number of thirty-eight persons, who were just about to quit the country when he arrived. Not being able to persuade them to desist from their intention, he resorted to compulsion. Turning the guns of the fort upon the bark, he presented to them the alternative to die or remain, and thus prevented their departure.*

CHAPTER IX.

THIS adventure of Captain Smith resulted in producing such a spirit of amity and conciliation among the natives that he thereafter obtained from them all needful supplies. of provisions, by which means this remnant of a colony was preserved from perishing. At this crisis in their history a vessel arrived from the mother country laden with supplies for the colony, and bringing about one hundred and twenty persons, consisting of "gentlemen, mechanics, and artificers." Although this timely accession to their numbers materially brightened the prospects of the colony, its advancement was retarded by that bane of all human happiness and prosperity, the love of gold. shining dust was discovered in the bed of a neighbouring stream which was mistaken for that metal, and the settlers were so carried away with the idea of suddenly enriching themselves that they could think of, or do nothing else but hunt after it. The first exportation ever made to the mother country from this continent, was at this time, in two barques, one freighted with cedar and the other with this dust.* It is almost impos

* Marshall.

Some

sible to conceive how much the growth and prosperity of the settlement were retarded by this singular delusion. It was preserved only through the able and judicious administration of Captain Smith, the full extent of whose usefulness and efficiency in laying strong and sure the basis of its permanency cannot be too highly extolled or appreciated. It may be to some extent understood when we state, that the explorations which he made of the country now comprehended within the limits of Maryland and Virginia, and the charts which he drew of its rivers, bays, inlets and harbours, with the accounts which he gave of its resources, were so full and accurate that "after the progress of information and research for a century and a half, they exhibit no inaccurate idea of both countries, and are the original on which all subsequent delineations and descriptions have been formed."* The colony remained under his auspicious administration until the year 1609, when, having been severely wounded by an explosion of gunpowder, he was obliged to visit England for medical treatment. He left it with a population of about five hundred persons, sixty comfortable and convenient dwellings, various implements of husbandry, and other appliances for its preservation and prosperity. But the life and vigor which he had infused seemed to have departed with Capt. Smith. He had scarcely gone before the colony relapsed into a state of faction and misrule, every principle of self-preservation seemed to be lost, and it was fast verging towards destruction. Divided and contentious among themselves, they stirred up strife with the natives, while they thus became a more easy prey to their treachery and cunning. In less than six months their numbers were reduced to

* Robertson.

about sixty souls, who must inevitably have perished, but for the timely arrival of Sir Thomas Gates and others from the West Indies, with whom they proposed to sail for England. They accordingly embarked with this intent on the 10th of June, 1610. Before they had fairly got under way, they were met by Lord De La War and others, who, persuading them to return, recruited their diminished numbers, supplied their necessities, and resettled them at Jamestown. Lord De La War had obtained from the South Virginia Company a patent constituting him Governor and Captain General of the colony. He entered upon the discharge of his official duties with energy, firmness and decision. He restored to the colonists union, harmony and good government, while at the same time he inspired the natives with great awe of his authority. But his declining health did not permit him long to discharge the duties of this important and responsible station. He resigned the government into the hands of Mr. Percy, and sailed for the West Indies, leaving about two hundred inhabitants in the colony, in the enjoyment of health, tranquillity, and plenty.

On the tenth day of May, 1611, Sir Thomas Dale arrived from England, with a full supply of stores and provisions, and a large number of settlers. He found the colony in an alarming state of confusion and anarchy, and was obliged to proclaim martial law in order to reduce them to quiet and subordination. He was succeeded by Sir Thomas Gates, who arrived a second time in the colony in August of the same year, with six vessels freighted with men, provisions, and other stores. In the following year, 1612, a new charter was issued to the South Virginia Company which annexed to the original grant "all the Islands of the Ocean

lying within three hundred leagues of the coast of Virginia." Besides the provisions already mentioned this charter ordained that a General Court of the Company, should be held four times a year for the determination of all matters of general interest and importance, and that it should meet weekly for the transaction of ordinary business.

From this period we date the permanent and prosperous settlement of this plantation. Hitherto property had been held in common by the settlers, and, according to royal instructions, the produce of labour and cultivation was deposited in public stores, and thence distributed alike to all. But now the President divided a portion of the lands into lots of several acres each, and granted one of them in full right to each individual. The beneficial effects of this new policy was at once perceptible in the influence it had upon the habits and dispositions of the colonists, and the rapidity with which it promoted the growth and improvement of the entire plantation. Property being thus distributed, and each individual reaping a reward proportioned to his own labours and exertions, the virtues of industry and frugality were cultivated, and personal enterprise was awakened and encouraged. Sir Thom s Gates returned again to England in 1614, when the government of the colony devolved again upon Sir Thomas Dale. The effect of dividing the territory into portions, and allotting them to individuals as their own property, to be cultivated for their own benefit, was found to be so much more subservient to the interests of the colony, that the system of labouring in common, and depositing the products of this labour in public stores for the common benefit, was now entirely abandoned. The Company in England, convinced that this was the

surest way of peopling the country and encouraging emigration, gave notice that fifty acres of land would be given to each person who emigrated. The consequence of this was that large numbers of persons were induced to plant their families, and try their fortunes, in this new country. In 1615 the colonists undertook the cultivation and exportation of Tobacco, but the attempt to introduce it into the polished circles in the mother country excited the odium of the Crown, and the contempt and ridicule of the principal members in Parliament. At length James issued a pamphlet against it which he called a counterblast, and the Company was required to prohibit the cultivation of it in the colony. Notwithstanding it has outlived this prejudice, and has since become not only a profitable article of commerce, but its use also as a beverage, though none the less odious and disgusting in some of its forms, is freely adopted in almost all parts of the world.

CHAPTER X.

IN 1616 the government of the colony was entrusted to Sir George Yeardley, who, after a mild administration of about one year, returned to England, and Captain Argal was appointed to the Presidency. Argal was a man of enterprise and ability, but of a cold, selfish, and domineering disposition. He proclaimed martial law, and ruled over the colonists with a rigorous and unnecessary severity. He imposed arbitrary and oppressive restrictions upon their trade, inter