abounded in wild fowl, and the English now were well supplied with bread, peas, persimmons, fish and game. But this plenty did not last long, for what Smith carefully provided, the colonists carelessly wasted. The idlers at Jamestown, including some of the council, now began to mutter complaints against Smith for not having discovered the source of the Chickahominy, it being supposed that the South sea or Pacific ocean lay not far distant, and that a communication with it would be found by some river running from the northwest. The Chickahominy flowed in that direction, and hence the solicitude of these Jamestown cosmographers to trace the river to its head. To allay this dissatisfaction of the council, Smith made another voyage up that river, and proceeded until it became necessary, in order to pass, to cut away a large tree which had fallen across the stream." Thus ended another of the efforts by which Asia was to be reached by a short cut westward. The main result of this expedition was a fight with the Indians, the capture of Smith, and his story of Pocahontas' brave interposition to save his life—a narration that is not considered by historians as grounded upon any deep foundation of fact. When Smith was released by the kindness of the Indian king, he returned to Jamestown to find the little colony reduced to forty. A gleam of light in their darkening fortunes came soon after, when Newport arrived with a supply of stores and some additional settlers. But the gleam of sunshine did not long continue. The town was almost burned to the ground by an accident. The stock of provisions ran low, and the colonists were soon reduced to a diet of meal and water. Want and the exposure to cold had their legitimate effects, and the already dwindling number was reduced one-half. Newport set sail for England, leaving Ratcliffe, the president, in full power, able to manage affairs as he pleased. "The spring now approaching," Campbell continues, "Smith and Scrivener undertook to rebuild Jamestown, repair the palisades, fell trees, prepare the fields, plant, and erect another church. While thus engaged, they were joyfully surprised by the arrival of the Phoenix, commanded by Captain Nelson, who had left England with Newport about the end of the year 1607, and, after coming in

of government that had been arranged for this, the first English colony to gain a foot-hold upon American shores. King James was ambitious for the increase of his power, and was already striving to make the crown more independent of the people. In the patent conferred upon the Virginia company, he had carefully provided for such government for the new colonies as should keep them under his direct control. The instructions for the line of civil policy that was to be pursued, had been placed in a sealed box, that was not opened until the landing at Jamestown. It was then discovered that seven men had been appointed a governing council, among whom were Gosnold, Newport and Captain John Smith, who was also a member of the expedition.

The fortunes of the little colony were by no means as brilliant and secure as had been anticipated, while inherent evils of organization and purpose were responsible for much of the ill fortune that followed. The successful search for gold that the Spaniards had pursued in Mexico and Peru had inflamed the desires of the English, who did not know that a like search in the region of the James would not produce like brilliant results. Many of the gentry who had come with the colonists had no other purpose in view than this, and agriculture and the arts were sadly neglected. The position chosen proved unhealthful, and much sickness ensued. Onehalf the colony was swept away by pestilence, and the remainder were only saved by the friendly aid of the Indians. Warfare of an internal character added its discouragements. Captain Smith was not allowed to take his place in the council, by the action of enemies, and was finally arrested upon charges afterwards shown to be false. After several months of struggling for his rights, he so boldly and successfully proved his innocence and demanded his rights that he was given his proper place in the council. It was a timely aid that he brought, as the president found himself unable to cope with the dangers and difficulties of the situation, and gradually allowed the direction of events to fall into the hands of Smith. "At the approach of winter," wrote Charles Campbell, in his 'History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion in Virginia,' "the rivers of Virginia

abounded in wild fowl, and the English now were well supplied with bread, peas, persimmons, fish and game. But this plenty did not last long, for what Smith carefully provided, the colonists carelessly wasted. The idlers at Jamestown, including some of the council, now began to mutter complaints against Smith for not having discovered the source of the Chickahominy, it being supposed that the South sea or Pacific ocean lay not far distant, and that a communication with it would be found by some river running from the northwest. The Chickahominy flowed in that direction, and hence the solicitude of these Jamestown cosmographers to trace the river to its head. To allay this dissatisfaction of the council, Smith made another voyage up that river, and proceeded until it became necessary, in order to pass, to cut away a large tree which had fallen across the stream." Thus ended another of the efforts by which Asia was to be reached by a short cut westward. The main result of this expedition was a fight with the Indians, the capture of Smith, and his story of Pocahontas' brave interposition to save his life—a narration that is not considered by historians as grounded upon any deep foundation of fact. When Smith was released by the kindness of the Indian king, he returned to Jamestown to find the little colony reduced to forty. A gleam of light in their darkening fortunes came soon after, when Newport arrived with a supply of stores and some additional settlers. But the gleam of sunshine did not long continue. The town was almost burned to the ground by an accident. The stock of provisions ran low, and the colonists were soon reduced to a diet of meal and water. Want and the exposure to cold had their legitimate effects, and the already dwindling number was reduced one-half. Newport set sail for England, leaving Ratcliffe, the president, in full power, able to manage affairs as he pleased. "The spring now approaching," Campbell continues, "Smith and Scrivener undertook to rebuild Jamestown, repair the palisades, fell trees, prepare the fields, plant, and erect another church. While thus engaged, they were joyfully surprised by the arrival of the Phoenix, commanded by Captain Nelson, who had left England with Newport about the end of the year 1607, and, after coming in

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THE AMERICAN NATION..

sight of Cape Henry, had been driven off to the West Indies. He brought with him the remainder of the first supply, which comprised one hundred and twenty settlers. Having found provisions in the West Indies, and having economically husbanded his own, he imparted them generously to the colony, so that now there was accumulated a store sufficient for half a year."

In September, 1608, Smith accepted the office of president, which he had formerly declined. Among the people who had arrived in the Phoenix were thirty-three "gentlemen," whom the colony did not want, and a number of laborers, tailors, jewelers, a gunsmith, a cooper, etc., who might be made of some avail. Smith set himself to work to make such use of this conglomerate material as the circumstances would allow. It is recorded that he "now set the colonists to work-some to make glass, others to prepare tar, pitch and soapashes; while he, in person, conducted thirty of them five miles below the fort to cut down trees and saw plank. Two of this lumber party happened to be young gentlemen who had arrived in the last supply. Smith sharing labor and hardship in common with the rest, these woodmen at first became apparently reconciled to the novel task, and seemed to listen with pleasure to the crashing thunder of the falling trees, but when the axes began to blister their unaccustomed hands, they grew profane, and their frequent loud oaths echoed in the woods. Smith taking measures to have the oaths of each one numbered, in the evening, for each offense poured a can of water down the of fender's sleeve. And this curious discipline, or water cure, was so effectual that after it was administered an oath would scarcely be heard for a week."

Want, Indian outbreaks and internal dissensions make up the history of Jamestown during the following year, and in 1609 Smith gave up such remnant of authority as he yet retained over a town full of factions, and sailed to England, never to return. No sooner was he away than all order and subordination were at an end. The colonists, who were already famished and liable at any moment to be destroyed utterly by the Indians, were only waiting a chance to abandon the enterprise altogether, when the opportune arrival of Lord

Delaware put a new face upon affairs. He brought not only a fleet filled with colonists and supplies, but authority and a purpose to make such use of it as the occasion demanded. The next few years, in the neighborhood of Jamestown, witnessed energetic and decisive measures in several directions. Lord Delaware, and those who succeeded him as the governors of Virginia, ruled with almost kingly power, passing and enforcing severe laws, building forts in various quarters and waging merciless war upon the Indians. One of the number, Sir Thomas Dale, receiving information that the French were settling in the north, in territory claimed by the English, sent an expedition against them, which laid waste to a fishing village on the coast of Maine. On the way back, a visit was paid to the Dutch located at Fort Orange and Manhattan island (New York), who were ordered to pull down the Dutch flag-a command that was obeyed only as long as the English remained in sight.

The English settlements along the James and from thence down to the sea, began to thrive; tobacco was cultivated and sent across the seas, and the greatness and development witnessed in the near future began to be foreshadowed. Meanwhile, a change that had much to do with the independent spirit of later years made itself apparent in England. The Virginia company gradually passed into the control of men opposed to the king and an extension of his powers, and who favored an extension of the liberties of the people. This change was made apparent by the appointment of Governor Yeardley to control of affairs in Virginia, who was sent forth with directions to call a meeting of planters and land-holders "who were to consult together and make laws for the government of the colony."

Thus, in 1619, the first Virginia assembly, or house of burgesses, was held, and thus began in America the government by the people. And it may be added, as an opposing shadow to this brightening picture, that it was in this same year of 1619 that a Dutch trader sailed his ship up the James river and sold to the planters of Virginia twenty negroes who had been captured in Africa.

Going back to the year of 1607, we may find in the secret migration of a few families from the northeast of England to Holland, the begin