Mr. Ratcliffe was elected to the presidency. But it very soon appeared, that his abilities were by no means equal to the exigencies of the company, and the whole weight of government fell, therefore, on Capt. John Smith.*

The condition of the colony was, at length, somewhat improved, and their courage renewed, by the arrival of Capt. Newport, (who had been dispatched to England,) with a supply of provisions, and an additional number of men. This number was not long after augmented, and a further supply of necessaries received, by the arrival of Capt. Nelson, who had sailed in company with Newport, but who had been separated from him during a storm, and for some time was supposed to be lost. With these accessions, the colonists now amounted to two hundred men. This number was still further increased before the end of 1608, by the arrival of seventy colonists, among whom were many persons of distinction.

Sec. 6. Early in the year 1609, the London company, not having realized their anticipated profit from their new establishment in America, obtained from the king a new charter, with more ample privileges. Under this charter, Thomas West, otherwise called Lord De la War, was appointed governor for life.

The company, under their new act of incorporation, was styled, "The treasurer and company of adventurers and planters for the first colony in Virginia." They were now granted in absolute property, what had formerly been conveyed only in trust a territory extending from Point Coinfort two hundred miles north and south, along the coast, and throughout the land from sea to sea.

Sec. 7. Lord De la War being appointed governor of the colony, but not being able to leave England, immediately dispatched to America nine ships, and five hundred men, under command of Sir Thomas Gates, his lieutenant, and Sir George Summers, his admiral. Eight of these ships arrived in safety at Jamestown, in the month of August, but that on board of which

• Trumbull.

was Sir Thomas and other officers, being wrecked on the Bermudas, did not arrive till May of the following year.

The ship, thus wrecked, contained one hundred and fifty persons, the whole of whom were, for a time, in extreme danger of being lost. For three days, they were obliged to labor incessantly at the pump. The leak, however, still increasing, it was attempted to run her on shore, but she stranded, at the distance of three quarters of a mile from land. By the help of the boats, however, the crew and passengers were all saved; and, having built two small vessels, again set sail for Virginia, where they arrived at the time stated above.

Ser. 8. At the time Sir Thomas and the other officers arrived, the colony had become reduced to circumstances of great depression. Capt. Smith, in consequence of a severe accidental wound, had sometime before returned to England. His departure was followed by disastrous consequences. Subordination and industry ceased; the Indians became hostile, and refused the usual supplies of provisions. Famine ensued, and to such extremities had they sunk, that the skins of the horses were devoured, as were also the bodies of Indians whom they had killed, and even the remains of deceased friends. of five hundred persons, sixty only remained. At this juncture, the shipwrecked from Bermuda arrived. An immediate return to England was resolved. upon and, with that intent, they embarked, but just as they were leaving the mouth of the river, Lord De la War fortunately appeared, with supplies of men and provisions, and they were persuaded to return. By means of his judicious management, the condition of the colony soon. wore a better aspect, and for several years continued to prosper.

It was unfortunate, however, for the colony, that ill health.

obliged Lord De la War, in March, 1611, to leave the ad ministration. He was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale, who arrived in May. Hitherto, no right of property in land had been established, but the produce of labor was deposited in public stores, and shared in common. To remedy the indolence and indifference, growing out of such a system, Sir Thomas assigned to each inhabitant a lot of three acres as his own, and a certain portion of time to cultivate it. The advantages of this measure were soon so apparent, that another assignment of fifty acres was made, and not long after the plan of working in a common field was abandoned.

Sec. 9. In 1613, several Dutch merchants erected a fort on Hudson's river, where Albany now stands, and a few trading houses on the island of New-York, at that time called by the Indians Manhattan.

Hudson's river derives its name from Henry Hudson, an Englishman by birth, but, who, at the time of this discove ry, was in the service of the Dutch East India Company. Hudson left the Texel on the 20th of March, 1609, with the design of penetrating to the East Indies, by sailing a northwestward course. Failing in this, he proceeded along the shores of Newfoundland, and thence southward as far as Chesapeake and Delaware bays. Thence returning northward, he discovered and sailed up the river, which now bears his name.

By virtue of this discovery, the Dutch laid claim to the country, and the following year several Dutch merchants sent ships to the river to open a trade with the natives. The claim, thus set up by the Dutch, was denied by the court of England, not on the ground that Hudson was not the first to discover and enter the river, but that being an English subject the right to the country belonged to them.

The Dutch, having planted themselves at Manhattan, were visited the same year by Capt. Argal, of Virginia, with a naval force, who demanded the surrender of the place to the English crown, as properly constituting a part of Virginia. The Dutch governor, finding himself incapable of resist ance, submitted himself and his colony to the king of England, and under him to the governor of Virginia. Notwithstanding this surrender, the country still continued to be called as before, New-Netherlands, and the settlement, the place where New-York now stands, New-Amsterdam.

These names they retained, till the final conquest of the country by the English, in 1664.

Sec. 10. In 1614, Capt. John Smith sailed from England with two ships to North Virginia. During this voyage, he ranged the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and gave names to several points of land, which now, for the first time, were discovered. On his return home, having formed a map of the country, he presented it to Prince Charles, who, in the warmth of admiration, declared that the country should be called NEW-ENGLAND. Cape Ann was so called by the prince, in filial respect to his mother.

Sec. 11. The year 1619 forms a memorable epoch in the history of Virginia, a provincial legislature being at this time introduced, in which the colonists were represented by delegates chosen by themselves.

This colonial assembly, the first legislature to which the people of America sent representatives, was convoked by Sir George Yeardly, the governor-general of the colony, and met at Jamestown, on the 19th of June. Before this, the colonists had been ruled rather as soldiers in garrison by martial law, but now they were invested with the privileges of freemen. They were divided into eleven corporations, each of which was represented in the assembly.

The following year the colony received a great accession to their number. Eleven ships arrived, with twelve hundred and sixty persons for settlement. Nearly one thousand colonists were resident here before. In order to attach them still more to the country, Sir Edwin Sandys, the treasurer of the company, recommended to send over a number of young women of reputable character, to become wives to the planters. Accordingly, ninety at this time came over, and sixty the following year. These were sold to the planters, at the price, at first, of one hundred, and, afterwards, one hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco. Tobacco, at this time, was worth three shillings per pound. Debts incurred for the purchase of wives were recoverable before any others.

Accessions to the colony, of a different character. were

also made about this time. By order of King James, one hundred persons of profligate character, who had rendered themselves obnoxious to government by their crimes, were sent to the colony, by way of punishment. This, perhaps designed for its benefit, as the exiles were chiefly employed as laborers, was ultimately prejudicial to its prosperity.

During the year 1620, slave-holding was introduced into the colony. A Dutch ship from Africa, touching at Jamestown, landed twenty negroes for sale. These were purchased by the planters, and with these was introduced an evil into the country, the sad effects of which are felt to the present day.

Sec. 12. The year 1620 marks the era of the first settling of New-England. On the 22d of December of this year, a colony originally from England, known by the name of Puritans, landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and began the settlement of that place. Although natives of England, they were driven thence by the arm of persecution, for urging a more thorough reformation in the church of England.

They fled from England, first to Amsterdam, in Holland, in 1607, with their pastor, the Rev. Mr. Robinson. From Amsterdam, they soon after removed to Leyden, where they continued, until they embarked for America.

Among the motives which influenced them to remove to America, the prospect of enjoying "a purer worship, and greater liberty of conscience," was the principal. To secure these objects, they were willing to become exiles from a civilized country, and encounter the dangers and privations, which might meet them in a wilderness.

The people who first settled New-England were princi pally from the counties of Nottinghamshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire. In these counties, there prevailed, about the year 1602, an extensive revival of religion. The new converts wishing to worship God in a manner more simple than was observed in the established church, but not being