life, bravery, averfion to labour, hofpitality, a propenfity to admire, and a willingnefs to exchange their rude pro- ductions for Englifh commodities, efpe- cially for iron, or any of the ufeful metals of which they were deftitute. After fpend- ,. ing a few weeks in this traffic, and in vifit- ing fome parts of the adjacent contiiient, Amadas and Barlow returned to England Sept. 15. with two of the natives, and gave fuch fplendid defcriptions of the beauty of the country, the fertility of the foil, and the mildnefs of the climate, that Elizabeth, de- ^ - lighted with the idea of occupying a terri- t tory, fuperior, fo far, to the barren regions towards the north hitherto vifited by her , fubjeds, beftowed on it the name of Vir- ginia ; as a memorial that this happy V Ml ^*U^i i>4 difcovery .■-^^r.,?»(i»!p^'r^V^-V*"^ m ■ ■ ..^ 40 HISTORY OF AMERICA. fi o o K difcovcry had been made under a virgin w y » »^ Queen*, . ,. .. Colony Their report encouraged Ralegh to inVirgi- haften his preparations for taking poffef- Rkhard"^ fion of fuch an inviting property. He fitted Green- out a fquadron of feven fmall fhips, under the command of Sir Richard Greenville, a man of honourable birth, and of courage fo undaunted as to be confpicuous even in that gallant age. But the fpirit of that predatory war which the Englifh carried on againft Spain, mingled with this fcheme of fettlement ; and on this account, as well as from unacquaintance with a more diredl and fhorter courfe to North Ame- rica, Greenville failed by the Weft Indid iflands. He fpent fome time in cruifing among thefe, and in taking prizes ; fo that it was towards the clofe of June before he arrived on the coaft of North America. He touched at both the iflands where Amadas and Barlow had landed, and made v^JJ£^^C ^4 •Hakluyt, iii. 246. vi,i'' fome .4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. fome cxcurfions into different parts of the ^ °jp ^ continent round P*.n[ipllcoe and Albemarle i«-v*-^ Sounds. But as, unfortunately, he did not advance far enough towards the north, to difcover the noble Bay of Chefapeak, he eftabiifhed the colony which he left on Augua the ifland of Raonoke, an incommodious ftation, without any fafe harbour, and al- moft uninhabited *. v This colony confifted only of one hun- dred and eighty perfons, under the com- mand of Captain Lane, affifted by fome men of note, the mod diftinguifhed of whom was Hariot, an eminent mathema- tician. Their chief employment, during a refidence of nine months, was to obtain a more extenfive knowledge of the country ; and their refearches were carried on with greater fpirit, and reached farther than could have been expected from a colony fo feeble, and in a ftation fo difadvantageous. In danger ot penlh- ing by fa- mine ; re- turns to England. <'Z. 1 y'-tW • Hakluyt, iii. 251. s, -^ », *.* •> But «. *• ■N , V,.;- ■ t- mmmiMmiift^ ■KSU. 4* "'STORV OF AMERICA. *f*''f »5W. - -hichj ;° Tr '"'"''''^" -«'"'. / ui rne Spaniards in their n.»i •he grcato part of ,he Zn^uZ '"''' . conlidered nothing 7 , '"'"° ''"e fought for. wherever thel ""=^ ""=y enquired after Jth Z V """"'^ vourite objeas 1L5° .f'"'"^'' "'^ f- -^-«xJuS:^:;f;^^rf:r'r concerning pearl fifterierand rTch"' • " of various metals ,1, . r " """«s r^ns.anldlet^f--^''^^^^^^^^ in the chimerical nn r • I activity oflabourinror!i?:!°V'"''''"«-^ O'vn fubfifte„ce On '^vT °"' ^°' "«='' ceitofthe Indies °H'"^°^"'"e 'he de. '^Pe-ed,that7o:^'J-;-°-che.x- ;p^hes. the, prL^rtot:: -" «''«y. The fupplies of nr r ^ ^""^ *e7 had bee„?ccll';r r? '^"'^^ ■ the natives were „f '° "^eive from ^''g of courfe withdrawn. ; . ' Through ,*,,^ HISTORY OP AMERICA* 4J Tlirough their own negligence, no other ^ o^ K precaution had been taken for their fup- \ — y' «^ port, Ralegh, having engaged in a fcheinc too expenfive for his narrow funds, had not been able to fend them that recruit of ftores with which Greenville had promifed to fur- nifh them early in the fpring. The colony, reduced to the utmoft diftrefs, and on the point of perifhing with famine, was pre- paring to difperfe into different difh'i^ of the country in queft of food, when Sir June i* Francis Drake appeared with his fleet, re- turning from a fuccefsful expedition againd the Spaniards in the Weft Indies. A fcheme which he formed, of furmfhing Lane and his alTociates with fuch fupplics as might enable them to remain with com- fort in their ftation, was difappointed by a fudden ftorm, in which a fmall veflel that he deftined for their fervice was dafhed to pieces ; and as he could not fupply them with another, at their joint requeft, as they were worn out with fatigue and famine, «'■ » V wpMm ■"He 44 Is June icj Know- ledge of thecoun- qoired in this expe- dition. HISTORY OF >tMER,CX. ^-. he c.rHcd them home to Eng. a mLlfr •°"""^' " '' '""Wed Hariot. a man of fcence and obfervation .„ j f-be Us fol,, clin,atc, produZr'and tt plrSn""'^'- -""'''- -onfidS P we, when compared with the chiMJrt, and« ,,,p„,„^^^ he^c^^^^^^ ^ early v.nta„t. of the New World toapUceL7r*"''"°"6lMo,entitIei. ' -^ ;"^»r constant intercoiirfe with th M^n^hadac^iredarelifl^fofit vourite •w •■., . t HISTORY OF AMERICA. H Eng, Mm vourite enjoyment of fmoking tobacco ; to B o o K. the ufe of which, the credulity of that < ..^,,^ people not only afcribed a thoufand imagi- ];ll°J^°' ifl- nary virtues, but their fuperftition con- troduced fidered the plant itfelf as a gracious gift of land. the gods, for the folace of human kind, and the mo ft acceptable offering which man can prefent to heaven *. They brought with them a fpecimen of this new commodity to England, and taught their countrymen the method of ufmg it ; which Ralegh, and fome young men of fafhion, fondly adopted,. From imitation of them, from love of no- velty, and from the favourable opinion of its falutary qualities entertained by feveral phyficians, the pradlice fpread among the Englifh. The Spaniards and Portuguefe had, previous to this, introduced it in other parts of Europe. This habit of taking to- bacco gradually extended from the extremi- ties of the north to thofe of the fouth, and in one form or other feems to be equally ♦Harlot ap. Hakluyt, iii. 271. De Bry. America, Pars I. grateful . .• which had been fettled under Lane. Oh their arrival in \nrginia, after viewing the • face of the con air)' covered with one con- tinued foreft, which to them appeared an uninhabited wild, as it was occupied only Ikkluyt, iii. 255. 283. hf ^m r.' I>".; HISTORY OF AMERICA. I i I B O o K by a few fcattered tribes of favages, they < .my^ difcovered that they were deftitute of many things which they deemed eflentially ne- ceiTary towards their fubfiftence in fuch an uncomfortable fituation ; and, with one voice, requefted White, their commander, to return to England, as the perfon among them moft likely to folicit, with efficacy, . ,, the fupply on which depended the €xift- cncc of the colony. White landed in his native country at a moft unfavourable fea- fon for the negociation which he had un- dertaken. He found the nation in unl- verfal alarm at the formidable preparations of Philip II. to invade England, and col- lecting all its force to oppofe the fleet to which he had arrogantly given the name of the Invincible Armada. Ralegh, Green- ville, and all the moft zealous patrons of the new fettlement, were called to aQ. a diftinguifhed part in the operations of a ic88. y^^^ equally interefting and glorious to England. Amidft danger fo imminent, and during a conteft for the honour of their fovereign ;■ t ^ 4 HISTOltY OF AMERICA. r4^ fovercign and the independence of their BO^OK country, it was impoflible to attend to a v.iv^ lefs important and remote objedt. The JJ.°jJJ^ unfortunate colony in Roanoke received oy/a- nunc no fupply, and periflied miferably by fa- mine, or by the unrelenting cruelty of thofe barbarians by whom they were fur- roundjed<;o[t ,;fils:i!W «'IdiftL?A/f:r:jfii 'lo noil During the remainder of Elizabeth's Ralegh abanaons reign, the fcheme of eftablifhing a colony the de- in Virginia was not refumed. Ralegh, feftHnga with a moft afpiring mind and extraordi- jo'^^y.'" , Vir£ mat nary talents, enlightened by knowledge no lefs uncomnlon, had the fpirit and the de^ ■:, feCts of a proje6:or. Allured by new ob- jedts, and always giving the preference to iuch as were moft fplendid and arduous, He was apt to engage in undertakings fo -^^ vaft and fo various, as to be far beyond ' his power of accompliihing. He wiis now intent on peopling and improving a Ija^ge ^ diftrift of country in Ireland, of which he had obtained a gra^t from the Queen. ^, m U^'i H9 •i. i6 HISTOHY OF AMERICA. B o o K He was a deep adventurer in the fcheme of fitting 6ut a pow^ul armament itgainft Spain, in order to eflabtifh Don Antonio on the throne of ^Portugal. He had begun to form his favoiirito, but vifionary plan, of penetrating ifit6 the province of Guiana, tvhere he fofldly dfeameti of taking poffef- fion of inexhauftible wealth, flowing from the rieheft mines in the New World. '•f ' f Amidft this multiplicity of Lproje^SjCjffoch .9b ah- promHing appearahce, and r^com/mcnded fc3?.if(S ^y ■-' ^ '■ .'^^a/Oa /*. '?' But the fucceffion of the Scottifh line to the crown of England haftened its approach. James was hardly feated on the throne be- fore he difcovered his pacific intentions, and he foon terminated the long war which had been carried on between Spain and England, by an amicable treaty. From that period, uninterrupted tranquillity con- tinued during his reign. Many perfons of high rank, and of ardent ambition, to whom the war with Spain had afforded fonftant employment, and prefented allur- ing profpeds, not only of fame but of wealth, foon became fo impatient of lan- guifhing at home without occupation or objeiSt, that their invention was on the , E 3 ftretch 53 1603. Reign of James fa- vourable to the eftablifh- ment of colonies. *,T««9?»f» .>-.«i>T< i.jnBH»i»'» ,;#..:C^ 54 lilSTORY OF AMEklCA. ■ 11 8 o K ftretch to find fome cxcrcife for their a£H- vity and talents. To Both thefci North America feemed to open a new field, and ifchemes of carrying colonies thither be- came more general and more popular. J ^ *■*«■ i ■ courfe from by Gof- Rold. A VOYAGE, undertaken by Bartholie- mew Gofnold in the laft year of the to"^orth Qijcen, facilitated, as well as encouraged, America thc execution of thefc fchenics. He failed nrlt at- tempted from Falmouth in a fmall bark, with thirty- two men. < Inflead of following former na- vigators in their unneceflary circuit by the Weft India ifles and the Gulf of Floridi, Gofnold fteered due weftt as nearly ds the winds would permit, and was the firft Eng- lifh commander who reached America by this fhorter and more direft courfe. That part of the continent which he firft de- icried was a promontory in the province noW called Maflachufets Bay, to Which he gave the name of Cape Cod. Holding along the coaft, as it ftretched towards the fouth-weft, he touched at two iflands, one - of --w^jipai^Wi*f,iiH'ijijiit» HISTORY OF AMERICA. 55 of which he called Martha's Vineyard, BOOK the other Elizabeth's Ifland ; and vifited ^^■w— » the adjoining continent, and traded with its inhabitants. He and his companions were fo much delighted every where with the inviting afpedl of the country, that not- withllanding the fmallnefs of their number, a part of them confented to remain there. But when they had leifure to refledt upon the fate of former fettlers in America, they retraded a refolution formed in the firft warmth of their admiration ; and Gofnold returned to England in lefs than four months from the time of his departure *. . :;.x:l^i.^ •ij;:lJ:A-:: iUZ-Aii', *L-Won:. ^-a;.-,,) ' ' , This voyage, however inconfiderable it ^*"*'*" < P ' quencet may appear, had important effeds. The of Gof- Englilh now difcovered the afpedt of the Uoyage* American continent to be extremely invit- ing far to the north of the place where they had formerly attempted to fettle. The coaft of a vaft country, ftretching through the moft defirable climates, lay before * Furchas, iv. p. 1647. «»,.., ' ' E 4 them. ,it^ Hi^*" I 1 — - *"'-r' . ' iV *' J ^ar '■w Wj IK. ' i 'jI^Rm 56 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK them. The richncfs of it4 virgin foil pro- mifed a certain recompcncc to their induf- ftry. In its interior provinces uncxpcdled fources of wealth might open, and un- known objects of commerce might be found. Its diflance from England was di- minilhed almofl a third part, by the new courfe which Gofnold had pointed out. Plans for eftablifhing colonies began to be formed in different parts of the kingdom; and before thefe were ripe for execution, one fmall veffel was fent out by the mer- chants of Briftol, another by the Earl of Southampton and Lord Arundel of War- dour, in order to learn whether Gofnold*s account of the country was to be confider- ed as a juft reprefentation of its ftate, or as the exaggerated defcription of a fond dif- coverer. Both returned with a full con- firmation of his veracity, and with the ad- dition of fo many new circumftances in favour of the country, acquired by a more extenfive view of it, as greatly increafed the defire of plantmg it. Tub ' lOB.-liPStrWS'' HISTORY OF AMERICA. 57 > The mod aAive and efficacious pro- book ■ IX moter of this was Richard Hakluyt, pre- < ..-^. ' .^ bendary of Weftminfter, to whom Eng- ij^^j^, land is more indebted for its American |IJ*^*?J" poflieinons than to any man of that age. and naval Formed under a kinfman of the fame name, that a^e. eminent for naval and commercial know* ledge, he imbibed a iimilar tafte, and ap- plied early to the Itudy of geography and navigation. Thefe favourite fciences en- groffed his attention, and to difTufe a re- lilh for them was the great objed of his life. In order to excite his countrymen to naval enterprize, by flattering their national vanity, he publifhed, in the year one thou- fand five hundred and eighty-nine, his va- ... luable collection of voyages and difcovc* • '^ ries made by Englifhmen. In order to ^ % fupply them with what information might ,'1; be derived from the experience of the moft '■'• '■ fuccefsful foreign navigators, he tranflated fome of the beft accounts of the progrefs of the Spaniards and Portuguefe in their yoyages both tp the Eaft and Weft Indies, ' into m % HISTORY OF AMERICA. Mi B O o K into the EngHfli tongue, He wa« confulted yvith refpeft to many of the attempts to- wards difcovery or colonization during the latter part of Elizabeth's reign. He cor- ^'^^''f t , J refponded with the ofHcers who conduced them, directed their refearches to proper obje£ls, and publiflied the hiftory of their exploits. By the zealous endeavours of a pcrfon, equally refpeded by men of rank and men of bunnefs, many of both orders foimed an afTociation to eftablifh colonies in America, and petitioned the king for the fanftion of his authority to warrant the execution of their plans, . .. : j James, who prided himfelf on his pro* the coaii found flciU in the fcience of government, and who had turned his attention to con^ fider the advantages which might be de- rived from colonies, at a time when he patronifed a fcheme for planting them in fome of the ruder provinces cf his an- cient kingdom, with a view of introducing induftry James divides America into two parts; .•t^iii^ti i -. fj V-' zaisii HISTORY OF AMERICA, induftry and civilization there *, was no lefs fond of directing the adive genius of his Englifli fubjeds towards occupa*- tions hot repugnant to his own pacific max- im^, and liftened with a favourable ear to their application. But as the extent as well as vaiue of the Americati continent began now to be tetter known, a grant of the whole of fuch a vaft region to any one body of inen, however refpedable, ap- peared to him an ad of impolitic and pro^ fufe liberality. For this reafon, he divided that portion of North America, which ftretches from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth degree of latitude, into two dif- trids, nearly equal ; the one called the firft or fouth colony of Virginia, the other, the fecond or north colony. He authorized Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Summers, Richard HaWuyt, and their aflbciates, moftly refident in London, to fettle any part of the former which they Ihould S9 now BOOK IX. / /<■'/» * Hid. of Scotland, ii. 239. 1606. April 10. choofc, 6o HISTORY OF AMERICA. and j^rants charters totno compa- Aks. B o O K choofc, and veiled in them a right of pro- perty to the land extending along the coall fifty miles on each fide of the place of their firfl habitation, and reaching into the interior country a hundred miles. The latter diilri^ he allotted, as the place of fettlement, to fundry knights, gentlemen, and merchants of Briftol, Plymouth, and other parts in the weft of England, with a fimijar grant of territory. Neither the monarch who iflued this charter, nor his ilibjeds who received it, had any con- ception that they were proceeding to lay the foundation of mighty and opulent dates. What James granted was nothing jnore than a fimple charter of corporation to a trading company, empowering the mem- ,,\>3t , bers of it to have a common feal, and to 0. u^qA. j^^ ^g ^ ijQjy. politic. But as the objed for which they aflbciated wa« new, the plan eftabliflied for the adminiftration of their f affairs was uncommon. Inftead of the power ufually granted to corporations, of , cledii?g officers and framing by-laws for ' . the ^«l ^ ., » ^^*S3S2 ■CnargMj HISTORY OF AMERICA. 6t the condutft of their own operations, the ^OOK fupreme government of the cdlonies to be ^ ■— ^ -i a fettled was vefted in a Council refident in jhefe England, to be nameci by the king, accord- «•»*"*"• ing to fuch laws and ordinances as fhould be given under his (ign manual ; and the fubordinate jufrifdidion was committed to a council refident in America, which was likewife to be nominated by the king, and to aft conformably to his inftruftions. To this important claufe, which regulated the form of their conftitution, was added, the conceffion of feveral immunities, to en- courage perfons to fettle in the intended colonies. Some of thefe were the fame which had been granted to Gilbert and Ralegh ; fuch as the fecuring to the emi- grants and their defcendants ail the rights of denizens, in the fame manner as if they had remained or had been born in Eng- land ; and granting them thfj privilege of holding their lands in America by the freeft and leaft burdenfome tenure. Others were more favourable than thofe granted by ; nztv ' W.l Elizabeth, Ii» HISTORY OF AMERICA. \i I ^'1 ofthefe . , BOOK EJiza^beth. He permitted whatever was neceflary for {he fuftenawce or commerce of the new colonies to; b^ exported from England, during the fpace of feven years, without paying any iuPy; and as a far- ther incitement to induftry, he granted them liberty of trade with other nations, and appropriated the duty to be levied on foreign commodities, for twenty-one years, as a fund for the benefit of the co- lony*. , .. ,.,. ■,. . .-.-,., •• • .,',;-f •,. ' In this fingular charter, the contents of which have been little attended to by the hiftorians of America, fpme articles are as unfavourable to the rights of the colpniils, as others are to the intereft of the parent ftate. By placing the legidative and exe- cutive powers in a council nominated by the crown, and guided by its inftru<^ion8, every perfon fettling in America feems to be bereaved of the nobleft privilege of a * Stith. Hid. of Virginia^ p* 35* Append, p. i. Furchas, vi 1683. 6 free HISTORY OF AMERICA. •PKni »>*»<, -J Without .......4 -ncl *{•• free man 5 l)y the unlimited peraiiiGon of B o o r trade with foreigners, the paroit ftate is deprived of that exchiiQye <:ommerce which has been deemed the chief advantage ififok-^ ing from the eftablifhment of cdioBftes. But in the infancy of colonization^ and without the guidance of ob&rYation> or experience, the ideas of men with refjjeft to the mode of forming mew fettlements^ were not fully funfolded, or properly ar- ranged. At a period when they could not forefee the future igrandeur and aoipoctanoe of the communities which they were, about to call into exiftence, they were ill qualified to concert the beft-plan for gbverning;them, Befides, the £ngliih of that age, accuf* tomed to the high prerogative and arbi- trary rule of their monarchs, were not ani- mated with futh fliberal fentiments, either concerning their own perfonal or political rights, as have become familiar in the more mature and improved ftate of their confti- tution, ;-. -i.>n «••'>■■•'' ' -ij; lijrti immmm mmnmt^" il I ■'■ H , , i^ . '■ .i.i - it If I', I. ; ; 64 Colonies ©fVir- ginia and New England. Advan- tages of tracing the hi?- tory of thefe CO. lonies in their in. Jiantilate. HISTORY OF AMERICA. Without hefitation or reluftance the proprietors of both colonies prepared to execute their refpedive plans ; and under the authority of a charter, which would now be rejeded with difdain, a$ a violent invafion of the facred and inalienable rightii of liberty, the firft permanent fettlements of the Englifh in America were eflablifhed* From this, period, the progrefs of the two provinces of Virginia and New England form. a regular and connected ftory. The former in the fouth, and the latter in the north, may be ccnfidered as the original and parent colonies; in imitation of which, and under whofe ihelter, all the others have been iucceilively planted and reared, i The firft attempts to occupy Virginia and New England were made by very fee- ble bodies of emigrants. As thefe fettled, under great difadvantages, among tribes of favages, and in an uncultivated defert ; as they attained gradually, after long ftrug*. gles and many difafters, to that maturity of \ \ illSTORY OF AMERICA* ^? of ftrength, and order of policy, whidh BOOK entitles them to be confidered as refpeft- able ftates, the hiftory of their perfever- ing efforts merits particular attention. It will exhibit a fpedacle no lefs ftrikingthan inftrudive, and prfefents an opportunity, which rarely occurs, of contemplating a fo- ciety in the firft moment of its political exiftence, and of obferving how its. fpirit forms in its infant ftate* how its principles begin to unfold as it advances, ^nd how thofe chara£teriftic qualities, which dif- tinguifh its maturer age, are fucceffively ac- quired. The account of the eftablifhment of the other Englifti colonies, undertaken at periods when the importance of fuch poffeffions was better underftood, and eiFe6ted by more direct and vigorous exer- tions of the parent ftate, is lefs interefting. I fhall therefore relate the hiftory of the two. original colonies in detail. With re- fpedt to the fubfequent fettlements, fome more general obfervations concerning the time, the motives, and circumftances of * .., ,, B. their I I in »-~ . ._..^jijfc.^ .n^-^.^..^,^. ■ I m ) t;lft./ % I H HISTORY OF AMERICA. Found* Jame*- TOHIl. BOOK vcnient harbours feemed to be numerous, would be a more fuitable flation for a trad- ing colony, than the (hoally and danger- ous coaft to the fouth, on which their countrymen had formerly fettled. Here then they determined to abide ; and having chofen a proper fpot for their refidence, they gave this infant fettlement the name of James-Town, which it ftill retains ; and though it has never become either popu- lous or opulent, it can boaft of being the mod ancient habitation of the Englifh in the New World. But however well-chofen the fituation might be, the members of the colony were far from availing themfelves of its advantages. Violent animofities had broke out among fome of their leaders, du- ring their voyage to Virginia. Thefe did not fubfide on their arrival there. The firft deed of the council, which afllimed the government in virtue of a commiflion brought from Blngland under the fealof the company^ and opened on the day after they landed, was an adt of injuftice. Captain - ■• . Smith, C?>( t v.,:?. Bad ad- miniftra- tion. .■».*■' «:;:>* I- li iK^;mi*c^J^»«*"'~"'' HISTORY OF AMERICA. 69 C i -^i.' L .:■< v Smithy who had been appointed a member B 00 K of the council, was excluded from his feat at the board, by the mean jealoufy of his colleagues, and not only reduced to the condition of a private man, but of one fuf- peded and watched by his fuperiors. This diminution of his influence, and reftraint on his activity, was an eflTential injury to the colony, which at that juncture ftood in need of the aid of both. For foon after, they began to fettle, the Englilh were in^ volved in a war with the natives, partly by their own indifcretion, and partly by ' the fufpicion and ferocity of thofe barba- rians. And although the Indians, fcattered Colony over the countries adjacent to James-River,^ by'duT* were divided into independent tribes, fo 'o**""'* extremely feeble that hardly one of them could mufter above two hundred warriors*, they teazed and annoyed an infant colony by their inceffant hoftilities, To this was added a calamity flill more dreadful ; the • Purchas, vol. iv. 1692. Smith's Travels, p. 23. t • ftv; ■a; :..;;■.> . *iiv ■■.; ..O St; ^ ^ 3 ftock 70 k^ ■M June 15. SufFers from fear- city, and the un> health!, nefs of the climate. V-TOiu J ■;;i.i ■>■: .'■•>ih>-r Smith called tp the com* nand, re- ftores the profperity of the co< lony. HISTORV OF AMERICA. (lock of provifions left for their fubfiftence, on the departure of their (hips for England, was fo fcanty, and of fuch bad quality, that a fcarcity, approaching almoft to ab- folute famine, foon followed. Such poor UAwhoIefome fare brought on difeafes, the violence of which was fo much increafed by the fultry heat of the climate, and the moiilure of a country covered with wood, that before the beginning of September, one half of their number died, and mod of thfe furvivors were fickly and dejeded. In fuch trying txtremities, the compant'^ tive powers of every individual are difco- vered and called forth, and each naturally takes tb ftation, and aflfumes that af-^ cendant, to which he is entitled by hid ta- l ■:j j But whatever pleafmg profpe£t of future benefit might open upon this complete dif- covery of a country formed by nature to be the feat of an exclufive commerce, it afforded but little relief for their prefent wants. The colony ftill depended for fub- fiftence chiefly on fupplies from the na- tives ; as, after all the efforts of their own * Smith's Travels, p. 65, &c. f Stith. p. 83. S induftry. m. m x -'•»;»^ ■M.ri'w-* 7« HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK indui^iy, hardly thirty acfes of ground v»-'gii>i mj weff T :t cleared fo as to be capable of cul- ture *. By Smith's attention, however, die ftoit'S of the Englifli were fo regularly fiiied, il\A.t for fome time they felt nc con- fiderab.'i diftrefs; and at this juncture a change was made in the conftitutibn of the company, which feemed to promife an in- creafe of their fecurity and happinefs. That fupreme direftlon of all the company's operations, which the king by his charter had referved to himfelf, difcouraged perfons of rank or property from becoming mem- bers of a fociety fo dependant on the arbi- 1609. trary will of the crown. Upon a repre- A^nlw^' fcntation of this to Jam •-, he granted them a new charter, with ' mre ample pri- vileges. He enlarged the boundaries of the colony; he rendered the powers of the company, as a corporation, more ex- plicit and complete; he abolifhed the jurif- di^ion of the council refident in Virgi- chaner grantee*.. * Stith, p. 97. nia ; ■}. ', ' HISTORY OF AMERICA. 79 nia J he veftcd the government entirely in B ^^o K a council refiding in London ; he granted ^-' v -^ to the proprietors of the company the right of eleding the perfons who were to compofe this council, by a majority of voices ; he authorized this council to efta- blifh fuch laws, orders, and forms of go- vernment and magiftracy, for the colony and plantation, as they in their difcretion Ihould think to be fitteft for the good of the adventurers and inhabitants there; he empowered them to nominate a governor to have the adminiftration of affairs in the colony, and to carry their orders into eisecution *. In confequence of thefe con- ceffions, the company having acquired the power of regulating all its own tranfadions, the number of proprietors increafed, and among them we find the moft refpedabic names in the nation. The firft deed of the new council was Lord to appoint Lord Delaware covernor and ^^'^* * * ° ware ap- pointed • Stith. Append. 8. governor. 4 captiA-'-- .^.^^^tv^VOrW^^., , ■ ■ j •■•**«»■«*»»'■ '"••^,»--- ... rn^iT^- 8o HISTORY OF AMERICA. \ \ t ^: BOOK captain-general of their colony in Vir- <„-y..^ ginia. To a perfon of his rank, thofe high-founding titles could be no allure- ment ; and by his thorough acquaintance with the progrefs and ftate of the fettle- ment, he knew enough of the labour and difficulty with which an infant colony is reared, to expedt any thing but anxiety and care in difcharging the duties of that delicate office. But from zeal to promote an ellablifhment which he expe<^ed to prove fo highly beneficial to his country, he was willing to relinquifli all the com- forts of an honourable ftation, to under- take a long voyage to fettle in an uncul- tivated region dellitute of every accom- modation to which he had been accuf- tomed, and where he forefaw that toil and and^Sum- trouble and danger awaited him. But as mers ap- j^g could not immediately leave Eneland, pointed to _ •[ o » command the council difpatched Sir Thomas Gates arrival of and Sir George Summers, the former of Lord De- ^i^om had been appointed lieutenant-ge- neral and the latter admiral, with nine Ihips and .l — --^f-"->. - I X XJI. — -^""* -.. .^^'■■>*L^r* , ...:.. Mj ,..^i m .-^-.,.^^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. 8i ai d five hundred planters. They carried book wiiii them cominimons, by which they ^ ' . were empowered to luperfede the jurifdic- tion of the former council, to proclaim Lord Delaware governor, and, until he fliould arrive, to take the adminiftration of affairs iilto their own hands. A vio- Their fljip lent hurricane feparated the veffel in which on the Gates and Summers had embarked from B°rn^°. ' the reft of the fleet, and ftranded it on the das. coaft of Bermudas. The other (hips arrived Auguft fafely at James-Town. But the fate of their commanders was unknown. Their commiffion for new-modelling the govern- ment, and all other public papers, were fup- pofed to be loft, together with them. The prefent form of government, however, was held to be aboliflied. No legal warrant could be produced for eftablifliing any other. Smith was not in a condition at this jundure to affert his own rights, or to adt with his wonted vigour. By an ac- cidental explofion of gunpowder, he had been fo miferably fcorched and mangled, G that % ■I iMJfcw'iWlWIliM'"* M » •' 82 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK that ne was incapable of moving, and under the necefllty of committing himfelf to the guidance of his friends, who car- ried him aboard one of the fhips returning to England, in hopes that he might reco- ver by more fkilful treatment than he could meet with in Virginia *. . . Si at ti< ■* 1 Anarchy in the co- lony. After hi;? departure, every thing tend- ed faft to the wildeft anarchy. Fadion and difcontent had often rifen fo high among the old fettlers, that they could hardly be kept within bounds. The fpirit of the new-comers was too ungovernable to bear any reftraint. Several among them of better rank were fuch diflipated hopelefs young men, as their friends were glad to fend out in queft of whatever fortune might betide them in a foreign land. Of the lower order, many were fo profligate or defperate, that their country was happy to throw them out as nuifances in fociety. * Purchas, iv. 1734, &c Smith's Travels, p. 89. Stith, p, 102, &c. Such *fa-"*rA;i^-'-«*».-- HISTORY OF AMERICA. 85 Such perfons were little capable of the re- B 00 K gular fubordination, the ftridt oeconomy, ^^^--J and perfevering induftry, which their fitua- tion required. The Indians obferving their mifcondud;, and that every precaution for fuftenance or fafety was negleded, not only withheld the fupplies of provifions which they were accuftomed to furnifh, but ha- rafled them with continual hoftilities. All The cc their fubfiftence was derived from the (lores duced by which they had brought from England : *^*'"'*"** thefe were foon confumed ; then the do- meftic animals fent out to breed in the country were devoured; and by this in- cnnfiderate wafte, they were reduced to fuch extremity of famine, as not only to eat the moil naufeous and unwholefome roots and berries, but to feed on the bodies of the Indians whom they flew, and even on thofe of their companions who funk under the oppreflion of fuch complicated ' diftrefs. In lefs than fix months, of five hundred perfons whom Smith left in Vir- ginia, only fixty remained; and thefe fo 2 feeble ii I /'■■ ■' s^. .^^n^ o/<%.v^< IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I la&IM |2.5 ■^ Ui2 12.2 ■SI u IL25 mi 1.4 'm 0% 7] Photograiiric Sciences Corporalion 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 145S0 (716) 872-4503 ^^•\ •NJ ^^ ^\ V <^^^>^^ ^^^ *^\^!i%^ A confiderable part of their proviHons ajad ilores too was faved, and in that delightful fpot, Nature, with fpontan«oua bounty, prefented to. them fuch a yariety of her productions, that a hundred aud fifty people fubfifted in affiuence for ten months om m uninhabited ifland. Impatient, Kowevertlq efcape from a pkce yifbestt they were eul off from all Intercom^ wi|h ax^i^ind, they fet about building; two binrks with fuch tools and materials as they had, ^nd by amazing efforts of perfeverance and inge- nuity they finifhed them. In thefe they embarked, and fleered dire^ly towards Ylr- ginia, in hopes of finding an ample confo- * StUI), p, 11(5. Fwchas, iv. 174?.' 7.. latioB 6^^ ,w i^iite mmmiumt ■ » "^ 1 ■ HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^5 lation for all their toils and dangers in the B oo K embraces of their companions, and amidft t -^^^^-^^ the comforts of a flouriihing colony. After a more profperous navigation than they could have expej9:ed in their ill-conftrudled Veffds, they landed at James-Town. But ^**y ^S* inflead of that j6yful interview for which they fondly looked, a fpedacle prcfented itfelf which ftruckthem with horror. They Find the beheld the miferable remainder of their theumoft countrymen emaciated with famine and •*'^'*"* ficknefs, funk in defpair, and in their figure and looks rather refembling fpedres than human beings. As Gates and Summers, in full confidence of finding plenty of provi- fions. in Virginia, ha J brought with them no larger ftock than was deemed heceflary for their own fupport during the voyage, their inability to afford relief to their countrymen, added to the anguifli with which they viewed this unexpex his voyage, lia4 reached the mouth of James-River, they were met by Lord Delaware, with three fhips, that brought a large recruit of proyi- • A minute and curious account of the (hipwreck of Gates and Summers, and of their adventures m Bermudas, was compofed by Strachy, a gentleman who accompanied them, aud was publiflied by Furchas, • iv: 1734.' . • ■ • ■ :•,,..... . ■ -y » ' 6 :. - fions, m ■A' HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^7 fions, a confiderabie number of new fet- ^ ° ^ ^ tiers, and every thing requifite for defence < ^^v— * or cultivation. By perfuafion and authority he prevailed on them to return to James- Town, where they found their fort, their magazines, and houfes entire, which Sir Thomas Gates, by fome happy chance, had preferved from being fet on fire at the time of their departure. A fociety fo fee- ble and difordered in its frame required a tender and fkilful hand to cherifh it, and reftore its vigour. This it found in Lord ^jj'jjj^' Delaware : he fearched into the caufes of tion of their misfortunes, as far as he could dif- Uware. cover them, amidft the violence of their mutual accufations; but inftead of exert- ing his power in punifhing crimes that were paft, he. employed hfe prudence in healing their diflcnfions, and in guarding againft a repetition of the fame fatal errors. By unwearied affiduity, by the refpedl due to an amiable and beneficent character, by knowing how to mingle feverity with in- di}|gence, and when to affume the dignity P 4 of '^ftvrw^fWWi^' - ■■*■ .•*in.^^^^_ 88 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK IX. 1611. March 28. His health obliges him to re- turn to England. of his office, as well as when to difplay the gentlcnefs natural to his own temper, he gradually reconciled men corrupted by anarchy to fubordination and difcipline, he turned the attention of the idle and profli- gate to iilduftry, and taught the Indians again to reverence and dread the Englifli name. Under fuch an adminiftration, the colony began once more to alTume a pro- mifing appearance j when unhappily for it, a complication of difeafes brought on by the climate obliged Lord Delaware to quit the country *; the government of which he committed to Mr. Percy. May 10. Sir Thomas Dale ap- pointed governor. Martial law ella- blifhed. He was foon fuperfeded by the arrival of Sir Thomas Dak ; in whom the com- pany had veftSd more abfolute authority than in any of his predeceflbrs, impower- ing him to rule by martial law; a Ihort code of which, founded on the pra^ice of the armies in the Low Countries, the moll rigid military fchool at that time in Europe, * Stith, p. 117, Furchas, ir. 1764. they HISTORY OF AMERICA. «f they fent out with him. This fyftem of BOO» government is fo violent and arbitrary, that even the Spaniards themfelves had not ven- tured to introduce it into their fettlements ; for among them, as fooh as a plantation be- gan, and the arts of peace fucceeded to the operations of war, the jurifdiftion of the civil magiflrate was uniformly eftabliflied. But however unconftitutional or oppreffive this may appear, it was adopted by the advice of Sir Francis Bacon, the mod en- lightened philofopher, and one of the moft eminent lawyers of the age *. The com- pany, well acquainted with the inefficacy of every method which they had hitherto employed for reftraining the unruly muti- nous fpirits which they had to govern, eagerly adopted a plan that had the fanc- tion of fuch high authority to recommend it. Happily for the colony. Sir Thomas Dale, who was entrufted with this danger- ous power, exercifed it with prudence and moderation. By the vigour which the fum- ♦ Bacon, Eflfay on Plantations, p. 3. "d mary 90 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B K mary mode of military punifliment gave to Cii-)^.'-j his adminiilration, he introduced into the colony more perfect order than had ever been eflablifhed there ; and at the fame time he tempered its vigour v^ith fo much difcrefion, that no alarm feems to have been given by this formidable innovation *. Warchla ^^^ regular form which the colony now Newchar- began to aifume, induced the King to iffuc 10 the ^ new charter for the encouragement of the •oiony: adventurers, by which he not only con- new pri« ' ' * ^iieees firmed all their former privileges, and pro- «d. " longed the term of exemption from pay- , ment of duties on the commodities ex- ,._ ported by them, but granted them more extenfive property, as well as more ample jurifdidion. All the iflands lying within three hundred leagues of the coaft were annexed to the Province of Virginia. In confequence \ of this, the company took pofleflion of Bermudas, and the other fmaH ifles difcovered by Gates and Summers; • Stith, p, i?a. and HISTORY OF AMERICA. 9» -;■ (• and at the fame time prepared to fend out B O o K a confidcrable reinfc^. cement to the colony at James-Town. The expence of thofe ex- traordinary efforts was defrayed by the pro- fits of a lottery, which amounted nearly to thirty thoufand pounds. This expedient, they were authorized to employ by thcit new charter*; and it is remarkable, as the firft inftance, in the Englifh hiftory, of any public countenance given to this per- nicious reducing mode of levying money. But the ^o^^e of Commons, which to- wards the clofe of this reign began to ob- lerve every meafure of government with jealous attention, having remonftrated againft the inftitution as unconftitutional and impolitic, James recalled the licence under the fandion of which it had been ^ • eftablifhedt. By the fevere difcipline of martial law, Cuitiyt- the adivity of the colonifts was forced into J'°" °^*''* lands pro- a proper diredion, and exerted itfelf in mowd. • Stith, p. 191. Appendix, 23, &c. t Chalmers' Annals, i. 3i. ufeful IV 9^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. Treaty with the natives. « ' vBOOKufcful induftry. This, aided by a fertile foil and favourable climate, footi enabled them to raife fuch a large flock of pro- vifions, that they were no longer obliged to truft for fubfiftance to the precarious fuppUes which they obtained or extorted from the Indians. In proportion as the Englifli became more independent, the na- tives courted their friendfliip upon more equal terms. The happy efFe£ls of this were quickly felt. Sir Thomas Dale con- cluded a treaty with one of their moft powerful and warlike tribes, fituated on the River Chickahominy, in which they confented to acknowledge themfelves fub- jefts of the King of Great Britain, to af- fume henceforth the name of Engliihmen, to fend a body of their warriors to the affiftance of the Engliih, as often as they took the field againft any enemy, and to depofit annually a ftipulated quantity of Indian corn in the ftore-houfes of the co- lony *. An event, which the early hifto- • HamcT Solida Narratio, ap. de Bry.Pars x»p. 33. Slid), p. 130. V nans HISTORY OF AMIJRICA. gj rians of Virginia relate with peculiar fa- BOOK tisfa^ion, prepared the way for this union. w»^ . ,^ Pocahuntas, the favourite daughter of the great Chief Powhatan, to whofe in- terceflion Captain Smith was indebted for his life, perfevered in her partial attach- ment to the Englifh; and as (he fre- quently vifited their fettlements, where (he was always received with refpedlful hof- pitality, her admiration of their arts and manners continued to increafe. During v' this intercourfe, her beauty, which is re- prefented as far fliperior to that of her countrywomen, made fuch impreilion on the heart of Mr. Rolfe, a young man of Rotfe rank in the colony, that he warmly foli- ^\"^" cited her to accept of him as a huiband. ^Jfug^tcr - of an I»- Where manners are iimple, courtfhip is not ()«. $4 HlStOltY OF AMERICA; 1: *^^OKpomp; and from that period a friendly correfpondence fubflfted between the coIo* ny and all the tribes fubjeA to Powhatan^ or that ftood in awe of his ppwen Rolfe add his Princefs^ (for by that name the writers of the laft *age always diilinguifh her,) fet out for England, where (he was received by James and his Queen with the refpedt fiiited to her birth. Being care- fully inflru^ed in the principles of the Chriftian faith, ihe was publicly baptized^ but died a few years after, en her re- turn to America, leaving one fon ; from whom are fprung fome of the moil refpe£fc- able families in Virginia, who bpaft of their defcent from the race of the ancient rulers of their country *, But notwithftanding the vifible good effedts of that alliance, none of Rolfe's countrymen feem to have imitated the example which he fet them, of intermarrying with the natives. Of all * Hamer Solida Narratio, ap. de Bry, Pars x. f . 23. Stith, p. 129. 146.' Smith's Travels^ p. 113* 121, -» v,*n HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^§ the Europeans who have fettled in Ame- ^^^^^ rica, the Englifli have availed themfelves lead of this obvious method of concilia-' ting the affedion of its original inhabit- ants j and, either from the flijnefs con* fpicuous in their national charaAer, or from the want of that pliant facility of manners which accommodates itfelf to every fituation, they have been more averfe than the French and Portugucfe, or even the Spaniards, from incorporating with the na- tive Americans. The Indians, courting fuch an union, offered their daughters in mar- riage to their ne\\r guefts : and when they did not accept of the proiFered alliance^ they naturally imputed it to piide and to their contempt of them as an inferior or- der of beings *. During the interval of tranquillity pro-* Land in cured by the alliance with Powhatan, an fi^l* important change was made in the ftatc ^°"'«* of the colony. Hitherto no right of pri- ''"^*"^' Bevi i ' "r* H». 96 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK vate property in land had been eftabliflied. The fields that were cleared had been cul- tivated by the joint labour of the coloniftg; their product was carried to the common ftore-houfes, and diftributed weekly to every family, according to its number and exigencies. A fociety, deftitute of the firft advantage refulting from focial union, was not formed to profper. Induftry, when not excited by the idea of property in what was acquired by its own efforts, made no vigorous exertion. The head had no in- ducement to contrive, nor the hand to la- bour. The idle and improvident trufted entirely to what was iflued from the com- mon ftore ; the affiduity even of the fober and attentive relaxed, when they perceived that others were to reap the fruit of their toil ; and it was computed, that the united induftry of the colony did not accomplifh as much work in a week as might have been performed in a day, if each indivi- dual had laboured on his own account. In order to remedy ^his, Sir Thonias Dale divided Advan. tages. w: •^♦*-" *)()« "^ . ifim -/ HiStOAT OF AMERICA. divided a confidcrablc portion of the land BOOK into fthari lots, and granted one of thefe to eaiiTl individual in ftiH property. From the moment that induftry had the cettiin pro- Ipeft of a recompence, it advanced witK rapid frogrefs. • The articles of primary ncJcffity were cultivated with fo much at- tention as fecured the means of fubiiftence ; and fuch fchemes of improvement were fbrrhed as prepared the way for the ii^-^ trodu€lion of Opuleri^ into the colony ♦. .fi ■\ H/! -r The induftrious {pirlt^ which began t<^* Culture of rife among the planters, was foon directed' jntro.*^** towards a new objeft ; and they applied ^"^«'^* to it for fome time with fuch iii- confid^rate ardi^r as was produftive' c^ fatal coftfequences. The ciiKure of to- bacco, which has firtce become the ftaple of Virginia and the fource of its prbfperity, was introduced aboyt this time into the i6ift colony. As the tafte for that weed ton** tinued to increafe in England, not with- '"" ' • Smith'8 Travels, p. 1 14. Stith, p. 131. H ftanding W' ■ V-'-^V^fl-.*.- *•«■ :r-- 9^ liiStOltT OF AMERICA. Bad COB* fequcnees arifing from it. BOOK ftanding the zealous dpclamatiotis of Jame« againftit, the tobacco imported firomVir* ginia came to a read)/; market; and though it was fo much ibferior in quality or in eftimation to diat r^ufed by the Spaniards in the Weft Indian iflan^s, that ai ppund of xht latter fold for eighteen (fillings, and of the former for no more than three ihiilings, it yielded a confiderable profit. Allured by the profpe^t of ^fucl^ ^ certain and quiclf return, every other f^ecies of induftry was negledted. The land which ought to have been refiprved ' for raifmg provifiOns, and «iycn the ftrects of James-Town, were planted with tobacco< Various regulations were framed to reftrain this ill-dire^ed ac- tivity. But from e^gemcfs for prefent gain, the planters : difr^ard^d every ad- n^pnition. • The iiieans of fubfiftence be- came fo ijcanty as forced them to renew tl^eir demands upon the Indians, who, fee- lAg no end of thofe exadions, their ami- pskthy to the Englifh name revived, with additional rancour, and they began to form 6 fchemes ■^ff V. ..©:. -.'2,.c •/»• mi •*■ '■■il. HJSTQRY OF AMERICA. fchemcs of vengeance, with the fecrccy and b filence peculiar to Americans *. Mbanwhile the colony^ notwithftand- ing this error in it$ operationSj and the cloud th^t was gathering Over its head, continued to wear an ^ped of tpfoCptntyd Its numbers incrfsaj^d by fuccejQive migra-i tions; the quantity of tobac^Q eKf>orted: bepame every year more confiderable, and feveral of the planters were not only in an eafy £tuation, but adv'anding faft ^to opu- lence fj, and by , two events, which hap- pened n^ly at t)ie faine time, both po-. pulation and . induftry , . were gready . pro- moted. As few women had hitherto ven- tured to encounter the hardihips which weire tmavoidable in an unknown and un- cultivated country, moil of the coloniftSf condrained to live fmgle, confidered them- felves as no more than fojourners in a land to which they were not attached by the * Stithi |). i4». 147. 164. 168. Smith, p. 140. PurchaSf iv. 1787, f Smith, p. 139. H 2 tender 99 OOK IX. ..-w#^.- lOQ HISTORY OP AlMEftICA; ri I "c V '. Young tvomen migrate from Eng> land to Virginia. tended ties of a family and children. In order to induce them to fettle there, the company took advantage of the apparent tranquillity in the country, to fend out a cohfiderable msmbetr of young women, of humble birth, indeeiJ, but of unexception- able chara^er, and encouraged the planters, by pr^miuitis and: immunities, to marry them *. Thefe new companions were re- deived with fuch fbndnefs, and many of them fo comfortably eftablifhed, as invited others to follow theirexample, and by de- grees thoughtlefs adventurers, aiTumihgthe ientiments of 'virtuous citizens and of pro-' vkkmnthers of famiKifs^ became foUcitous about the profperity of a Country, which they riow.confidered as tlieir owA. As the coloniiU began to form more' exftenfive plans of irtduftry, they were unexpeftedly furniflied with means of executing them with greater facility. A Dutch ihip from the Coaft ' of Guinea, having failed up • Stith, p. 1 66. 197. ■ r< r ■ Mi a- James* -"*?(?"■• 1 If ' HISTORY OF AMERICA. lOl James-RiYcr, fold a part of her cargo of BOOK negroes to the planters * ; and as that hardy w.-»l. * race was found more capable of endur* Negroei * ^ firft intra* ing fatigue under a fultry climate than duced. Europeans, their number has been in- creafed by continual importation ; their sud feems now to be efiential to the exiftence of the colony, and the greater part of £eid labour in Vii|;inia is perfopnedl by fervile hands. J But as the condition of the colony imr. proved, the fpirit of its members became more independent. To Englifliinen the fummaryand feveredecifions <^ martial Uw, however tempered by the mildnefs of their governors, appeared intolerably oj^preifive; and they longed to recover th^ privileges to which they had been^cc^fbomed'UndczL the liberal form x>f governihent^>in ith^ii: native country. In compliance with this 1619. ^irit, Sir George Yeardley, in the year pjjlf g^- 16 1 9, called the firft general aflembly thaj fe^y*^' ^ B«yerlcyt p. 37. H 3 was rUr mmi -|0'i' 102 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK was ever held in Virginia ; and the num* ^■^■j hers of the people were now fo increafed, of wpre- and their fettlements fo difperfed, that deren corporations appeared by their re- refentatives in this convention, where they were permitted to aifume legiflative power, and to. exercife the nobleft fun£%ion of firee jinen. The laws enaded in it feem neither to. have been many, nor .of great import- ance; but the meeting was highly accept- able to the people, as they now beheld among themfelves an image of the £ngli0i coniUtution, which they reverenced as the moft perfect model of free government. In ordet to render this ref^mblance more com- plete, and the rights of the planters more July S4. certun, the company liTued a charter or or- ffitu^*^ dinance, which gave a legal and permanent iaaa to the' government of the colony. The fi^teme legiflative authority in Vlrgi- nia, itk imitation of that in Great Britain, was divided and lodged partly in the governor, who held the place of the fovereign; partly in a council of ftate named given to Kho co- lony. .,«*-'■' HISTORY OF AMERICA. I03 named by the company, which pol&ffed B00I& Tome of the diftln^kicns, and ticercifed fome of the funftions belonging to the peerage ; partly in a general council or a^ fembly compofed of the rdprefenta^res ai the people, in which were veftcd powers and privileges finular to -thofe of the Houfe <»f Commons, In both thefe councils all ^ueftions were to he determined by the ma-« jority of voices, and a negative was r^ ferved to the governor $ but no law or or^ dinance, though approved of by all the three members of the legiflature, was to be of force, until it w^s ratified in England by a^ general court of the company, and return- ed under its r<^al * 'n\u.8 the conftitution of the colony was fixed, and the member^ pf it are henceforth to be coniidered, not merely as fervants of a CQmme^ci^ com* pany, dependant on the will ^nd orders of their fuperior, byt a^s fre^ meii and qti^cns, ••Stitb, Appendix, p. 32, ^tc. H4 This ■■^z. Vlt : '.. .ir ■.'■;' '■' ' ■ ■•m -.HtJ ,-' . '.. .v=D' ' '-tJi .■■',-■••■ i ; . io6 HISTORY OF AMERICA, The colo> nv ne- gieAs the ||recBu« tiont ne- ceflary for its de- fence •eainft tMin* diani. --?: But while the colony continued to itv< creafe (o fall, that fettlements were (batter- ed, not only along the banlcs of James an4 York Rivers, but began to extend to the Rapahannock, and even to the Potowmack, the Engliih, Jrelying on their own numbeta and deceived by this appearance of pro^ fperity, lived in full fecunty. They nei- ther attended to the movements of the In^ dians, not fufpeded their machinatrons, and though furrounded by a people whoix^ they might have known from experience to be both artful and vindidive, they ne^ glebed every precaution for ^heir owi\ fafety that was requifite in fuch ^ fituation^ Like the peaceful inhabitants of a fociety completely eftabliflied, they were no longer foldiers but citizens, and were fo intent on what was fubfervient to the comfort or em- bellifhment of civil life, that every martial exercife began to be laid afide as unnecef- fary. The Indians, whom they commonly employed as hunters, were fumiihed with fire-arms, and taUght to ufe them with dex- terity. t /> ' ' HISTORY- OF AMERICA. ; tcrity. They were permitted to frequent the habitations of the Englifli at all hours, an4 received is innocent vifitaiits ^hom there was no reafon to dread. This inconlide* rate fecurity enabled the Indians to prepare for the execution of that plan of vengeance, which they meditated with all the deliberate forethought which is agreeable to their temper, ^ior did they want .a leader ca- pable of conduding their fchemes with ad- drefs. On the death of Powhatan, in the year 1 6 1 8, Opechancanough fucceeded him, not only as wirowanee or chief of his owii tribe, but in that extenfive influence over all the Indian nations of Virginia, which induced the Englilh writers to diftinguifli them by the name of Emperor. Accord- ing to the Indian tradition, he was not a native of Virginia, but came from a^diftant country to the fouth-weft, poflibly from fome province of the Mexican Empi^re*. But as he was confpicuous for all .the qua- lities of higheft eftimation among favages, .i\ 107 {:■ General maflacra of the EnglUh planned by the In* diani. ^\ ^^ • Beverlejr, p. 51, a fearlcfs t V ' *^ln»m¥^' io8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. m- iV. t l> B o o K a fcarlefs courage, great (Irength and agility of body, and crafty policy, he quickly rofe CO eminence and power. Soon after his elevation to the fupreine command, a ge- neral maflacre of the Engliflx feems to have been refolved upon ; and during four years, the means of perpetrating it with the greateft facility and fuccefs were con- certed with amazing fecrecy. All the tribes contiguous to the Englifh fettlem^nts were fuccefUvely gained, except thofe on the Eaftern (hore, from whom, on account of their peculiar attachment to their new .ii ,.. neighbours, every circumftanc? that njight '■ difcover what they intended was carefully concealed. To each tribe its Nation w^$ rf ', ■ ' ■ ■ 'I allotted, and the part it was to a^ pre-» M»r.:2. fcribed. On the morning of the day coq-r V fecrated to vengeance, leach was ajt the place of rendezvous appointed* while the Englifh were fo little av^ar^ of the impending , dellrudion, that they received with un- fufpicious hofpitality, feveral perfons fent , by Opechancanough, under pretext of de- livering prefents of venifon and fruits, but 13 in ily- L >,!W»i|*^-^ ''?wiifc»*v-< \ :^'^»i^- HISTORT OF AMERICA. 109 in reality to obfcrve their motions. Find- ■ ^j® ^ ing them pcrfedlly fecure, at mid-day, the Jp^ moment that was previoufly fixed for this 00 moii of deed of horror, the Indians rufhed at once Jjj/*"**" upon them in all their different fettlements, and murdered men, women, and children, with undiftinguifhing rage, and that ran* corous cruelty with which favages treat their enemies. In one hour, nearly a fourth part of the whole colony wks cut ofl(' almoft without knowing by whofe hahds they fell. The flaughter would have been univerfilj if compailion, or a fenfe of ^ duty, had not moved a converted Indian, to whom the fecret was communicated the night before the maflfacre, to reveal it to his mader in Aich time as to fave Tames« Town, and fome adjacent fettlements; and if the Engliih, in other diftrids, had not run to their arms with refolution prompted by defpair, and defended themfelves fo bravely as to repulfe their aiTailants, who, in the execution of their plan, did not difcover courage equal to the faga- ,,c I. 1, ' /M IIO HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOR city and art with which they haid cojicerted ih: But though the blow was thug, prevent" '^"'""ed from defcending with itjs full «ffe^,,it proved very grievous, to .an infi^it colony. Iili fome fettlements not . a iingle Englifb- man efcaped. Many perfons of prim? note in the colony, and among thefe feverai mepibers of the council, were flain* The furvivors, overwhelmed with grief» afto^ nifhment, and terror, abalndoned ^1 thoir remote fettlements, and, crowding together for fafety to James-Town, did nQt pccvipy a territory of greater extent %hm had been planted foon after the arrival of ^eir countrymen in Virginia. ; Confined within thofe narrow boundaries, they were lefs intent on fchemes of ihduftry than on thoughts of revenge. Every man took Bloody arms. A bloody war againft the Indians thVin-* commenced; and, bent on exterminating dUns. * Stith, p. 2o8, &c. Furchas, iv. 1788, ^c. 'V*: the i HISTORt OF AMERICA. lit the whole irate, neither old noK" young were ® ^^ * fpared. The conduft of the Spaniards in v — y l-i tie Southern regions of America was openly propofed as the moft proper model to imi- tate*'; and, regardlefs like thenl of thofe pi^hcSples of faith, honour, and humanity, which regulate hoftility among civilized nations and fet bounds to its rage, the English deemed every thing allowable that tended to accomplifh their defign. They . hunted the Indians like wild beafts, rather than enemies ; and as the purfuit of them to their places of retreat in the woods, which covered their country, was both dif- ficult and dangerous, they endeavoured to allure them from their inacceflable faft- nelTes, by oflTers of peace and promifes of oblivion, made with fuch an artful appear- ,623. ance of fmcefity as deceived their crafty leader, and induced them to return to their former fettlements, and refume their ufual peaceful occupations. The behavi- our of the two people feemcd now to be 5r^€^ h I VI i * Stith, p. 233. V ■ perfedly . -' ;:;-J,,.v^- ' ■ ■' . ; > > ■ » '^ . ■■ '.' lli HISTORY OF AM£klCA. il^^ t BOOK perfedly reverfed. The Indians, like men ac([uainted with the principles of integrity and good faith, on which the intercourfe between nations is founded, confided in the reconciliation, and liv^d in abfolute, fecu* rity without fufpicion of danger; while the Englifh, with perfidious craft, were preparing to imitate favages in their re- venge and cruelty. On the approach of lianreft, when they knew an hoflile attack would he moft formidable and fatal, they fell fuddenly upon all the Indian planta- tions, murdered every perfon on whom they could lay hold, and drove the reft to the woods, where To many penfhed with hunger, that fome of the tribes nearefl to the Englifh were totally extirpated. This atrocious deed, which the perpetrators la- boured to reprefent as a necefTary ad of retaliation, was followed by fbme happy efieds. It delivered the colony fo entire- ly from any dread of the Indians, that its fettlements began again to extend, and its induftry to revive. But -f" HISTORY OF AMERICA. 113- BuT unfortunately at this jundure th6 BOOK ftate of the company in England, in which <, ■yl ^ the property of Virginia and the govern- ^°^J^^^^ ment of the colony fettled there were divided by vetted, prevented it from leconding the efforts of the planters, by fuch a rein- forcement of men, and fuch a fupply of neceffaries, as were requifite to replace what they had loft. The company was origin- ally compofed of many adventurers, and increafed fo faft by the jundion of new members, allured by the profped of gain, or the deftre of promoting a fcheme of public utility, that its general courts form- ' cd a numerous affembly *. The operation of every political principle and pallion, that ^read through the kingdom, was felt in thofe popular meetings, and influenced their decifions. As towards the clofe of James's reign more juft and enlarged fentiments with refped to conftitutional liberty were dlfTufed among the people, they came to • Stith, p. 272. 276. -It: ; f underftand i^4i HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK underftand their rights better, and to afTert them with greater boldnefs ; a diflindion formerly little known, but now familiar in £ngli(h policy, began to be eftablifhed be- tween the court and country parties, and the leaders of each endeavoured to derive power and confequence from every quarter. Both exerted themfelves with emulation, in order to obtain the direftion of a body fo numerous and refpedable as the company of Virginian adventurers. In confequence of this, bufmefs had been conducted in every general court for fome years, not with the temperate fpirit of merchants deliberat- ing concerning their mutual intereft, but with the animofity and violence natural to numerous affemblies, by which rival fac- tions contend for fuperiority*. . :|, James in- llitutes an inquiry' into their conduct. As the king did not often aflemble the great council of the nation in parliament, the general courts of the company became a theatrcj on which popular orators dif- • Stlth, p. 229, &c. Chalmers, p. 59. played I..' ""^-^ -.■•». I I tt inWiWBt I ililUM ■•■• ;1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ns played their talents ; the proclamations of B O O K the crown, and a£ts of the privy council, with refped: to the commerce and police of the colony, were canvafled there with free- dom, and cenfured with feverity, ill-fuited to the lofty ideas which James entertained of his own wifdom, and the extent of his prerogative. In order to check this grow-^ ing fpirit of difcuffion, the minifters em- ployed all their addrefs and influence to gain as many members of the company as might give them the diredion of their deli- berations. But fo unfuccefsful were they in this attempt, that every meafure pro- pofed by them was reprobated by a vaft majority, and fometimes without any rea- fon, but becaufe they were the propofers of it. James, little favourable to the power of any popular aflembly, and weary of con- tending with one over which he had la- boured in vain to obtain an afcendant, began to entertain thoughts of diflblving the com- pany, and of new-mpdelUng its conftitu- tion. Pretexts, neither unplaufible, nor pmoci 12 deftitute Sfji/iyy^^ffi^N. -1 ■ , . x±K ^,i rt '* * " " »i iiS HISTORY OF AMERICA. A \ ■'„ dellitute of fome foundation, feemed to juftify this mcafute. The flow progrefs of the colony, the large funis of money ex* pended, and great number of men who had perifhed in attempting to plant it, the late maiTacre by the Indians, and every difafter that had befallen the Englifh from their firft migration to America, were imputed folely to the inability of a numerous com- pany to condud an enterprife fo complex and arduous. The nation felt fenfibly its difappointment in a fcheme in which it had engaged with fanguine expectations of advantage, and wifhed impatiently for fuch an impartial fcrutiny into former proceed- ings as might fuggeft more falutary mea- fures in the future adminiftration of the colony. The prefcnt ftate of its affairs, as well as the wilhes of the people, feemeu *o call for the interpofition of the crown ; and James, eager to difplay the fuperiority of his royal wifdom, in corredling thofe errors mto which the company had been betrayed by inexperience in the arts of government, i.;^.^,^^ 7 - » ' boldly - -f^ ■.- '■-• '' ' . . ■ HISTORY OF AMERICA. PJ7 • Stith, p. a88. boldly undertook the work of reformation. » o^P K Without regarding the rights conveyed to ^^r-y^^ the company by their charter, and without T^^^y^g^ the formality of any judicial proceeding for annulling it, he, by virtue of his preroga- tive, iflued a commiflion, empowering fome of the judges, and other perfons of r^ote, to examine into all the tranfadions of the com- ^ -^^^ pany from its firft edabliihment, and to lay the refult of their inquiries, together with their opinion concerning the mod effec- tual means of rendering the colony more profperous*, before the privy council. At the fame time, by a ilrain of authority ftifl higher, he ordered all the records and papery of the company to be feized, and two of its principal oflScers to be arrefted. Violent and arbitrary as thefe adbs of authority may now appear, the commiflioners carried on their inquiry without any obftru(3:ion but what arofe from fome feeble and ineife^tual remonflrances of the company. The com- miflioners, though they conduced .their fcrutiny \ , Ii8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK fcrutiny with much adlivity and vigour*, i, -y- mj did not communicate any of their proceed- .^ ings to the company; but their report, with refpedt to its operations, feepis to have been very unfavourable, as the king, in confequence of it, (ignified to the com- pany his intention of veiling the fupreme c?m a^n go^^mment of the company in a governor required and twelvc afliftants, to be refident in Eng- Tcnder iu land, and the executive power in a coun- eharter. ^.j ^£ twelve, which ftiould refide in Vir- ginia. The governor and afliftants were to be originally appointed by the king. Future vacancies were to be fupplied by the governor and his ailiftants, but their nomination was not to take effedl until it fliould be ratified by the privy council. The twelve counfellors in Virginia were to be chofen by the governor and afliftants; and this choice was likewife fubjefted to the review of the privy council. With an intention to quiet the minds of the colo- nifts, it was declared, that private property •Smith's Travels, p. 165, &c. fhould VS •■'-^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. 119 ihould be deemed facred ; and for the more B 00 K eiFedual fecurity of it, all grants of lands from the former company were to be con^ firmed by the new one. In order to facir litate the execution of this plan, the king , required the company inftantly to furrendcr jits charter into his hands *. ,*** wy ^..^. .y. J • But here TameS and his minifters en- Compwy countered a fpirit, of which they feem not to have been aware. They found the members of the company unwilling tamely to relinquifli rights of franchifes conveyed - to them with fuch legal formality, that upon faith in their validity they had ex- ' , , pended confiderable fumsf ; and ftill more averfe to the abolition of a popular form of government, in which every proprietor had a voice, in order to fubje£t a colony, in which they were deeply interefled, to the dominion of a fmali junto abfolutely de- pendent on the crown. Neither promifes • Stith, pr 293, &c. t Chalmers, p. 5f. ,, ■3 .ijc dis^fcfj 14 nor 120 HISTORY OF AMERICA. *OOK nor threats could induce them to depart OA. 20. from thefe fentiments ; and in a general court the king's propofal was almoft una- nimoufly rejected, and a refolution taken to defend to the utmoft their chartered rights, if thefe fhould be called in queftion in any court of juftice. James, highly of- fended at their prefumption in daring to Nov. 10. oppofe his will, directed a writ of quo warranto to be iflfued againft the com- pany, that the validity of its charter might be tried in the Court of King's Bench ; and in order to aggravate the charge by. collecting additional proofs of mal-admi- niftration, he appointed fome perfons, in whom he could confide, to repair to Vir- ' ginia to infpe£t the ftate of the colony, ^nd inquire into the conduct of the com- pany, and of its officers there. M Trial in . The kw-fuit in the King's Bench did Bencil"^'iiot hang. long in fufpenfe. It terminated, fuiion of" ^^ ^^* \^(ndi\ in that reign, in a decifioh the com. perfeftlv confonant to the wiflies of the pany. ' t , '- monarch. f/ ■■ , « ., HISTORY OF AMERICA. 121 monarch. The charter was forfeited, the BOOK company was diflfolved, and all the rights <^,vL^ and privileges conferred upon it returned jj"^ to the king, from whom they flowed *. ff. I Some writers, particularly Stith, the Defeat in mod intelligent and beil informed hillo- conftitu- \ rian of Virginia, mention the diflblution of "oloniel.* the company as a moil difaftrous event to the colony. Animated with liberal fenti- ^ * ments, imbibed in an age when the prin- ciples of liberty were more fully unfolded than under the reign of Jamesj they viewed his violent and arbitrary proceedings on this occafion with fuch indignation, that their abhorrence of the means which he employed to accomplifh his defign feems to have rendered them' incapable of con- templating its effects with difcernment and candour. There is not perhaps any mode of governing an infant colony lefs friendly to its liberty, than the dominion of an ex- ^ • Rymer, vol. xvii. p.6i8, &c. Chalmers, p. 62. y clufive ■ . . ; _. : .'r ■ 12£ HISTORY or AMERICA. BOOK clufive corporation, pofleflcd of all the powers which James had conferred upon the company of adventurers in Virginia, During feveral years the colonifts can hardly be confidered in any other light than as fervants to the company, Rourifhed out of its (lores, bound implicitly to obey its orders, and fubjefted to the mod ri- gorous of all forms of government, that of martial law. Even after the native fpirit of Englifhmen began to roufe under oppref- (ion, and had extorted from their fupe- riors the right of cnadin^ laws for the ^0'» vemment of that community of which they were members, as no a£t, though approved of by all the branches of the provincial legiflature, was held to be of legal force, until it was ratified by a general court in England, the company ftill retained the paramount authority in its own hands. Nor was the power of the company ipore fa* vourable to the profperity of the colony, than to its freedom. A numerous body of merchants, as long as its operations are k 1 - purely 7 /i? ':!•;.• HISTORY OF AMERICA. »>!3 purely commercial, may carry them on ^^^^ with difcernment and fuccefs. But the mercantile fpirit fcems ill-adapted to con- duct an enlarged and liberal plan of civil policy, and colonies have feldom grown up to maturity and vigour under its nar- row and intereftcd regulations. To the un- avoidable defedts in adminiftration which this occafioned, were added errors arifing from inexperience. The Englifh mer- chants of that age had not thofe extenfive views which a general commerce opens td fuch as have the diredion of it. When they firft began to venture out of the beaten track, they groped their v^ray with timidity and hefitation. Unacquainted with the climate and foil of America, and igno- rant of the produdtions beft fuited to them, they feem to have had no fettled plan of improvement, and their fchemes were con- tinually varying. Their fyftem of govern- ment was equally fluctuating. In the courfe of eighteen years ten different perfons pre- fided over the province as chief governors. .m ■ i ".v.---^ No - r 124 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK No wonder that under fuch adminiftration IX all the efforts to give vigour and ftability to the colony fhould prove abortive^ or produce only flender effe^s. Thefe efforts, however, when eftimated according to the ideas of that age, either with refped to commerce or to policy, were very coniide- rable, and conducted with ailoniihing per- feverance. • "f& w "ftJiinpitir; xO' -"'mm -jU^ V. \ Weaknefs Above an hundred and fifty thoufanj of the CO- II. 1 . r n lony. pounds were expended m this nrlt attempt , i:o plant an Englifh colony in America * ; and more than nine thoufand perfons were fent out from the mother country to people this new fettlement. At the diffolution of the company, the nation, in return for this wafte of treafure and of people, did not receive from Virginia an annual importa- tion of commodities exceeding twenty thoufand pounds in value ; and the colony was fo far from having added Arength to the flate by an increafe of population, that, :/ ) 1^. * Smith's Travels, p. 42. i6y. in I I HISTORY OF AMERICA. 125 in the year one thoufand fix hundred and ^ ^^ K twenty-four, fcarcely two thoufand perfons furvived*, a wretched remnant of the nu- merous emigrants who had flocked thither, with fanguine expe^ations of a very dif- ferent fate. The company, like all unprofperous fo- Tempo- cieties, fell unpitied. The violent hand "[ j[p°""* with which prerogative had invaded its ported ^ rights was forgotten, and new prolpecis 01 govern. 4.' fuccefs opened, under a form of govern- v?ginia. ment exempt from all the defers to which paft difafters were imputed. The king and the nation concurred with equal ardour in refolving to encourage the colony. Soon . after the final judgment in the Court of King's Bench againft the company, James -, ■ appointed a council of twelve perfons to take the temporary diredlion of affairs in ■ Virginia, that he might have leifure to Aug. 26. frame with deliberate confideration proper * Chalmers' Annalsy p. 6g. t '-'•'- regulations ^■•rti,«^..,j il6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK IX. regulations for the permanent govemmcBt of the colony *. Pleafed \yith fuch an op- portunity of exercifing his talents as a legi- flator, he began to turn his attention^ to- wards the fubjed ; but death prevented him from completing his plan. < Mar* Z7> Acceffioa ofCha.I. Hisarbi* trary go- mentof tbe co- lony. \ '■• ^.ii» *^i Charles I. on his acceflion to the throne, adopted all his father^s maxims with refped to the colony in Virginia. He declared it to be a part of the empire annexed to the crown, and immediately fabordinate to its jurifdidtion : he conferred the title of Governor on Sir George Yardely, and appointed him, in conjunc- tion with a council of twelve, and a fe- cretary, to exercife fupreme authority there, and enjoined ihem to conform in every point to fuch inftrudions as from time to time they might receive from him f. From the tenor of the king's commiffion, as well as from the known fpirit of his policy, it • Rymcr, xvii, 618, &c. f Ibid, xviii. 72 3 1 1. 1 u • f SSHSi SPW**-***' ■I'wr ..iii^ij •^wi'iMiiillp^*^' .' ■• ♦ »' HISTORY OF AMERICA. tiy is apparent, that he intended to veft every BOOK power of government, both Icgiflative and *,_^„^ executive, in the governor and council, without recourfe to the reprefentatives of the people, as pofleffing a right to cnaft laws for the community, or to impofe taxes upon it. Yardely and his council, who feem to have been fit inftruments for carrying this fyftem of arbitrary rule into execu- tion, did not fail to put fuch a conftruc- . tion on the words of their commiflion as r^ was moft favourable to their own jurif- , , didtion. During a great part of Charles's reign, Virginia knew no other law thah the will of the fovereign. Statutes " were publiihed, and taxes impofed, without once calling the reprefentatives of the people to authorize them by their fandion. At the fame time that the colonifts were bereaved of political rights, which they deemed eflential to freemen and citizens, their pri- ' ; vate property was violently invaded. A G«nt« proclamation was ifliied, by which, under JJpo^^of pretexts equally abfurd and frivolous, the^ '****'*"°- were fi I ± a ' ?v^ "« *^' ■ ;'i!"?i 12$ ' HISTORY OF AMERICA. K were prohibited from felling tobacco to ainy perfon but certain commiflioners appointed by the king to purchafe it on his account *• and they had the cruel mortification to behold the fovereign, who Ihould have afforded them protection, engrofs all the profits of their induftry, by feizing the only valuable commodity which they had to vend, and retaining the monopoly of it in his own hands. While the ftaple of the colony in Virginia funk in value under the oppreffion and reflraints of a mono- poly, property in land was rendered in- fecure by various grants of it^ which Charles inconfideratelybeflowed upon his favourites. Thefe were not only of fuch exorbitant extent as to be unfavourable to the progrefs of cultivation; but from inattention, or im- perfect acquaintance with the geography of I the country, their boundaries were fo inac- curately defined, that large tradts already Occupied and planted were often included inthem. "? ■' r ' a^ .^T''r Rymtr, xviii. 19. The ■ * ■;. * •:•! . ■<^^ ''''*"***'lftflWf>e -. / ' HISTORY OF AMERICA.? 129 The murmurs and complaints which BO O*^ fuch a fyftem of adminiftration excited, <-^^^ were augmented by the rigour with which. Sir John Harvey, who fucceeded Yardely ^ in the government of the colony*, enforce(|>, , every adl of power. Rapacious, unfeeling, 16*7, and haughty, he added infolence to op^^ • preflion, and neither regarded the lenti^f. 1 ments, nor liftened to the remonftrances of the people under his command. The colonifts, far from the feat of government, and Overawed by authority derived from a royal commiiTion, fubmitted long to his tyranny and exa^ions. Their patience ^?[^"J* was at 4afl: exhaufted, and in a tranfport of Harvey popular rage and indignation, they feized yernor, their governor, and fcnt him a prifdner to J"^ ^^^ £ngland, accompanied by two of their num- <<"»«' ^, ., 1, , n ,. England. ber, whom they deputed to prefer their accufations againil him to the king. But this attempt to redrefs their own wrongs* by a proceeding fo fummary and violent as is hardly confident with any idea of regu- • Rymer, xviii. 980. K lar '» . .\ 130 HISTORY OF AMERICA. • ^ii'. B 00 K lar government, and can be juftified only in cafes of Aich urgent neceflity as rarely occur in civil fociety, was altogether re* pugnant to every notion which Charles entertained with refpedt to the obedience due by fubje£ts to their fovereign. Toi ^. him the condud of the coloniils appeared to be not only an ufurpation of his right to^ judge and to puniih one of his own oncers,, but an open and audacious adl^of rebellion ' ^ againU his authority. Without deigomg to admit their deputies into his prefence, or ^ lO hear one article of their charge againft ^^rlh' ^^^^7r t^c king inftantly feilt: him. back the king, to his former ftation, with an ample re^ fnftattd newal of all the powers belon^ag to it. in his go- g^t though Charles deemed this vigof^us ment. ftep neceflTary in order to aifert his 6wnt authority, and to teflify his difpleafure with thofe who had prefumed to oifer fuch an infult to it, he feems to have been fo fenfible of the grievances under which the colonifts groaned, and of the chief i'ource from which they flowed, that.fcpn after lie not only re- . . moved 3639. S'-... HISTORY OF AMERICA. moved a governor fo jullly odious to theitiy but named as a fucceiTor Sir William Berkeley, a perfon far fuperior to Harvey in rank and abilities, and ftill more diftin- guiihed by pofleffing all the popular vir- tues to which the other veas a ftranger*. t *.'. ■■ '• ' •, ■ : • • "t fi Under his government the colony in Virginia remained, with ibme fliort inter* vals of interrupdon, almoil: forty years, ^nd to his mild and prudent adminiftration its increafe and profperity is in a great meafure to be afcribed. h was indebted) however, to the king himfelf for fuch a reforpi of its coniiitution and policy, as gave a different afpe^fc to the colony, and animated all its operations with liew fpirit. Though the tenor of Sir. William Berke- ley's commifBon was the fame \5?ith that Dfhis predeceflbr, he received inftrudions under the great feal, by which he Wad fern* powered to declab, fh*t in all its concerns, ' • Bcverley'«Iiift.of Virg. p.5o»,; Chalmors' An- nals, i. 1 1^, &c. • *-''^- i - . K 2 civil I3>t SirW. Berke- . ley ap- pointed governor. His mild and wife admini- ftration. >■■/ ■ A.- ija HISTORY OF AMERICA. -'pip .'?'" BOOK civil as well as ccclcfiaftical, the colony wai V , /- ' to be governed according to the laws of SfetS."" England : he was direded to iffue writs for granted electing reprefentatives of the people, who, Charles, in conjunction with the governor and coun- cil, were to form a general alTembly, and to . . pofTefs fupreme legiHative authority in the community ; he was ordered to eftablifh courts of jufticie, in which all queflions, i;4tt;K-: whether civil or criminal, were to be de- cided agreeably to the forms of judicial procedure in the mother country. It is ilot cafy to difcover what were the motives which induced a monarch tenacious in ad- hering to ^ny opinion or fyftem which he had once adopted, jealous to excefs of his own rights, and st^vcde on every occafion to aay extenfion of the privileges claimed by his. people, to relinquiiSi, his original plan of adminiftration in the colony, and to grant fuch immunities to his iiibjeds fettled there. From the hiilorians of Vir- ginia, no lefs fuperficial than ill-informed, no light can be derived with tefpeA to this '> ... point- ■•^■' HISTORY OF AMERICA. «3J point. It is mod probable, that dread of b O O K the fpirit then rifing in Gre^t Britain ex- u^^»^ torted from Charles conceffxons fo favour- Motivw - ^ that tp- able to Virginia. After an Intermiffion ot pear to almoft twelve years, the ftate of his affairs fiuenced compelled him to have rccourfe to th« great *^* '''"*• council of the nation. There his fubje^» -would find a jurifdidtion independant of the crown, and able to control its authority. There they hoped for legal redrefs of all their grievances. As the colonics in Vir- ginia had applied for relief to a former ,' parliament, it might be expefted with cer». tainty, that they,would lay their cafe before v f the firft meeting of an affembly, in which they were fecure of a favourable audience. ) Charles knew, that if the fpirit of his ad- • miniftration in Virginia were to be tried by the maxims of the Englifh conflitution, it ' muft be feverely reprehended. He was aware that many meafures of greater mo- ment in his government would be brought under a ftri£fc review in parliament; and ^ ' \ p: 3 unwilling - -.»■'''-■ Iiiuiii M.»i.„..U iiiiirtMiiii^iiiiiii inn^„|, mmt* ikm.»m,m,mii.m.mki.imm ■■i* "34 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^a« B O O JC unwilling to give mal-contents the advan- tage of adding a charge of oppreiTion in the remote parts* of his dominions to a ca- talogue of domeftic grievances, he artfully 4,i-^llf endeavoured to take the merit of having granted voluntarily to his people in Vir- ginia fuch priyleges as he forefaw would be extorted from him. But though Charles eftablilhed the in- ternal government of Virginia on a model iimilar to that of the Englifh conftitution, and conferred on his fubjedts there all the rights of freemen and citizens, he was ex-* tremely folicitous to maintain its connec- tion with the parent ftate. With this view he inftrufted Sir William Berkeley ftridly to prohibit any commerce of the colony with foreign nations ;. and in order more certainly to fecure exclufive pofleffion of all the advantages arifmg from the fale of its productions, he was required to take a bond from the mafter of each veflel that failed from Virginia floariflies under the i:ew go< vern- mcnt. ^• f,- ■'- IjiasifeiJSM*^' MISTORT OF AMERICA. m from Virginia, to land his cargo in feme book pa : of the king's dominions in Europe *. ^^' £yen under this reftraint, fuch is the kindly influence of free government on fociety, the colony advanced fo rapidly in induftry and populatio.t, that at the beginning of the civil war, the Englifli fettled in it ex- ceeded twenty thoufand f^ J "-Gratitude towards :* monarch,- from whofe hands they had received^mmunitieb which they iiad long wifhed, but hardly fexpedled to enjoy, the influence and ex- ample of a popular governor, paflionately devoted to the intereils of his mader, con- curred in preferving inviolated loyalty among the colonifts. Even after mo- narchy was abolifhed, after one king had been beheaded, and another driven into exile, the authority of the crown continued to be acknowledged and revered in Vir- * Chaliiiers' Annals, p. 219. 232. t Ibid. p. 125. Remains attached to the royal caufe. 1650. K4 gmia. ~*.'<- f3« HISTORY OF AMEPICA. BOOK ginia. • ^ Hi*-'. ■.•jiiti Irritated at this open defiance of its power, the parliament iflued an ordinance, declaring, that as the fettleii^nt in Virginia had been made at tlie col^ and hj the people of England, it ought to be fubor- dinate to and dependant upon the Eng- lifh commonwealth, and fubje^t to fuch laws and regulations as are or (hall be made in parliament : that, inftead of this dutiful fubmiflion, the colonifts had dif- claimed the authority of the ftate, and au- dacioufly rebelled againft it ; that on this account they were denounced notorious traitors, and not only all veflels belonging to natives of England, but thofe of foreign nations, were prohibited to enter their ports, or to carry on any commerce with them. Partia- ment makes war on It was not the mode of that age to wage a war of words alone. The efforts of an Virginia, high-fpirited government in aflerting its own dignity were prompt and vigorous. A powerful fquadron, with a confiderable body of land forces, was difpatched to re- . ?,^^ : . . . ducc HISTORY OF AMERICA. «37 duce the Virginians to obedience. After B o o K compelling the colonies in Barbadoes and <»-y ^ the other iflands to fubmit to the com- t monwealth, the fquadron entered the Bay 1651. . of Chefapeak. Berkeley, with more courage * *^ • j than prudence, took arms to oppofe this formidable armament ; but • he could not long maintain fuch an unequal conteft. Hia f. ^^ gallant refiftance, however, procured fa- vourable terms to the people under his go- vernment. A general indemnity for all Virginia palt onences was granted ; they acknow* to ac- ledged the authority of the commonwealth, ledge'the and were admitted to a participation of all '"TjJ*"* the rights enjoyed by citizens*. Berke- ley, firm to his principles of loyalty, dif* dained to mak^ any (lipulation for him- felf ; and choofmg to pafs his days far re- * moved from the feat of a government which . he detefted, continued to refide in Virginia ' '^ ^is a private man, beloved and refpeded by - all over whom he had formerly prefided. j. . ^ • Thurlow's State Papers, x. J97. Annals, p. 122. Beyedey's Hid. p>53. Chalmers* Not (F I3« HISTORY OF AMERICA. tracleof the co- lony. 1651. "«<• Not fatisfied with taking meafures to fubjed the colonies, the commonwealth Reftrainu turned its attention towards the moft efFec- on the tual mode of retaining them in dependance on the parent ftate, and of fecunng to it the benefit of their increaiing commerce. With this view the parliament framed two laws, one of which exprefsly prohibited all mercantile intefcourfe between the colonies and foreign ftates, and the other ordained, that no produftion of Afia, Africa, or Amei- rica, fliould'be imported into the dominrons of the commonwealth, but in veffels be- longing to Englifh owners, or to the people of the colonies fettled there, and navigated by an Engliih commander *, and by cnews of which the greater part muft be Englifh- men. But while the wifdom of the com- monwealth prefcribed the channel in which the trade of the colonies was to be carried on, it was felicitous to encourage the cul- tivation of the ilaple commodity of Vir- ginia by an a£t of parliament, which gave "IKid-: .tiit:if. J652. -inn • Scobel's A^s, p. 132. i']6. legal jjy^ ». m i> i i M i n^ i ^j ii . . ^i ii f, i t Sftw i ii i* ' *' ■ '■ » » ]"■ -*-*- f^l II «iH^I ^ !>' ' HISTORY OF AMERICA. . Ifjj legal force to all the injunctions of James ^ O O K and Charles againft planting tobacco in Eng- land*. • Under governors appointed by thecom-J monwealth, or by Cromwell, when he ufurped the fupreme power, Virginia re- mained almofl nine years in perfeA tran- quillity. During that period, many ad- herents to the royal party, and among thefe fome gentlemen of good families, in order to avoid danger and oppreilion, to which they were expofed in England, or , •' in hopes of repairing their ruined fortunes, reforted thither. Warmly attachod to the Theco- caufe for which they had fought and fuf- fatisfied ' fered, and animated with all the paflions *ftjjjj[* natural to men recently engaged in a fierce and long protracted it,;<^ >»'i ..,-»-- * 'I ll » «I H *w HISTORY OF' AMERICA. ^ 14! «xpofed them. On receiving the firft ac- ^<^o « count of this event, the joy and exultation of the colony were univerfal and unbound-^ ed. Thefe, however, were not of long con- tinuance. Gracious, but unprodudive pro** fefiions of efteem and good-will were th«? onlyreti»r ^r^de by Charles to loyalty and^ fervices, / 'Jl in their own eftimation were fo diftinguifhed that no recompence^ was beyond what they might claim. If the king's negle<5l: and ingratitude difappoint- 6d all the fanguine hopes which their va^ ftity had founded on the merit of their paft condu^):, the ipirit which influenced parlia- ment in its commercial deliberations opened^ a profped that alarmed them with refped^ to their future fituation. In framing re*^ gulations for the encouragement of tradef,'^ which, during the convulfions of civil W^V and j^midft continual fluctuations in go^^ vcrnment, had met with fuch obftru£tion: that it declined in every quarter; the Houfe of Commons, inilead of granting the colo- nies that Relief which they expected £iotai I the 142 IX. Naviga« tionad. I;- I. I 4. f ^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. K the reilraints iii their commerce impofed by the commonwealth; and CromweU, not only adopted all their ideas concerning this branch of legiflation, but extended them farther. This produced the a^ of naviga- tion^ the mol^ important and memorable of siny in the ftatute book with refpe£t to the hiftpry of Englifh commerce. By it, be- iides ieveral momentous articles foreign to the fubje£t of this work, it was enacted* that no commodities iliouldbe imported into any fettlement in Afia, Africa, or jj^merica, or exported from them, but in vefiels of Englifh or plantation built, where- of the mailer fnd three-fourUis of the ma- ^^rs ihall be Englifh fubjeds, under pain of forfeiting ilxip and goods; that none but natural -born fubjedts, or fuch as have been naturalized, fhall excrcife the occupation of Vjerchant or fador in any Englifh fettle- si^ent, under pain of forfeiting their goods and chattels ; that no fugar, tobacc09 cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, or woods uTed in dying, of the growth or manu- ; . , ■ , : faQure HISTORY OF. AMERICA. HJ fiidure bf the colonies^ ihall be (hipped from them to any other country but Eng- land; and in order to fecure the perform- ance of this, a fuificient bond^ with one furety, (hall be given, before failing, by the ownera, for a fpecific fum proportional to the rate of/ the veffel employed by them *q The produ&ions fubje€ted to this reftric- tion ire dlftinguifhed, in the language of coi|ii)A«rce ind finance, by the name of Numerated commodities; and as induftry in its progrefs fiirnifhed new articles of value, thcfe have been fucceflively added to the roll,, and'' fiibjeded to the fame reftraintv Sdon after^ the aft of navigation was ex- tended, and additional reftraints were im. pdfed, by-a new law, which prohibited the importation of any European commodity into the colonies, but what was laden in England in vefTels navigated and manned as the aft of navigation required. More efieftual provifion was made by this law 1663. rta • 12 Car. II, c. 18. 4. "1 fos "v.\ _-'•■'■:: ■> < i44 h U- HISTORY OF AMERICA. K for ex4««, >pm.f By thefe fucceflive regulations, the plan Effeasof of fecuring to England a monopoly of the commerce with its colonies, and of (hutting up every other channel into whith it might be diverted, was perfeded and reduced into complete fyftem. On one (ide of the At-* lantic, thefe regulations have been extolled as an extraordinary effort of political faga- city, and have been confidered as the great charter of national commerce, to which the prefent ftate is indebted for all its opulence and power. On the other, they have been execrated as a code of oppreflion, more fuitedtothe illiberality of mercantile ideas, than to extenfive views of legiflative wif- , _ ♦ 25 Car. II. c. .7^jj^,jj^:; v-^;^.. ;iX ^*a 14^ ii CM I ( ■{■ .. Colonifls remon* Urate againft the zSt, A I: ( HISTORY OF AMERldAi dom. Which oF thefe opintons is beft founded, I Ihall examine at large in another part, of this ^ork. But in writing the hif- tory of the Englilh fi^tdements in America, it was heceflary to trace the progrefs of thofe reftraining laws with accuracy, as in every fubfequent tranfadion we may ob- ferve a perpetual exertion, on the part of the mother-country, to enforce and extend them ; and on the part of th6 colonies, endeavours no lefs unremitting, to elude or to obftni^ their operation. Hardly was the a^ of navigation known in ViFginia} and its eife^ls begun to be felt, ^hen the colony remonflrated againft it as a grievance, and petitioned earneiUy for relief. But the commercial ideas of Charles and his minifters coin- cided fo perfectly with thofe of parlia- ment, that, inftead of liftening with a fa- vourable «ar to their applications, tliey la- boured afliduoufly to carry the a^ into ftrid execution. -For this purpofe, inftruc* -L^. lions 1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 147 -'•■J tions were iflTued to the governor, forts vy ere book built on the blanks of the principal rivers, and fmall veflels appointed to cruize on the coaft. The Virginians, feeing no profpedt of obtaining exemption from the ad, fet ' themfdves to evade it, and found means, notwithilanding the vigilance with which they were watched, of carrying, on a con- ftderable clandeftine trade with foreigners, paiticularly with the Dutch fettled on Hudfon's River. Emboldened by obferving difa&dion fpread through the colony, fome veteran foldicrs who had ferved under Cromwell, and had been banifhed to Vir- ginia, formed a deiign of rendering them- ,663. felves mafters of the cpuntry, and of aflert- ing its independence on England. This ra(h projed was difcovered by one of their ' alFociates, aiid diicohcerted by the vigorous exertions of Sir William Berkeley. But the fpirit of difcontent, though repreiTed, was not cxtinguiihed. Every day fon^c- thing occurred to revive and to nourifh it. A% It is with extreme difficulty that com- X. 2 ^ ' raerce M« BISTORT OF AMERICA. Colony attacked by the Indians. BOOK meree cah be turned into a new channelt IX tobacco, the ftaple of the colony, funk prodigioufly in value, when they were compelled to fend it all to one market. It was fome time before England could fur« nifli them regularly full aiTortments of thofe neceflary articles, without which the induftry of the colony could not be carried on, or its profperity fecured. Encouraged by the fymptoms of general languor and defpondency, which this declining ftate of the colony occafioned, the Indians feated towards the heads of the rivers ventured V firft to attack the remote fettlements, and ./;'*'. i? then to make incurfions info the interior parts of the country. Unexpected as thefe ' hoftillties were, from a people who during "^ a long period had lived i.i friendfhip with ' . the Engliih, a meafure tiken .by the king ■ Teems to ,- have excited ftill greater terror among the mod opulent people in the c6- {Jj[j;°J'pQ. Ibny. Charles had imprudently imitated duccd by the example of his father, by granting fuch ofiand by large tracts of land in Virginia to fcveraf of thecrownt ^^ , . - -r ' o - his HISTORY OF AMERICA. 149 his courtiers, as tended to unfettle the dif- book IX. tribution of property in the country, and «, .,/-< ,to render the title of the moft ancient planters to their eftates precarious and quei^ 1676. .tionable. From thofe various caufes, which in a greater or leiTer degree affected every individual in the colony, the indignation of the people became general, and was worked up to fuch a pitch, that nothing was want- ing to precipitate them into the moft de- fperate a^s, but fome leader, qualified to unite and to dire A their operations^. Such a leader they found in Nathaniel An in. Bacon, a colonel of militia, who, though in virgi- he had beeii fettled in Virginia only three "^by n^ years, had acquired, by popular manners, 2*«*»"' an infmuating addrefs, and the confideration derived from having been regularly train- ed in England to the profeflion of law, fuch general el^eem, that he had been ad- • Chalmers* Annals^h. 10, 13, 14. paiUm. pc- verlcy, p.5t, &e. mitted 'jQ\m ' 1-3 • -.,<;* •■■ " 150 .-&-.; .'A HISTORY OF AMERICA. K mitted into the council, and waa regarded as oae of the moft refpedlable perfons in the colony. Bacon was ambitious, eloquent, daring, and prompted either by honeft zeal to redrefs the public vrrongs, or allured by hopes of raifmg himfelf to diftind^ion and power, he mingled with the malcon- tents, and by his bold harangues and con- fident promifes of removing all their griev- ances, he inflamed them almoft to madnefs. As the devaflations committed by the In- dians was the calamity moft fenHbly felt by the people, he accufed the governor of hav- ing negleded the proper meafures (at re- pelling the invafions of the favages, and exhorted theih to take arms in their own defence, and to exterminate that odious race. Great numbers aflembled, and chofe Bacon to be their general. He applied to the governor for a commiflion, confirming this eledion of the people, and offered to march inflantly againft the common enemy. Berkeley, accuftomed by long pofTeflion of fupreme command to high ideas of the rr- .. . reljpea HISTORY OF AMERICA. |f^^ refpcft due to hU ftation, coufidcred thia ^ oo K tumultuary armament as an open infult to his authority, and fufpefted that, under fpecious appearances, Bacon concealed mofl. dangerous defigns. Unwilling, however, to give farther provocation to an incenfed mul- titude, by a dire^ refufal of what they demanded, he thought it prudent to nego- ciate, in order to gain time ; and it was not until he found all endeavours to footh them ineffectual, that he ilTued a proclamation, requiring them, in the king's i^ame, under the pain of being denounced rebels, 19 difperfe. * - ~^' ' - .\ But Qacon, fenfible that he had now advaSiced fo far as rendered it impoflibk: to recede with honour or fafety, inftantly took the only refolution that remained in his fituation. At the head of a chofen body of his followers he marched rapidly to james-Town, and furrounding the houfe where the governor and council were af- fembled, demanded the commiiTion for L 4 which ,■> 152 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK which he had formerly applied. Berkeley, / with the proud indignant fpirit of a cava- lier) difdaining the . requifitions of a rebel, peremptorily refufed to comply, and calmly prefented his naked bread to the weapons which were pointed againft it. The coun- cil, however, forefeeing the fatal confe- quences of driving an enraged multitude, in whofe power they were, to the laft extremities of violence, prepared a com- xniilion, conftituting Bacon general of all the forces in Virginia, and fay their entrea- ties prevailed on the governor to fign it. Bacon with his troops retired in triumph. Hardly was the council delivered by his departure from the dread of prefent danger, when, by a traniltion not unufual in feeble mind^, prcfumptuous boldnefs fucceeded to exceflive fear. The commiffion granted to 3acon was declared to be null, having been extorte4 by.' force ; he was proclaimed a rebel, his followers were required to abandon his ftandard, and the militia or- dered to arm, and to join the governor. " Enraged 4'^}A^ •* ; ■ mSTORY OF AMERICA. '53 .7' Enraged atcondu£k which he branded BOOK IX. with the name of bafe and treacherous, »i,^^.-j Bacon, inftead of continuing his march to- ^^°Jsj, wards the Indian country, inftantly wheeled w.Berke- » . ... ^*y *"•* about, and advanced with all his forces to the coua- James-Town. The governor, unable to '° '* reHft fuch a numerous body, made hisefcape, and fled acrofs the bay to Acomack on the Eaftern fhore. Some of the counfellors. accompanied him thither, others retired to their own plantations. Upon the flight of c,. Sir William Berkeley, and difperfion of the council, the frame of civil government in ' the colony feemed to be diflblved, and Ba- con became pofleflfed of fupreme and un- controlled power. But as he was fenfible that his countrymen would not long fub- mit with patience to authority acquired and held merely by force of arms, he endea- voured to found it on a more conftitutional bads, by obtaining the fan£tion of the people's approbation. With this view he called together the moft confiderable gen- tlemen in the colony, and having pre- *v • vailed 154 HISTORY OF AMERICA. l^' ' ^jf * vailed on them to bind themfelves by oath to maintain his authority, and to refift every enemy that ihould oppofe it, he from that time confidered his jurifdiftion as ^ legally eftabliflied. ill Sir w. Berkeley, meanwhile, having collcfted applies folne forces, made inroads into different colirrto P"** °^ ^^* colony, where Bacon's au- ^giand. chority was recognized. Several (harp conr Aids happened with various fuccefs. Jam'e&- Town was reduced to alhes, and the bell jCvUivated diftrids in the province were laid wafte, fometlnies by one party, and fome* limes by tbe other. 9ut It was not by his ^ii^n f xeitions that th^ governor hoped to ■terminate the cpnteft. He had early tranf- ipt^ted ^n account of the tranfaAions in Virginia to the king, and demanded fuch a body of foldiers as wpuld enable him to quell the infiirgents, whom he reprefented as fo exafper^ted by the rellraints im- . pofed on thjeir trade, that they were im- patient to 0iake off all dependance on th^ parent •«'*"•*■', :i 'i HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^si parent ftate. Charles, alarmed at a commo* book tion no lefs dangerous than unexpected, ^ -,-,^ and folicitous to maintain his authority over a colony, the value of which was daily increaHng, and more fully underftood, fpeedily difpatched a fmall fquadron, with fuch a number of regular troops as Berke- ley had required. Bacon and his followers received information of this armament, but were not intimidated at its approach. They boldly determined to oppofe it with open force, and declared it to be confiftent with their duty and alliegiance, to treat all who ihould aid SirWilliam Berkeley as enemies, until they Ihould have an opportunity of laying their grievances before their fove- jeign *, i But while both parties prepared, with 1677; equal animofity, to involve their country Bacon in the horrors of civil war, an event hap- *Yws the pened, which quieted the commotion al- rebellion. * Beverley's Hift. p. 75, 75. ^ | . moft ij6 •• !•>, >** ■,»•■ HISTORY OF AMERICA.- moft as Aiddenly as it had been excited, Bacon, when ready to take the field, Acken-* ed and died. None of his followers pof-* fefled fuch talents, or were To much ob^ jeds of the people's confidence! as entitled them to afpire to the fupreme command. Deflitute of a leader to condu^ and W" mate them, their fanguine hopes of fupcefs fubfided ; mutual diflrqfl accompanied this univerfal defpondency: all began to wifh for an accommodation ; and ^ter a ihort ncgociation with Sir William Berl^eley, they laid down theii: arms, and fubmitted to his government, on obt^ning s^ pjrqn^ife pf gp-. neral pardon. ^^ , .„. ^,6# tM^ *, .;^ Thus terminated an infurredlion, which, in the annals of Virginia, is diftinguiihed by the name of Bacon's rebellion. During feven months this daring leader was mafler of the colony, while the royal governor wjis fhut up in a remote and illrp^opled corner of it. What were the real motives that prompted him to take arms, and to what Mm' .... :•;:''"-■. -^• kngth / * -. .^.' ' •■ .- ■ _* "^Sfc..*..-*. ."wjfff HISTORY OJ AMERICA. 157 length he imeiided to carry his plans of re* B o o k formation, either in comnierce or govern^- Smm^'mwmt ment, it is not eafy to difcover, in the fcanty materials from which we derive our information .with refpe.♦■ 160 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK colony exceeded fixty ^thoufand*, and in the courfe of twenty-eight years its population had been more than dou- bled t. * Chalmers* Annalst p. 356. f Ibid. p. 12;. .i THB u: ^0 a* HISTORY ■:;;r,'i, ^1^^ O P ■ ».^jij,.,»»i, iijiiJ" ^ r , A M E R I G A. > ' BOOK X. .f-» ^:». TT7 HIM J&mes I. in the yeaf one thou-' ^ O K V V (and fix hundred and fix, made that ^y ^ magnificent partition, which has been men- Hifiory of ^ioned, of a vail region in North America, emcolo-' extending from the thirty-fourth to th^^entf ftirty-fifth degree of latitude, between two "'•'>* trading companies of his fubjed^s, he efta- bli&ed the refidence of the one in London^ and of the other in Plymouth. The for- mer was authorized to fettle in the fouthern, and the latter in the northern part of this M territory. compux* ■ ■ t i6i HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK territory, then diftinguifhed by the general ■ -u'-i^f name of Virginia. This arrangement Teems to have been formed upon the idea of fome fpeculatiye refiner, who aimed at difTufrng the fpirit of induftry, by fixing the feat of one branch of the trade that was now to be opened, on the eaft coaft of the ifland, and the other on the ^ weft. But London pof- feffes fuch advarltagei of fituation, that the commercial wealth and a ». i64 HISTORY 01^ AMERICA. .B o o K return, he laid a map of it before Prince Charles, and, with the ufual exaggeration of difcoverers, painted the beauty and ex- cellence of the country in fuch glowing colours, that the young Prince, in the warmth of admiration, declared, that it ./,pv' fljould be called New England*: a name . •■■■":. K. which effaced that of Virginia, and by '^ ';', , which it is ilill diflingui(hed. Firftat- The favourable apcounts of the country tempts unfuc- ceftful. to fettle by Smith, as well as the fuccefs of his voyage, feem to have encouraged private adventurers to profecute the trade oh tite coaft of New England with greater brilk- nefs; but did not infpire the languifhihg company of Plymouth with fuch vigour as to make any new attempt towards efta- blifhing a permanent colony there. Some- thing more than the profpedt of difiant ' gain to themfelves, or of future advantages to their country, was requifite, in order to * Smith's Trav. Book vi. p. 303, &c. Purchas, ir. ^ p. 1837. ' . • induce ti^M :■•-■>,. v:'^^- ,j .W^v HISTORY OF AMERICA. t'l induce men to abandon the place of their BOOK nativity, to migrate to another quarter of the globe, and endure innumerable hard- Ihips under an untried climate, and in an uncultivated land, covered with woods, or occupied by fierce and hoftile tribes of fa- vages. But what mere attention to private ' emolument or to national utility could not ,'. effed;, was accomplifhed by the operation ',^ of an higher principle. Religion had gra- ReligJooi 1 11 • 1 11 r^ difputcs dually excited among a great body of tne give rife people, a fpirit that fitted them remarkably ^Jgign-. for encountering thedangers, and furmount- 'aix^co- ing the obftacles, which had hitherto ren* dered abortive the fchemes of colonization in that part of America allotted to the com<\ pany of Plymouth. As the various fettle- ments in New England are indebted for their origin to this fpirit, as in the courfe of our narrative we fhall difcern its inflii- . ence mingling in all their tranfa^ions, and giving a peculiar tindure to the chira£ter of the people, as well as to their inftitutions, both civil and ^cleiiafticaL it becomes ne^ X3 :eflary J^. 1 66 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ■ BOOK ceffary to trace its rife and progrefs with attention and accuracy. S-'-"i, tn Different When the fuperftitions and corruptions jnents re- of the Romiih church prompted different nations of Europe to throw off its yoke, and to withdraw from its communion, the fpe^ing church govern- prevaiievi modc as wcll as degree of their feparation forma- *' ^'^^ various. Wherever reformation was tion. fudden, and carried on by the people with- out authority from their rulers, or in op- '. pofition to it, the rupture was violent and total. Every part of the ancient fabric was overturned, and a different fyflem, not only with refped to dodrine, but to church go- vernment, and the external rites of wor- ihiplwas eflablifhed. Calvin, who, by his abiKties, learning, and aufterity of man- \ ners, had acquired high reputation and au- ■ ' thority in the Proteftant churches, was a i^ealous advocate for this plan of thorough reformation. He exhibited a model of that pure form of ecclefiaflical policy, which he approved in the conllitution of the church ^ ^ H '■■ P^ .-.,««!Wri'«».« HISTORY OF AMERICA. t6f of Geneva. The fimplicity of its inftitu- B o o k tions, and ftill more their repugnancy to thofe of the PopiQi church, ^vere fo much admired by all the ftrider reformers, that it was copied, with fome fmall variations* in Scotland, in the Republic of the United Provinces, in the dominions of the Houfe of Brandenburgh, in thofe Of the Eledoc Palatine, and in the churches of the Hugo-* ',.r ;r nots in France. j ,i But in thofe countries where the ftep» of departure from the church of Rome were taken with greater deliberation, s^nd regulated by the wifdom, or policy of the fupjtr^me magiftrate,. the feparation was aoc fo wide. Of all the cefornxed churche&» that of England has deviated ieaft from the ancient inftitutions. Thje violent but ca- pricious fpirit of Henry VIH. who, though he difclain^ed the fupremacy, revered l^e tenets of the Papal fee, checked innovations in dodtdne or worfhip during his xeign« When his fon afcended the throne, an^the Im-di M 4 ~ Protdiant il »■*■■<» < »*-..* . m rilStORt OF AMERICA. BOOK Protcftant religion was eftablifhed by law, the cautious prudence of Archbifhop Cran-' mer moderated the zeal of thofe who had efpouled the new opinionf*. Though the articles to be recognized as the fyftem of national faith were framed conformably to the doArines of Calvin, his notions with refpedl to church government and the mode of worfliip were not adopted. As the hierarchy in England was incorporated with the civil policy of the kingdom, and conftituted a member of the legiflature, archbifhops and bifhops, with all the fub* iordinate ranks of ecclefiailics fubjedt to them, were continued according to ancient ^ ibrm, and with the fame dignity and jurif- ' tdidion. Tht peculiar veftments in which 'the clergy peiformed their facred fundions, bowing at the name of Jefus, kneeling at 'receiving the Sactament of the Lord's Sup* -pir, the fign of the Crofs in baptifm, the vfeof the Ring in marriage, with feveral other rites to which long ufage had accu^ iQID^d the people, and '^hiph time had ren-r HISTORY OF AMERICA. dered venerable, were ftill retained. But B o O J£ though Parliament enjoined the obfervance of thefe ceremonies under very fevcre pe- nalties *, fevertl of the more zealous clergy entertained fcruples with refpeft to the law-» fulnefs of complying -with this injunction ; and the vigilance and'authority of Cranmer and Ridley with difficulty faved their in- fant church froni the difgrace of a fchifm on this account ' ' '" iy.:i^.'n^''J -fiiiiu// 'V-l ;.\,^ h--^ ^ On the acceffion of Mary, the furious i'><>!;gioa« 2cal with which ihe perfecuted all who had fi^^b"' adopted the tenets of the reformers forced '^^«7« many eminent Proteftants, laymen as well as ecclefiaftics, to feek an afylum on the continent. Francfort, Geneva, Bafil, and ' Straiburgh, received them with affedionate hofpitality as fufferers in the caufe of truth, aad the magiftrates permitted them to 2X- femble by themfelves for religious worlhip. The exiles who took up their sefidence in im. • J and 3 Ed\r. VI. .«. |. .*>iii-.;.:iar '''■ '7^' the > t ■ill 17P HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^ BOOK tJic twp former cities modelled t|ieir little congregations according to the ideas of Cal- vin, and, •with a. fpirit natural to men in their fituation, eagerly adopted inftitutiona which appeared to be farther removed from the fuperftitions of Popery than thofe of their own church. They returned to Eng- land as foon as Elizabeth re-ellablifhed the Proteijant religion, not only with more violent antipathy to the opioiojas and prac7 tices of that church by which they had been opprefled, but with a, ftrong attach- ment to thnt mode of worlhip to which they had been for fome years accuftomed. As they were received by their countryr men with the veneration due to confeifors, they pjcerted all the influence derived frocji that opinion, in order to obtain fuch a r^ fprmation in the Englifh ritual as might l)ring it nearer to the ftandard of ,purjLty in foreign churches. Some of the quj?fin's moft confidential minifters were warinly difpofed to co-operate with them in this meafyre. But Elizabeth paid little regard Qpeen Eliza-. beth. ifrnprnrnf^i*^'; HISTORY OF AMERICA. m to the inclinations of the one, or the fen- ^ 9^ ^ timents of the other. Fond of ponip and ceremony, accuftomed, according to the mode of that age, to fiudy religious con* troverfy, and poiTeiling, like her father, fuch confidence in her own underftanding that ihe never doubted her capacity to judgt and decide with refpedt to every point in difpute between contending feds *, "'-?• '■, ."ii" ■»';''>''H|,v,'' :■■;»■*•' •. ,-■(•?> i-^'B^j^sTMi.^ ^J-.-." ^<;i ihe * Of the high idea which Elizabeth entertained with refpe£l to her own fuperior fkill in theology, as well at the haughty tone in which ihe didated to her fub- je£ls what they ought to believe, we have a ftriking pi£^ure in her Ipeech at the clofe of the parliament A.D. 1585.—" One thing I may not overflcip* Re- ligion, the ground on which all other matters ought to take root, and being corrupted, may mar all the tree^ And that there be fome fault-finders with the order of the clergy, which fo may make a flander to myfelf, and to the church, whofe over-ruler God hath made me, whofe negligence cannot be excufed, if any fchifms or errors heretical were fufFercd. Thus much, I mud fay, that fome faults and negligences mud grow an J be, as in all other great charges it happeneth; and what vocation without i All which, if you my lorda of the clergy do not amend, I mean to depole youi . h 'Wi 1> i- ijl HISTORt OF AMERICA. BOOK fhe chofe to aft according to her own ideas, which led her rather to approach nearer to the church of Rome, in the parade of ex- ternal worfhip, than to widen the breach by abolifliing any rite already eftablifhed *. An aQ. of parliament, in the fird year of her reign, rot only required an exad con- formity to the mode of worfhip prefcribed in the fervice book, under moil rigoroua penalties, but empowered the Queen to en- join the obfervance of fuch additional cere- monies as might tend, in her opinion, to Look ye, thereforci well to your charges. This may be amended without rteedlefs or open exclamations. I ana I'uppofed to have many ftudies, but mod philofo- phical. I mufl: yield this to be true, that I fuppofe few (that be not profe/Tors) have read more. And I need not tell yoU;, rat 1 isci not fo (?mple that I under- ftand not, nor fo forgetful that I s: xnember not; and yet, amidft my mmy volumes, I hope God's book hath not been my feldomeft le^ures, in which we find that which by reafon all ought to believe. I fee many over«bold with God Almighty, making tec many fubtle fcannings of his bleiTed will. The prefumption is fo great that I may not fuffer it," fee. D'Ewes's Journal, f • 328. ... I * Neal'ft Hift. of the Puritans, i. 1 38. i^6. ■'- ^^ render ■■t^-» >M we n ■ ^^ ^^* *^ ' HISTORY or AMERICA. «/3, render the public exercifes of devotion more BOOK decent and edifying *. . order to check their progrefs. To the dif- gracc of Chriftians, the facred rights of Confcience and private judgment, as well as the charity and mutual forbearance fuit- able to the mild fpirit of the religion which they profefled, were in that age little underftood* I7« HISTORY OF AMER/CA. ■■■«k .•■, BOOK underftood Not only the idea of toje- ration, but even the word itfelf in the fenfe now affixed to it, was then un- known. , Every church claimed a right to employ the hand of power for the protec- tion of truth and the extirpation of error. The laws of her kingdom armed Elizabeth with ample authority for this purpofe, and fhe war» abundantly difpofed to exercife it with full vigour. Many of the moft emi- ment among the Puritan clergy were de- priveo of their benefices, others were im- prifoned, feveral were fined, and fome put to death. But perfecution, as ufually hap- pens, inflead of extinguiihing, inflamed their zeal to fucu a height, that the jurif^ didion of the ordinary courts of law was deemed infufficient to fupprefs it, and a new tribunal was eftablifhed under the title of the high commijfton for eccUfiqftical affairs^ whofe powers and mode of procedure were hardly lefs odious or lefs hoflile to the principles of juftice than thpfe of the Spa- nifh inquifition. Several attempts were »u = ... made V. tnSTORY Ot AMERICA; inade in the Houfe of Commons to che« thefe arbitrary proceedings, and to m -de- rate the rage of perfecution } but the Queen always impofed filence upon thofe whd prcfurned to deliver any opinion with re- fped to a matter appertaining foiely to hei: prerogative^ in a tone as imperious and arrogant as was ever ufed by Henry VIII, in addreiling his Parliaments ; and fo tame- ly obfequious were the guardians of the people's rightSj that they not only obeyed thofe unconftitutional commands, but con- fented to an aft, by which every p^fon who fhould abfent himfelf from church during. a month was fubjeded to puniih- ment by fine and imprifonment ; iind if after convidion he did not, within three months, renounce his erroneous opinions and conform to the laws, he was then obliged to abjure the realm; but if he either refufed to comply with this, condi* tion, or returned from banifliment, he fhould be put to death as a felon without; benefit of clergy*. , ;• ; ■ ^> \ ? 5EIIZ: c. I. ' •. '^^■''' V'h w • By fff A *' • 3: ''i^ii,■ »f* »»m[i»'ni>«iifi'i •>><'•'*' ^ ^^^< IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ ^ 1.0 I.I 1.25 lU vx IIS lU u lis liii 2.0 I2i2 140 1.8 U ilM tL 6" Photographic Sciences Corporation \ ^v SJ ^\ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716)872-4503 4^ ^ *^^ ' Nv «7t niSrOJLT OF AMERICA. church. *X.^* Bv this iniquitous ftatutc, equally re- g *>■ "^ pugnant to ideas of civil and of religious' ftMAoa ISktxtyt the Puiitaiis were cut off from any f^„^ bope of obtaining either reformation in the *^A« ehurch or indulgence tt> themfelves. Ex- aijpcrated by this rigorous treatment, their Antipathy to the eftabliihed religion in- ereafed, and, with the progrefs natural to violent pailtons, carried them far beyoad what was their original aim. The firft Puritans did not entertain any fcruples with refpeft to the lawfulnefs of £pifcopal go- vernment, and feem to have been very un-* Dialling to withdraw from communion with the church of which they were members. But when they were thrown out of her bofom, and conftrained to hold feparate'af- lemblies for the worfliip of God, their fol- lowers no longer 'riewed a focic^ by which they were o^efled with reverence or af- fedbn. Her government, her difcipline^ her ritual, were examined with minute at- tsfltion. Every error was pointed out, and every defed magnified. The mlore boldly uny teacher inveighed againft the comip- ^ 12 tions •M' HISTORY OF AMERICA* m lion* of the church, he was lifteAed to vdth B OK greater approbation ; and the farther he i., ip^Ii^ urged his diiciples to depart from fuch an impure cpmmunity, the mat «agerly did ^ . they follow him. By degrees, ideas of ecde* ikftical policy, altogether r^ugnant to thofe of the eftabUfhed church, gained ^^ng in the nation. The mipre fober and lejtjrned ; Puritans inclined to tlu^ form which is known by the name of Preibyterian. Such as were more thoroughly pofleffed with the fpirit of innovation, however much they might ^pro ve the equajyity of paftors which that fyftem eftabliihes, reprobated the au- thority which it vefts in various judicato- ries, defcending from one to another in re- gular fubordination, as iifconfiftent with .Chriftian liberty. j ■ i ' ' • These wild notions floated for fome ^imein the minds of the people, and amufed them with many ideal fchemes of eccle- iiaftical policy. At length Robert B]:qwq, Brownifts^ a popiAlar declsdmer in high eftioiation, re- \^^^ N 2 dttced .►>'.'' ^ ■ -^ ■-•: ■>■ » ■ < ' . / .,' itcf HlStORY OF AMERICA.' HOOK duced them to a fyftem, on which he mo- delled his own congregation. He taught^ that' the church of England Was corrupt, and antichriftiani^ Lfs m:inifters not lawfully- ordained, its ordinances and facraments in- valid; and therefore he prohibited his people to hold communion with it in any religious function. He maintained, that a fociety of C^riftians, tiniting together to worfhip Cod, conHituted a chnrch, poiTefTed of complete jfutifdi£tion in the.condud of its own af- fairs, independent Of any other fociety, and unaccountable to any fuperior j that the priefthodd was neither a diftindt order in the church, nor conferred an indelible cha- rader ; but .thaj^ every man qualified to t«aeh mi^t be fet apart for * 't office by the election of the brethren, ..d by im- pofition of their hands ; in like manner, by their authority, he might be difeharged from that fundion, and reduced to the rank of a^ private Ghriftian ; that every petfon when admitted a member of a church ought to make a publie confeffion u , .y. v.*fc.»B MK|P«" >mmm *.]A, HISTORY OF AMERICA. i8i ef his faith, and ^ve evidence of his being ^ o o i( in a ftate of favour with God; and th^t aU ^ ^he afiairs of a church were to-be regulate4 by the djecifion of the majority of its mem- bers*r ' .. - ■ . •Hj This democratical form of governments Brownlftj which aboliflied all diftjn^ion of fapks in JJ-e'in" the, church j and cbnfer|:iqd^n e<}ual j^rtjpn Holland, of po^er on every individral, accorded fo perfedly w^tli the levelling genius of fana- ticifnp^, that it was fondly adopted by many . as a complete model of. Chnflian pplicy. From ^heir founderj^ they were • denomi- nated ..Br^wnifts ; and. ^s their tenets were more ho{tile tothe eftablifhed religion than thofe of other fcparatifts, the fierceft ftorm of pjsrfecution, ^U uppn .their heads.- ^ Many of tlji^m \»rere iinedN or imprifoned, and fomei-rpji^t .;9 death; jand though J3rQV(rn» witl^: a levity of which there are few ex- amples .^iQong enthudafts whofe vanity has been4 roofed by J)eing recognized as keads of a, party, abandoued his d^f9iple$, N 3 conformed 't . MniAiX h- a^A^^^t, iSs HiSTORY O^ AMERldA. .h«£: iobit conformed to the edabliihed religion, and accepted of a benefice in the church, the fe^ iiot only fubfifted, but continued to ipreid, d^dsdly among peiffons ift the smddle and lower ranks of life. But as all their mptions were carefully watched, both by the eccledaftical and ci^t courts, which, as often ag they were detedled, punifKed them with the utmoft rigour, a body of therai, wedry Of living iA a ftate of ;/ conthiual danger and alarm,, fled tb Hol- land, isA fettled in Leyden, under the .^txtt of Mr. John Robinfon, their pafton tliere they refided jfor feveral ye^ un-> molefted a;nd obfcure. But many of their ^ l^ed members dying, aiid fome of the 3 younger marrying into 13ute!t iatailies, while their church received no increafe^ either by recruits from Eiigfand, or by ptofelytes gained in the country, they be* gaii to be afraid, that all their high at^ tainments in fphritua) knowledge would be Joftj and that perfed fibafk of policy^ which they had cre^ed, would be diffolved and , > ■• » r) and >, the HISTORY OF AMimCA. and configned to obUvion, if they renudiv- > ^ ed longer in a ftrange land. its X. Debply afFeded with the profpeffc of ^J^°^* an event, which to them appeared fatal thence t« to the interefts of truth, they thought "^**' themfeives called, in order to prevent it* to remove to fome other place, where they •might profefs and props^ate their opinions with greater fuccefs. America, in which their countrymen were at that time in- ' tent on planting colonies, prefented Itielf . to their thoughts. They flattered them- C ielves with hope! of being permitted, in that remote region, to follow their own Ideas in religion without difttirbadce. The dangers and hardships to which all former emigrants to America had been expofed, <^ not deter them. "They were well weaned» (according to their own defcription) from the delicate nulk of their ixiother country, and enured to the difficulties of a fbrani^ land. They were knit together in a ftrid and facred band, by virtue of which they N4 held ■'m-^ ,l»4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. , / *»f«-- k ^O K heldthemfclvds obliged to take care of the good of each other, and of the whole. It was not with them, as with other men» i'^ 'Whom fmall things could difcourage, or fmall difcoQtents caufe towifh themfelves 1618. at home again*,** The firft obje'dt of their ,folicitude was to fecure the free exercifeof 'their religion. For this purpofe they ajv- ^plied to the king; and though James re- fufed to give them any explicit ailurante of -toleration,, they feem to have obtained firom ':hin1 ifome patoipiib- of jhis:.conniva(ice, 99 -long alihcyxominlied. to demeart chem^ xfclyiBa : quietly. ; . , So eager ^i^ere they tp. ^fi- fififfipilQsk, their favourite Ich^me^ th^t, rely- ing o;i:thi$'prccariou$ Cec^rityj. the.y begap ilO' pegpfii^e with the. "Virginian coig^pany ^r ia ; tf»^ of land vfUhm 'the limits, .of ,^eir paJi^. This thjey ^fily; pro^ur^d iffpm ^ ^susifityu^tfiroufi pf efi^puraging fjiU grat^A: to. a ^vfift. country* ;fif wjbjph they ^ Jl^ hithertp occupied^only a few. fpots. , '.'♦ Hutcbinfon^s HtH. of Maltach. p.4. A^Tfi^ til b V HISTOlfY OF AMERICA. iS5 \f the It |men, or After the utmoft cfFortSi^their iprepara^ book tions fell far fliort of what was requifite for ^ ^\^ beginning the fettlement of a new coloiijr. J^*^'^ A hundred and twenty perfons failed from Firftat. Englahd in . a . fmgle ihi^ on this arduous ^^e in undertaking. The place of their deftina- JJj^^ tion was Hudfon*s Rivera. where they in- Bay. tended to fettle; but their captain having been bribed^ as is faidy by the Dutch, who had then formed a fcheme which they afr terwards accompUlhed of planting a colony there, carried them fo far towards the ' , north,.that the firft land in America which they made was Cape-Cod. They were Nov. lu now, not only beyond the precindls of the territory which had been granted, fo them, but beyond thofe of (he company frona which they derived their right. The fea- fo^, hpwever, was fo far advanced, and iicknefs r^ed fo violently among men un*-. ^pcifftoni^d to the h^rdfhips of a long voyage, that it became neceflary to take up their abode there. After exploring the ^paft, they chofe for their ftation, a place now ^ I iZ6 Ntw Fly. itJUnt HISTOUT OF AMERICA. now belonging to the province* of MafTa- ofauTett Bay, to which they gave the naniie of New Plymouth, probably out of refpeCt to that Company, within whofe jurifdifkion tiiey now found thcmfiBlTe8> fituated *, .. v • ill- No feafon could be more unfavout^He to fettlement than that in which the colony landed. The winter, which, from the pre- dominance of cold in America, is rigorous to a degree unknown in parallel latitudes of our hemifphere, was already fet in ; and they were flenderly provided with what I ' . •'<>¥■ waft requifite for comfortable fubfiftance, under a climate confiderably more fevere than that for which they had made ptepz^ ration. Above one half of them was cut ' off before the return of fpring, by difeafes^, or by famine : the furvivors, inftead of hav- kig leifure to attend to the fupply of their own wants, were compelled to take arms * Hubard's Pref, State, p. 3. Cotton's Magnalia, ip. 7. Hutchinfon^s ifift; p. 3, 3cc. agaioft Uffa- naiAe olony eprc- orous tudes rand what ance, Jvere epai- cut leir ms Jia, kft • ag^aiAft th« ftvagett in tlidr n^ghbourhood Hapfifly fortheEngK(h» a pttftUenCf,Whkh fA^ itk America th« yenr before they landed, had fwept ofTfo ptai a aufiibtt: «f the ft^tivtis, that they w^e q\iick)y te* pulfed and humbled. Itlie privilege of profeiBng theit own opinions, and of being governed by laws of their own framingi afforded confolation to the colonics amidft all their dangers and l^dihips. The con* ftitution o{ their church was the fame with that which they had eftabliflied in Hol- land. , 7*heir fyftem of civil government was founded on thofe ideas of the natural equality among men, to which their eccle- fiaftical policy had accuftomed them. Every free man, who was a member of the church^ was admitted* into the fupremo legiflative body* The laws of England were adopted as the baits of theur jm'iii> prudence, though with fome diveriity >n the puxufbments infli^ed upon crimes, bor- rowed from the Mofaii; 'inftitutions. The executive pQWfT wds veile4 in a governor 1«* ment. .^^ -*»■ //■•t tl i : y (/ n Commu xAty of goodi. '^ 4qd , fofoe iafllftaflta^ ; who wei:^ eUAed ; an- n\i9liy,hy thff mf mj^s ofihe UgilWiv* af- fembly *. So fiu: Uieiv inftitutions appear to b^ founded onr-thfi ordiinary miu^ims of hjumaft' prudence. Buc it was. a f&vourite P|)inion with ,a\\ the, enthpfiafta , of that 9ge, that the icriptuces contained li com? plete fyftem,' liotjpjily^of. fpiritaat. inilrjuc- cibh, but ofr civil wlidom and polity ; and without: attending, o^o the pepiiluff ^pi/cnm- AanceiB or fituation; of tj^e people, whofe hiftory is thet^ fcQccard«d,vth?ydpfien de-» , duced general rules for th^ir owri condudj from what happened; among men inta very diiferent ftate. T^ndfer^thei influence of this wild notion^ the:colonift»" of « New Ply** mouth, in< imitation of .the p^imiti^^e Chrif* tians,. threw; all thei^ pifopjerty ioto a coijti- mon ftock, and^like'iheqib^rf^ of one fat inily, carried on every woirk of induftry by their joint labour fot:;.publif:^ JiehoqC J. But, !l t-4i * Chalmers' Annals, p, .87. t Ibid' p* 89. Doii^Ins'sSummaiy>t. p.^76, *i however I , HI8T0RT OT AMERICA:. ^^9k however thig refolution might evidence the B o o K fincerity of their faith, it retarded the pro- ui^^ ' -iu grefs of their colony. The fame fatal effects ^ flowed from this community of goods, and of labour, which had formerly been ex- perienced in Virginia-; 'and it foon became This in- neceflary to relinquifh what was too re- JU^fJf'to fined to be capable of being accommo- thecoio- dated to the affairs of men. But though they built a fmall town, and furrounded it with fuch a fence as afforded fufHcient fecurity agaiafl the aflaults of Indians, the foil arqund it was fo. poor, their religious principles were fo unfocial, and the fuppjy fent them by thsir friends lb fcanty, that at the end of ten years, the number of > people belonging to the fettlement did not f exceed three hundred *. During fome years they appear not to have acquired right by ^y legal conveyance to the territory which ' they ^ad occupied. At length they ob- 1630. tained a grant of property from the coun- • cil of the New Plymouth company, but * Chalnaer/ Annals, p. 97. were -li rjsaj-nssuii-Kv. 1 ./ t^ This co- lony not incorpo- rated by charter. r^.i -•'' ■■ HISTORY OF AM£RICA. were never incorporated as a body politic by royal charter *. Unlike all the other fettlements in America, this colony muft be coniidered merely as a voluntary aiTocia- tion, held together by the tacit confent of its members to recognize the authority of laws, and fubmit to the jurifdidiion of magiftrates framed and chofen by them- feives. In this ftate it remained an in- dependent, but feeble community, until it was united to its more powerful neighbour, the colony of MaiTachufets Bay, the ori- gin and progrefs of which I now proceed to. relate. }/. Grand Th £ original company of Plymouth h^v- Plymouth ing doive nothing efTeftual towards efta* gpomt- bijfljjng any permanent fettlement in Ame- rica, James I. in the year one thoufandYix : hundred and twenty, iflued a new charter f< to the Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Buckingham, and feveral other perfons of ■■.^i. ' . • . ..s\: * Chalmers' Annalsr P' 97* 1 07t V ' -. t ^ ,--:,. ,^- .,^ diftin^ion A, HISTORY OT AMERICA. f9t diftindlion in hit court, by which he con- book vcyed to them a right to a territory in America, dill more extenfive than what had been granted to the former patentees, incorporating them as a body politic, in order to plant colonies there, with powers and jurifdiftion fimilar to thofe contained in his charters to the companies of South and North Virginia. This fociety was diftinguiihed by the name of the Grand Council of Plymouth for planting and go- verning New England, What confidera- tions of public utility could induce the king to commit fuch an undertaking to perfons apparently fo ill qualified for con- ducing it, or what profpeC of private ad- vantage prompted them to engage in it, the information we receive from contem- porary writers does not enable us to de- termine. Certain it is, that the expe^ta^ tions of both were difappointed, and after many fchemes and arrangements, all the attempts of the new aiTociates towards co- lonization proved unfucffefeful. ,^^ j^} o-^ v-i^ ■' ^ '' ■ "■ ' New »-*-»>'.->. >I92 HISTORY OF AMERICA* i^ ; BOOK New England muft have remained iiti* < -I, mj occupied, if the fame caufes which occa- a "eSfco^fipiied the emigration of the Brownilh had 'ony* not continued to operate. Notwithftanding : , the violent perfecution to which Puritans of every denomination were ftill expofed^ thar number and zeal daily increafed. As they now defpaired of obtaining in theit own country any relaxation of the peiial ftatutes enaded againft their fe£t, many began to turn their eyes towards fome ^ other place of retreat, where they might profefs their own opinions with impunity;** From the tranquillity which their brethren had hitherto enjoyed in New Plymouth, they hoped to find this defired afylum in New England; and by the adivity of Mrs Jj^' White, a non>conlbrmift minifter at Dor^ chefter, an aflbciation was formed by feve-*** ral gentlemen who had imbibed Poritani-i- cal notions, in order to condud a colony thither. They purchafed from the coun^ ^ cil of Plymouth all the temtory, extend- ing in length from three miles north of the li -.* ^s- V } M :-, ■^«i«^VM.^ M HISTORY b^ AMERICA. t0i the River Merrimack, to three miles fouth book of Charles River, and in breadth, from the %... ^^^ Atlantic to the Southern Ocean* Zealous Mari'Jy. as thefe proprietors were to accompUfh their ^favourite purpofe, they quickly per-^ ceived their own inability to attempt the population of fuch an immenfe region, and deemed it neceflary to call in the aid of more opulent co-partners *» - ^^^ Of thefe they found. Without difUculty^ , - ,1. a fufficietit number, chiefly in the capital^ ^' * ^ and among perfotis in the commercial and ' - other indbflrious walks of life, who had openly joined the fedt of the Puritans, or fecretly fsivoured their opinions. Thefe new adventurers, With the caution natural to men converfant in budnefs, entertained doubts concerning the propriety of found- ing a colony on the, bads of a grant front a private company of patentees, who might ponvey a right of property in the foil, but could not .confer jurifdidion, or the privi- ...} • Neal*8 Hift. of New Engl, i, p. 122. P . lege r- 'i- . ' ■ *«, / V >94 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK lege of governing that fociety whicli they had in contemplation to eftablifh. As it was only from royal authority that fuch powers could be derived, they applied for thefe; and Charles granted their requeft, with a facility which appears aftonifhing, when we confider the principles and views of the men who were fuitors for the fa- vour. i- if Charter to TiME has been confidered as the parent the new ^ ^ * colony of of political wifdom, but its inftrudions are icts Bay. communicated Howly. Although the- ex- perience of above twenty years might have taught the Englifh the impropriety of com- mitting the government of fettlements in America, to excluiive corporations refident in Europe, neither the king nor his fub- ^ jejfls had profited fo much by what palTed before their eyes, as to have extended their ideas beyond thofe adopted by James, in his firft attempts towards cclonization. The charter of Charles I. to the adven- turers aflbciated for planting the province : ,..^,^.: . . _ ^ , • of }'-^-.. HISTORY OF ARTERICA. »95 m of Maffachufets Bay, was perfedly fimilar BOOK to thofe granted by his father to the two Virginian companies and to the council of Plymouth. The new adventurers were in- corporated as a body politic, and their right to the territory, which they had purchafed from the council of Plymouth, being con- firmed by the king, they were empowered to difpofe of the lands, and to govern the people who fhould fettle upon them. The firft governor of the company, and his afliftants, were named by the crown : the right of eleding their fucceflbrs was vefted in the members of. the corporation. The executive power was committed to the go- vernor and afliftants ; that of legiflation to the body of proprietors, who might make ftatutes and orders for the good of the com- munity, not inconfiflent with the laws of England, and inforce the obfervance of ^;them, according to the courfe of other cor- porations within the realm. Their lands were to be held by the fame liberal tenure with thofe granted to the Virginian com- o 2 pany. m i MiHnnm iii »m :.p-'..i B HISTORY OF AMERICA. O OK pany. They obtained the fame temporary exemption from internal taxes, and from duties on goods exported or imported ; and notwithftanding their migration to Ame- rica, they and their defcendants were de- clared to be entitled to all the rights of na- tural-born fubjedts *. •" "'*- . > , ■ # - r - ■■ . , ■ - - , t .1-^ ^..'^ ■ . ' ■«'■ ' ^•;'The maniieft objed of this charter was to confer on the adventurers who under- took to people the territory on Maffachu- fets Bay, all the cdrporate rights poffeffed by the council of Plymouth, from which they had purchafed it, and to form them into a public body, refembling other great trading companies, which the fpirit of mo- narchy had at that dme multiplied In the kingdom. The king feems not to have fore- feen, or to have fufpeded, the fecret in- tentipns of thofe who projected the mea- fure ; for fo far was he from alluring emi- grants, by any hopes of iridulgencc with --,Ur::-t',.-,,^,,!. m * Hutclunibn's GoUefl. of Orig. l^apers, p. i, 8cc, f"-' — HISTORY Q? AMERICA. 197 forary from I, and refpeni a prince ^ phiirles's character and principles. "•^ * 3 fteadiljr iDU 19^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. •3.1 .'li r-i; BOOK fteaciily in view. Soon after their powers ' / _f to eftablifh a colony were rendered com- *Hcnwof P^^'® ^y ^^^ "^^y*^ charter, they fitted out this char- five ftiips for Ncw England; on board of which etnbarked upwards of jthree hundred pafTengers, with a view of fettling there. Thefe were moftly zealous Puritans, whofe chief inducement to relinquifh their native land was the hope of enjoying religious li- berty, in a country far removed from the feat of government and the oppreflion of ecclefiaftical courts. Some eminent non- conformifl minifters accompanied them as thqir fpiritual inftru^ors. On their arri- val in New England, they found the wretched remainder of a fmall body of June 29. emigraats, who had left England the pre- ceding year, under the condud of Endi- cott, a deep enthufiaft, whom, prior to their incorporation by the royal charter, the sS- fociates .had' appointed deputy governor. They' were fettled at a place called by the Indians Naunekeag, s^nd to which Endicott, with the fond affe^ation of fanatics of that yfibiafl . ■■■_ age , V HISTORY OF AMERICA. 199 • - I - ■ age to employ the language and appella- BOOK tions of fcripture in the affairs of common life, had given the name of Salem. The emigrants under Endicott, and fuch Begin as now joined them, coincided perfedWy in biiiJingV religious principles. They were Puritans ^**"'^**' of the ftrifteft form ; and to men of this charad:er the inftitution of a church was naturally of fuch interefting concern as to take place of every other objed. In this firft tranfadion, they difplayed, at once, the extent of the reformation at which they aimed. Without regard to the fentiments of that monarch under the fanftion of whofe authority they fettled in America, and from whom they deriyed right to a€t as a body . politic, and in contempt of the laws of a England, with which the charter required ^ that none of their a£ts or ordinances (hould , be inconfiftent, they adopted in their infant church that form of policy which has fince been diftinguifhed by the name of Inde- pendent. They united together in religious Aug. 6, t^V; ■ i'-r '■ f.: '..(ii ■':Mfc men II ifrmi !/■-■ • 2o6 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK men >vho form a fociety, to adopt what , mode of government, and to exa£t what laws they deemed mod conducive to gene- ral felicity. Upon this principle of being entitled to judge and to decide for them- felves, they eftablifhed their church in Sa- lem, without regard to the inititutions of the church of England, of which the char- ter fuppofed them to be members, and bound of confequence to conformity with its ritual. Suitably to the fame ideas, we ihail obferve them framing all their future plans of civil and eccleiiailical policy. The king, though abundantly vigilant in ob- ferving and checking (lighter encroach- ments on his prerogative, was either fo much occupied at that time with other cares occafioned by his fatal breach with his pac- liament, that he could not attend to the pro- ceedings of the company ; or he was fo much pleafed with the profpedt of remove ing a body of turbulent fubjeds to a dif- tant country, where they might be ufe- ful, and could not prove dangeroiTs, that t^ife '' \- , . he I ii t iim mi,»^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. 207 extended. 1630. he was difpofed to connive at the irregu- book larity of a meafure which facilitated their departure. ,,, ., vvWiTHOUT interruption from the crown, Colony the adventurers proceeded to carry their fchcme into execution. In a general court, John Winthrop was appointed governor, and Thomas Dudley deputy-governor, and eighteen afliftants were chofen ; in whom, together with the body of freemen who ihould fettle in New England, were veiled all the corporate rights of the company. With fuch Zealand adivity did they pre- pare for emigration, that in the courfe of the enfuing year ieventeen fhips failed for New England, and aboard thefe above fifteen hundred perfons, among whom were feveral of refpedable families, and in eafy circumftances. On their arrival in New England, many were fo ill-fatisfied with the fituation of Salem, that they explored the country in queft of fome better ftation ; ;ind fettling in different places around the )i m ;^*iff/«iA, .-s- Bay, ia> .W •ym' 2o8 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK Bay, according to their various fancies, < y mj laid the foundations of Bofton, Charlef- town, Dorchefter, Roxborough, and other towns, which have fince become confider- ■ ? able in the province. In €ach of thefe a church was eftabliflied on the fame model with that of Salem. This, together with tlie care of making provifion for their fub- fiftence during winter, occupied them en- tirely during fome months. Btit in the pa. 19. lirft general court, their difpofition to con- fider themfelves as members of an inde- pendent fociety, unconfined by the regula- tions in their charter, began to appear. The eledion of the governor and deputy governor, the appointment of all other of- ficers, and even the power of making laws, all which were granted by the charter to the freemen, were taken from them, and veiled in the council of affiftants. But the ariftocratical fpirit of this refolution did not accord with the ideas of equality prevalent among the people, who had been fixrprifed 1^3 1* into an approbation of it. Next year the , 'i-: *7 ^ freemen^ v\ -' I .. ii mmi)mM*SM'^!'!:V. HISTORY OF AMERICA. ao9 freemen, whofe numbers had been greatly BOOK augmented by the admiflion of new mem- ., ' , , bers, r^fumed their former rights. BtJT, at the fame time, they ventured to None but ' ' , ' members deviate from the charter in a matter of of the greater moment, which deeply afFeded all admUtei the future operations of the colony, and "'g„"' contributed greatly to form that peculiar character by which the people of New Eng- ,.; . ,'^ land have been diilinguifhed. A law was , paflfed, declaring that none (hall hereafter be admitted freemen, or be entitled to any (hare in the government, or be capable of being chofen magiftrates, or even of ferving as jurymen, but fiKh as have been received into the church as members,** By this re- - folution, every perfon who did not hold the favourite opinions concerning the doc- trines of religion, the difcipline of the church, or the rites of worfhip, was at once call but of the fociety, and ftripped of all the privileges of a citizen. An lincon- .* ' » Hutchinfon, p. 26. Chalmers, p. 153. P ;, trolled 'I ) I M $tlQ HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK tfolled power of approving or reje^ing the t, ^' J claims of thofe who applied for admiilion into communion with the church being vefted in the miniflers and leading men of .r'! each congregation, the moil valuable of all ,^ Z' civil rights was made to depend on their deciiion with refpe£t to qualifications purely Pernidoas ecclefiaftical. As in examining into thefe, quence* they proceeded not by any known or efta- enkdon*' ^^^^^^^ rules, but exercifed a difcretionary judgment, the clergy rofe gradually to a . degree of influence and authority, from which the levelling fpirit of the inde- pendent church policy was calculated to .. exclude them. As by their determination the political condition of every citizen was fixed, all paid court to men poflelTed of fucli an important power, by afluming thofe auftere and fandimonious manners which were known to be the moft certain recommendation to their favour. In con- fequence of this afcendant, which was ac- quired chiefly by the wildeft enthufiafts among the clergy,, their notious became a /^ ' ftandard ■I V,v HISTORY OF AMERICA. 1X1 ftandard to which all ftudied to conform, BOOK X. and the fingularities chara£teriftic of the v— ,,L«# Puritans in that age increafed, of which many remarkable inftances will occur in the courfe of our narrative. Though a confiderable number of plant- indianter- ers was cut off by the difeafes prevalent in Jep"pJ_ a country fo imperfedly cultivated by its '"'jl ^y original inhabitants as to be dill almofl one pox. continued foreft, and feveral, difcouraged by the hardfliips to which they were ex- pofed, returned to England, recruits fi.Hi- 1632. cient to replace them arrived. At the fame time the fmall-pox, a diflemper fatal to the people of the, New World, fwept away fuch multitudes of the natives that fome whole tribes difappeared ; and Heaven, by thus evacuating a country in which the Englifli might fettle without moleftation, was fuppofed to declare its intention that they fhould occupy it. •'—■(■■■-■.• As feveral of the vacant Indian ftatlons Settle- werc well chofen, fuch was the eagernefs the coio- P 2 of I 'I i .; -■s, ^ ^v.^^ 'V"i^^!>''-' i( f ai2 HISTORY OF AMERICA. nills ex- tended. i6j4. Freemen meet by B O o K of the EnglilK to take poffeflion of them, that their fettlements became more nume- rous and more widely difperfed than fuited the condition of an infant colony. This led to an innovation which totally altered the nature and conftitution of the govern- ment. When a general court was to be held in the year one thoufand fix hundred reprcfen- and thirty-four» the freemen, inftead of tauves. ... attending it in perfon as the charter pre- fcribed, eleded reprefentatives in their dif- ferent diftridts, authorizing them to appear - in their name, with full power to deliberate and decide concerning every point that fell under the cognizance of the general court. Whether this meafure was fuggefted by - fome defigning leaders, or whether they found it prudent to footh the people by , complying with their inclination, is un- certain. The reprefentatives were admitted ; and confidered themfelves, in conjundlion with the governor and affiftants, as the fiipreme legillative aflembly of the colony. In aflertion of their own rights they en- abled, that no law fliould be pafled, no tax ' '. fhoiild ^.J ;■> ... .^h ' ^ !>j M > S ' xi i < ''< ' ' < History of America. ai^ i^ouldbeimpofedtandnopubljcofficerfhould B o o K be appointed, but in the general aflembly. \ .^'i -t The pretexts for making this new arrange- po*|Jj"a°' ment were plaufible. The number of free- Hberty af- men was greatly increafed ; many refided at the affem- a diftance from the places where the fu- ^^y* preme courts were held; perfonai attend- ance became inconvenient; the form of go- " vcrnment in their own country had rendered .. familiar the idea of delegating their rights* and committing the guardian(hip of their liberties, to reprefentatives of their own choice, and the experience of ages had taught them that this important truft might with fafety be lodged in their hands. Thus did the company of Maflachufets Bay, in fefs than fix years from its incorporation by the king, mature and perfect a fcheme which, I have already obferved, fome of its more artful and afpirihg leaders feem to have had in view when the aflbciation for peopling New England was firft formed. The colony muft henceforward be confi-, dercd, not as a corporation whofe powers P 3 ^ - were •■' •... M B 114 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK were defined, and its mode of procedure •^--' _j regulated by its charter, but as a focicty. It. '...„ which, having acquired or aiTumed politi- cal liberty, had, by its own voluntary deed, adopted a conilitution or government fram* ed on the model of that in England. « ' '. ( Spirit of But however liberal their fyftem ol civil tncrearei. poJicy might be, as their religious opi- nions were no longer under any reftraint of authority, the fpirit of fanaticifm con- tinued to fpread, and became every, day wilder and more^ extravagant. Williams, a minifter of Salem, in high eflimation, having conceived an antipathy to the crofs of St. George in the ftandard of England, declaimed againft it with fo much vehe- mence as a relic of fuperilition and idol- atry which ought not to be retained ariiong^ a people fo pure and fandified, that Endi- cot, one of the members of the court of oiliftants, in a tranfport of zeal, publicly ^ut out the crofs from the enfign difplayed before the governor's gate. This frivolous ': r matter HISTORY OF AMERICA. 415 pdure ticty, loliti- lecd, rram- /-' matter intcrefted and divided the colo- BOOK X. ny. Some of the militia fcrupled to w/^idj follow colours in which there was a crofs, left they ihould do honour to an idol: others refufed to ferve under a mutilated banner, left they fhould be fufpedted of having renounced their allegiance to the crown of England* After a long contro- Terfy, carried on by both parties with that heat and zeal which in trivial difputes fup-> ply the want of argument, the conteft was terminated by a compromife. The crofs Was retained in the enfigns of forts and (hips, but erafed from the colours of the ' militia. Williams, oa account of this, as well as of fome other doctrines deemed unfound, was banifhed out of the colony *. The profperous ftate of New England NewfeU tvas now fo highly extolled, and the fimple * "'* frame of its ecclefiaftic policy was fo much . admired by all whofe affeiSlions were * Ncal's Hift. of N. Eng. p. 140, &c. Hutch- Infon, p. 37. Chalmers, p. 156. P4 eftranged r^'i IM --im fm mf^WKfjUfmK' f , li6 HISTORY OF AMERICA.* BOOK cftranged from the church of England, that crowds of new fettlers flocked thither. 1635. Among thefe were two perfons, whofe names have been rendered memorable by the appearance which they afterwards made l)n a more confpicuous theatre i one was Hugh Peters, the enthufiailic and intriguing chaplain of Oliver Cromwell j the other Mr. Henry Vane, fon of Sir Henry Vane, a privy counfelldr, high in office, and of great credit with the king; a young man of a noble family, animated with fuch zeal for pure religion and fuch love of liberty as induced him to relinquifh all his hopes in England, and to fettle in a colony hi- therto no farther advanced in improvement than barely to afford fubfiftence to its members, was received with the fondeft admiration. His mortified appearance, his demure look, and rigid manners, carried even beyond the flandard of precifenefs in that fociety which he joined, feemed to in- dicate a man of high fpiritual attainments, while his abilities and addrefs in bufmefs r \ ^3 • pointed *t HISTORY OF AMERICA. 217 Id, Jr. 1636. pointed him out as worthy of the highcft B 00 K (Nation in the community. With univerfal confent, and high expectations of advan- tage from his adminiftration, he was elcAed governor in the year fuhfequent to his ar- rival. But as the affairs of an infant colony afforded not objeds adequute to the talents of Vane, his bufy pragmatical fpirit occu- pied itfelf with theological fubtilties and {peculations unworthy of his attention. Thefe were excited by a woman, whofe reveries produced fuch effedts both within the colony and beyond its precincts, that, frivolous as they may now appear, they muft be mentioned as an occurrence Of Jmportanpe in its hiftory. ''^yi'^l^ v '^i ^^'^"^ It was the cuftom at that time in New Antino- England, among the chief men in every "**° cqngregation, to meet once a week, in order to repeat the fermons which they had heard, and to hold religious confer- ence with refpeft to the dotftrine contained in them, Mrs. Hutchinfon, whofe hufband r ; was ^ ' ^«,-ji^. -•*^„-4^,._ I*'HI|IP(|„(P*||-^ 2tt HISTORY OF AMIiRICA. BOOK was among the mod refpeftable membert ^' of the colony, regretting that perfons of her fex were excluded from the benefit o^ thofe meetings, aflembled ftatcdly .in her houfe a number of women, who employed themfelves in pious excrcifes fimilar to thofe of the men. At firft (he fatisficd herfelf with repeating what fhe could recoiled o^ the difcourfes delivered by their teachers* 3he began afterwards to add illuiirations^ and at length proceeded to cenfure fome of the clergy as unfound, and to vent opi"* pions and fancies of her own. Thefe were all founded on the fyflem which is deno<« mlnated Antinomian by divines, and tinged with the deeped enthufiafm. She taught, that fandtity of life is no evidence of jufti- £cation, or of a date of favour with God j ' and that fuch as inculcated the necedity of mamfeding the reality of our faith by obe- dience, preached only a covenant of works : fhe contended that the fpirit of God dwell; perfonally in good men, and by inward revelations and impreifions they received y^: HISTORY OF AMERICA, tip !>«• Theirdoc- the fulleft difcoverics of the divine will B o K The fluency and confidence with which flic delivered thefe notions gained her many admirers and profelytes, not only among the vulgar, but among the principal inhsH bitants. The whole colony was interefted and agitated. Vane, whofe fagacity and acutenei« Teemed to forfake him whenever they were turned towards religion, efpoufed and defended her wildeil tenets. Many conferences were held, days of failing andtmcscon- humiliation were appointed, a general lynod t,y a gene, was called, and, after diflenflons fo violent "^ ^^^°^' 48 threatened the diflblution of the colo- ny, Mrs. Hutchinfon's opinions were con- demned as erroneous, and flie herfelf ba-* niftied. Several of her difciples withdrew from the province of their own accord* Vane quitted America in difguft, unlament- ed even by thofe who had lately admired him J fome of whom now regarded him as a mere vifionary, and others as one of thofe dark turbulent fpirits doomed to : .' ' ■ embroil I,; I '■■"^ww *'? f- ' VI i Mfi~- m * / 9»m» " i •■'r S20 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK embroil every fociety into which they enter*. / «».*•'•■»■ y.^«-»-^_*v's »' i:^..^ • ^-t-^ «,r ''A Y«:-t ^45 I'Si^i^yil-^ The fec- taries fet' However much thefe theological con- rie"fnp"o- ^^^ might difquiet the colony of Mafla- •ndRhod ^^^^^'^^^ Bay, they contributed to the more ifland. fpeedy population of America. When Williams was banifhed from Salem in the year one thoufand fix hundred and thirty- '•;s?-V four, fuch was the attachment of his hearers .tt09*ik-. to a pallor whofe piety they revered, that a good number of them voluntarily accom- panied him in his exile. They diredled their march towards the fouth ; and having purchafed from the natives a condderable traft of land, to which Williams gave the name of Providence, they fettled there. They were joined foon after by fome of thofe to whom the proceedings againfl: Mrs. Hutchinfon gave difguft ; and by a tranfadion with the Indians they obtained * Mather, book vii. c. 3, Hutchinfon, p. 53. 7^* ^cal^ |). I. 144. 1^5, &c. Chalmers, p. 163. ' a ngat u'^yt, si-^' r .■■^1*' • HISTORY OF AMERICA. 221 a right to a fertile ifland in Naraganfet Bay, BOOK which acquired the name of Rhode Ifland. • -y'^ Williams remained among them upwards of forty years, refpeded as the father and the guide of the colony which he had planted. His fpirit differed from that of the Puritans in Maffachufets j it was mild Their mo- and tolerating ; and having ventured him- felf to rejedit eftablifhed opinions, he endea- 1 voured to fecure the fame liberty to other men, by maintaining, that the exercife of private judgment was a natural and facred right; that the civil magiftrate has no com- pulfive jurifdidion in the concerns of re- ligion ; that the punifhment of any perfon on account of his opinions, was an en- croachment on confcieuce, and an aft of perfecution *. Thefe humane principles he inililled into his followers ; and all who ielt or dreaded oppreflion in other fettle- ments, reforted to a community in which univerfal toleration was known to be a \ -i -=: • Neal's Hift. of N. Eng. p. 141. • > , ,/.,.; funda- 1 ^:it;..o m' If t 221 HISTORY OF AMERICA. /.» BOOK fundamental maxim. In the plantations ■i .' I. _t of Providence and Rhode Ifland, political union was eftablifhed by voluntary aflb- ciation, and the equality of condition amon^ the members, as well as their religious opi- nions ; their form of government was pure- • t? ly democratical, the fupreme power being lodged in the freemen perfonally aiTem- bled. In this ftate they remained until they were incorporated by charter *, Colony of To fimilar caufes the colony of Con- %\fn, ' nefticut is indebted for its origin. The rivalfliip between Mr. Cotton and Mr. Hooker, two favourite miniftcrs in the fet-. tlement of Maflachufets Bay, difpofed the latter, who was leaft fuccefsful in this eoli- th for fame and power, to wifh for fome fettlement at a diftance from a competitor by whom his reputation was eclipfed. A good number of thofe who had imbibed \' Mrs. Hutchinfon's notions, and were of-. • Hutch'mfon, p. 38. Neal, ii. 142. Dough, Sum. ii. p. 76, &c. Chalmers, ch. ii. 7 feaded ^ -t- ■,'■■ History of America. 2^3 fended at fuch as combated them, offered to BOOK accompany him. Having employed pro- '^• per perfons to explore the country, they pitched upon the weft fide of the great river Connefticut as the moft inviting fta- tion ; and in the year one thoufand fix hundred and thirty-iix, about an hundred perfons, with their wives and families, after a fatiguing march of many days through . woods and fwamps.> arrived there, and laid the foundation of the towns of Hartford, Springfield, and Weatherfield. This fettle- ment was attended with peculiar irregu- larities. Part of the diftrid: now occupied lay beyond the limits of the territory grant- ed to the colony of Maffachufets Bay, and yet the emigrants took a conimiffion from the governor and court of afliftants, em- powering them to exercife jurifdidion in that country. The Dutch from Manha- dos or New York, having difcovered the river Connedicut, and eftablifhed fome trading houfes upon it, had acquired all the right that prior pofTeffion confers. Lord Sat wmm'^ aa4 HISTORY OF AMERICA. Say and Sele and Lord Brook, the heads of two illuftrious families, were fo much alarm- ed at the arbitrary meafures of Charles L both in his civil and ecclefiaftical admi- niftration, that they took a relblution, not unbecoming young men of noble birth and liberal fentiments, of retiring to the New World, in order to enjoy fuch a form of religion as they approved of, and thofe liberties which they deemed elTential to the well-being of fociety. They, too, fixed on the banks of the Connedicut as their place of fettlement, and had taken poiTefTion, by building a fort at the mouth of the river, which, from their united names, was called Say Brook. The emigrants from Mafla- chufets, without regarding either the de- feds in their own right or the pretenfions of other claimants, kept poifeilion, and proceeded with vigour to clear and culti- vate the country. By degrees they got rid of every competitor. The Dutch, recently fettled in America, and too feeble to engage in a war, peaceably withdrew from Gon- nedicut. yw,. HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^2$ fi^. nefticut. Lord Say and Scle and Lord " ^® '^ Brook made over to the colony whatever c ■^ ' ■■ ^ title they might have to any lands in that region. Society was eftablifhed by a vo- luntary compa ■I 't' ^ ■•*i;v3iAi-*a£i^^-,:ife. ... ~* ' ' 1 TWwij i i t n * ' «'■ .J fta6 HISTORT OF AMERICA. 30 o K it$ grant amoftg different perfons: of thefe only Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain Mafon feem to have had any ferious inten« tion to occupy the lands allotted to them. Their efforts to accompliih this were meri- torious and perfevering, but unfuccefsfl^ The expence of fettling colonies in an un- cultivated country mufl neceifarily be great and immediate ; the profpedt of a return is often uncertain and always remote. The funds of two private adventurers were not adequate to fuch an undertaking. Nor did the planters whom they fent out pofTefs that principle of enthufiafm, which animated their neighbours of Maflachufets with vi- gour, to ftruggle through all the hardfhipa and dangers to which foci^y, in its in- fancy, is expofed in a &vage land. Gorges and Mafon, it is probable, muft have aban- doned their deiign, if, from the fame mo- tives that fettlements had been made in Rhode Ifland and Conne^icut, coloniils had not uncxpededly migrated into New Hampfhire and Main. Mr. Wheelwright, a miniftcr ' ]r^^j.k^,^^S^J.tii9BSSlSfi^^-'^ HISTORY OF AMERICA. 227 fi- a minifter of fome note, nearly related to book Mrs. Hutchinfon, and one of her moft fer- ^' vent admirers and partifans, had, on thi& account, been baniflied from the province of MaiTachufets Bay *. In quefl of a new Na- tion, he took a courfe oppoilte to the other exiles ; and advancing towards the north* founded the town of Exeter, on a fmall river flowing into Piflcataqua Bay, His followers, few in number, but firmly united, were of fuch rigid principles, that even the churches of Maflfachufets did not appear to them fufficiently pure. From time to time they received fome recruits, whom love of novelty, or difTatisfaftion with the eccle- iiaftical inftitutions of the other colonies* 'prompted to join them. Their plantations were widely difperfed, but the country was thinly peopled, and its political (late ex- tremely unfettled. The colony of Mafla- chufets Bay claimed jurifdidtion over them^ as occupying lands fituatcd within the li-< mits of their grant. Gorges and Mafon •■■:.T>T' rti * Htttchinfon, p. 70. 0^2 afTerted • :.■ I •V^iS*?' _i"' " mytiita ««»• ." yi i i ii ip I ' J-' 228 HISTORY OF AMERICA, P ■ BOOK aflferted the rights conveyed to them .^^ proprietors by their charter. In feveral dif-r triifts, the planters^ without regarding the pretendons of either party, governed them? felves by maxims and laws copied from thofc of their brethren in the adjacent co-- Ionics*. The firft redudio|i of the poli^ tjcal conftitution in the provinces of New Hampfhire and Main into a regular and permanent form, was fubfequent to the re?' ▼olution. . ' 1 t ? x^* %' HI' «».jV: =rxf By extending their fettlemcnts, the Eng? lifh became expofed to new danger. The tribes of Indians around MafTachufets Bay were feeble and unwarlike ; yet from re-r ^ard to juftice, as well as motives pf pru-? dence, the firfl cplonifts were (ludious to obtain thp confent pf the natives before they ventured to ^ccupy £^ny of their lands ; an4 though in fuch tranfaftions the confidera- tlon given was often very inadequate to the value pf the territo^ry acquired, it was fufr • Hutchinfon, p. 103, &c. 176. Douglas's Sum. ii. ^f Sec. Chalmers' Aunals, ch, 17. ficicat \ A T?«;^;5SSBrjt3^, ' illSTOkt 6f AMERICA. 229 \J ficient to fatisfy the demands of the pro- book J)rietor8.. The Englifli took quiet poflef- , ^v _^ fion of the lands thils conveyed to them, The f»r- and no open hoftility broke out between croach- them and the ancient poffeflbrs. But ih€ JJ^"£„°/. colonies of Pifov^dence and CJonnedicut Uih reiift- foon fountd that they were furrounded Miivei. by more powerful and martial nations. Among thefe the moft confiderable wer6 the Naragarifeti and F'equous; the' forrrier feated on the Bay which bears their lianie, and the latter occupying the territory whicH ftretches from the river Pequod along the banks of the Gonnedicut. The Pequods were a foi'midable people, who could bring into the field a thoufand warriors, not in* ferior in courage to any in the New World* They forefaWy riot 6nly that the extermi- nation of the Indian race muft be the con- fequence of permitting the Engliih tofpread over the continent of America, but that if meafures were not fpeedily concerted to prevent it, the calamity would be unavoid- able. With this view they applied to the ,,' Q^ ^ _ Nara- ♦# .J » ■I' *> J 1 • ajo HISTORY OF AMERICA. -"Ki 3>', ■» . . BOOK Ntraganfets, rcqucfting them to forget an- cient animotities for a moment, and to co- operate with them in expelling a common enemy who threatened both with deftruc- tion. They reprefented that, when thofe Grangers firft landed, the objedt of their Yifit was not fufpedted, and no proper pre- cautions were taken to check their progrefs ; that now, by fending out colonies in one year towards three different quarters, their intentions were manifeft, and the people of America muft abandon their native feats to make way for unjuft intruders. .^ 9f{j Y •y-u . if'^^tx a -^->-,'^ I, ^"^ BftTT the Naraganfets and Pequods, like moll of the contiguous tribes in America,. were riTals, and there fubfilled between them an hereditary and Implacable enmity. Revenge is the darling paifion of favages ; in order to fecure the indulgence of whi and! Cradles exerdfed En eflE th< an cv n ai c i HISTORY OF AMERICA. ^SS .r and the freedom of their nation, they re* B o o K taliated upon them all the barbarities of American war. Some they maifacred in cold blood, others they gave up to be tor- tured by their Indian allies, a confiderable number thc^ ''>M as flaves in Bermudas, the reft wei , z^. uced to fenritude among themielves*. ;'•*.-,>. ,.-*■-.* v.ijw^. »■.-* ::,,,.- .*,••.*» ■ , ■ • ' ' ' ' ^j -'J"^v- fUZl}J BpT, in fpite of all the efforts of govern-? ment to chepk this fpirit of migration, the meafures of the king and his minifters were conijidered by a great body of the people as fp hoflile to thofe rights which jhey deemed moft valuable, that in the courfe of thjc year one thoufand fix hun- dred and thirty-eight, above three thou- fand perfons embarked for New England, choofmg rather to expofe themfelves to all the confequences of difregarding the royal proclamation, t;han to remain longer under oppreflion. Exafperated at this con- tempt of his authority, Charles had recourfe to a violent but effectual mode of accom- j^ifliing what he had ii^ view. A writ of quo warranto was iiTued againft the corpo- • Mather, Magnalia, b. i. ch. 5. p. 23. Neal's Hift. of N. Eng. i. 151. Chalmers' Annals, i. 1^5. 160, &c. ration '■"^^^z^i-^* 238 BOOK X. Colony of Mafla. chufett Bay fued at law, and found to have for- feited its righu. HISTORY OF AMERICA. ration of Maflachufets Bay. The colonifts had conformed fo little to the teriiis of their charter, that judgment was given againft them without difficulty. They were found to have (forfeited all their rights as a cor- poration, which of courfe returned to the crown, and Charles began to take mea- fures for new modelling the political frame of the colony, and veiling the adminiftra- tion of its affairs in other hands. But his plans were never carried into execution. In every corner of his dominions, the ftorm now began to gather, which foon Burft out with fuch fatal violence, that Charles, dur- ing the remainder of his unfortunate reign, occupied with domeftic and more interefting cares, had not leifure to bellow any atten- tion upon a remote and inconfiderable pro- vince *. ," .-'V > L m ' On the meeting of the Long Parliament, f^ch a Revolution took place in England^ * Hutchinfon, p. 86, 502, &c. Chalmen' Annali, that • \ ■.- ^^.j-iiyatf^r rot •~-*t;'A.J#'* HISTORY OF AM Ic a39 tEat all the motives for migrating to the B O O K new world ceafed. The maxims of the ___ _' , _f Puritans with refped to the government both of church and ftate, became predomi- nant in the nation, and were enforced by the hand of power. Their dppreflbrs were humbled; that perfedl fyftem of reform- ed polity, which had long been the objed of their admiration and defire, was efta- bliihed by law ; and amidft the intrigues and conflids of an obftinate civil war, tur- bulent and afpiring fpirits found fuch full occupation, that they had no inducement to quit a bufy theatre, on which they had rifen to a£t a mod confpicuous part. From the year one thoufand fix hundred and twenty, when the firft feeble colony was ponduded to New England by the Brown- State of ifts, to the year one thoufand fix hundred „!« « thi» and forty, it has been computed, thatP""x** twenty-one thoufand two hundred Britifh fubjedis had fettled there. The money ex- pended by various adventurers during that . period in fitting out fhips, in purchafing , , ftock. i^40 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK ftock, and tranrporting fettlers, amounted, on a moderate calculation, nearly to two hundred thoufand pounds *: a vaft fum in that ag£, and which no principles, inferior in force to thofe wherewith the Puritans were animated, could have p^rfuaded men to lay out, on the uncertain profped of ob- taining an eftablilhment in a remote uqcuU tivated region, which, from its fituation and climate, could allure them with no hope but that of finding fubfiftence and enjoy- ing freedom. For fqme years, even fub^ fiftence was procured with difficulty ; and it was towards the clofe of the period to which our narrative is arrived, before the produdl of the fettlement yielded the plant- ers any return for their ftock. About that time they began to export corn in fmall .quantities tq the Weft Indies, and made fome feebl6 attempts to extend the fifherj^f and to open the trade in lumber, which have fince proved the ftaple articles of • Mather, b. i. ch. 4, p. 1 7. ch. 5. p.. 23. Hutchr iufoiii p. 193. Chalmers' A-nnals, p. 165. commerce '^MiLit. HISTORY OF AMERICA. commerce in the coldny *. Since the year one thoufand fix hundred and forty, the number of people with which New Eng- land has recruited the population of the parent Hate, is fuppofed at lead to equal what may have been drained from it by oc- cafional migrations thithef. But though the fudden change of fyftem in Great Britain ftopt entirely the influx of fettlers into New England, the principles of , the colonifts coincided fo perfectly with thofe of the popular leaders in parliament, that they were foon diftinguifhed by pecu- liar marks of their brotherly affection. By a vote of the Houfe of Commons in the year one thoufand fix hundred and forty- two, the people in all the difterent planta- tions of New England were exempted from payment of any duties, either upon goods exported thither, or upon thofe which they imported into the mother country, until the Houie fhall take farther order to the con- ^4) Exemp- tion from certain duties granted to the colo- nies. y m Hutchinfon, p. 9I} 92. R trary. ^ST"*^"^"' ■** " 844 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK trary. This was afterwards confirmed by ,1,. -J- ,r the authority of both Houfes. Encouraged 1646. by fuch an extraordinary privilege, induftry made rapid progrefs in all the diftridts of New England, and population increafed along with it. In return for thofe favours, the colonics applauded the meafures of par- liament, celebrated its generous efforts to vindicate the rights and liberties of the na- tion, prayed for the fuccefs of its arms, and framed regulations in order to prevent any exertion in favour of the king on the other fide of the Atlantic *. P e 1 mh Relying on the indulgent partiality with which all their proceedings were viewed by men thus clofely united with theni in fenti- mcnts and wiflies, tlie people of New Eng- land ventured on a meafure, which not only increafed their fecurity and power, but may be regarded as a confiderable flep towards independence. Under the impreffion or • Hutchinfon, p, 114. App. 517, Chalmers* An- nals, i. 174. 176. pretext 1 HISTORY OF AMERICA. 243 sW':, pretext of the danger to which they were BOOK expofed from the furrounding tribes of In- i_ / j dians, the four colonies of Maffachufets, 1643. Plymouth, Connefticut, and Newhaven, confeS'. entered into a league of perpetual confe- JJ^'^^^n*'* deracy, ofFenfive and defenfive ; an idea fa- landftates. miliar to feveral leading men in the colo- nies, as it was framed in imitation of the famous bond of union among the Dutch provinces, in whofe dominions the Brown- ids had long refided. It was flipulated, that the confederates fhould henceforth be diftingui(hed by the name of the United Colonies of New England; that each colo- ny fhall remain feparate and diflin£t, and have exclufive jurifdidllon within its own territory ; that in every war ofFenfive or defenfive, each of the confederates Ihall fumifli its quota of men, provifions^ and money, at a rate to be fixed from time to time, in proportion to the number of people in each fettlemcnt ; that an affembly com- pofed of two commifiioners from each co- lony fhall be held annually, with power to , R a . deliberate a44 HISTORY OF AMERICA. ■ **>" ' -'"''III .'.Ul' 946 HISTORY OF AMERICA. BOOK tranfa(£kion *. This was followed by an V / ._f indication, ilill lefs ambiguous, of the afpir- ♦ i^ ing fpirit prevalent among the people of Maflachufets. Under every form of go- ' vernment the right of coining money has been confidered as a prerogative peculiar to fovereignty, and which no fubordinate member in any (late is entitled to claim. Regardlefs of this eftablifhed maxim, the general court ordered a coinage of filver 1632. money at Bofton, (lamped with the name cowingaf. of the colony, and a tree as an apt fymbol fumed by of its progrefllve vigour f . Even this nift*. ufurpation efcaped without notice. The Independents, having now humbled all rival feds, engrofled the whole direftion of affairs in Great Britain ; and long accuf- tomed to admire" the government of New England, framed agreeably to thofe princi- - V pies which they had adopted as the moft ' • Neal'sHift. N. Eng. i. 213 Hutchinfon's Hift. 145, &c. Collect. 188, &c. Chalm. Ann. 179. M 177, 178. Chalmers' Annuls, p. HISTORY OF AMERICA. 247 perfeA model of civil and ecclefialllcal BOOK polity, they were unwilling to ftain its re- putation, by cenfuring any part of its condud. i;.^ \/t When Cromwell ufurped the fupreme Crom- power, the colonies of New England con- JJonifeV tinued to ftand as high in his eftimation, g^^^ As he had deeply imbibed all the fanatical coiwue*. notions of the Independents, and was per^ petually fur;rounded by the moil eminent and artful teachers of that fe£t, he kept a conftant correfpondence with the lead- ing men in the American fettlements, who feem to have looked up to him as a zealous patron *. He in return confidered them as his moft devoted adherents, at- tached to him no lefs by afiedion than by principle. He foon gave a flriking proof of this. On the conqued of Jamaica, he Propor?s formed a fcheme for the fecurity and im- TJl'^^^ provement of the acquifition made by his coionifts victorious arms, fuited to thje ardour of ca. ^ Hutcbmfon, App. 520j &c. Colled, p. 233. 8 m 248 HISTORY OF AMERICA. B O O K an impetuous fpirit that delighted in , J^: accomplifhing its ends by extraordinary means. He propofed to tranfport the people of New England to that ifland, and em- ployed every argument calculated to make * ".: impreflion upon them, in order to obtain their confent. He endeavoured to roufe '^" ' their religious zeal by reprefenting what a .* fatal blow it would be to the man of fm, if a colony of the faithful were fettled in the J midft of his territories in the new world. He allured them with profpe£ls of immenfe wealth in a fertile region, which would re- ward the induftry of thofe who cultivated it, with all the precious produftions of the torrid zone, and expreffed his fervent wifh that they might take poffeffion of it, in order to fulfil God's promife of making his people the head and not the tail. He af- .. : fured them of being fupportcd by the whole force of his authority, and of vefting all the powers of government entirely in their Coicnifts hands. But by this time the colonifts were cepting attached to a country in which they had 6 ' refided th^s oiicr. n.'v * X ' HISTORY OF AMERICA. «49 refided for many years, and where, though BOOK they did not attain opulence, they enjoyed the comforts of life in great abundance; and they dreaded fo much the noxious climate of the Weft Indies, which had proved fatal to a great number of the Eng- lifh who firft fettled in Jamaica, that they declined, though in the moft refpedlful terms, clofmg with the Protestor's propofi- tion*. ♦ Hutchinfon, p. 190, &c. Chalmers, p. i8S. THE END. ,> *.>.i i t ji< 1 j>i » 1' ;"» tj: ■-! Lf 2i i.'St-;, ,:: ? ,^.*-^ J " ttiM li l" ^ „'^. *!,.; /. ^i/is,i •^fi .*^: I.-;. 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