University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER II

VIRGINIA COMPANY OF LONDON

The complete failure of the colony which Sir Walter
Raleigh had planted on Roanoke Island[1] had demonstrated
that the expense of such an enterprise was too heavy for the
resources of a private purse. Without the support of a combination
of resources, it was made clear by this failure that
no such adventure could succeed, however resolutely undertaken
or bravely pursued. The recognition of this fact led
to the incorporation of the Virginia Company of London,
whose aim was to effect, through a union of many purses, a
general result, which one purse, though distinguished for
affluence, had shown itself to be incapable of accomplishing.
The hostilities that had kept England and Spain embroiled
with each other ended in 1603, after dragging on eighteen
years. During this turbulent interval, all schemes of colonization
fell into a state of neglect; but so soon as peace was
again declared, the spirit of this branch of English enterprise
sprang up once more, under the pressure of the popular conviction
that the menacing power of Spain and the Roman
Church in the New World must be permanently restricted by
the erection of Protestant settlements along the main seaboard
of the North Atlantic. When Captain George Weymouth
returned from those waters in July, 1605, William Parker and
other wealthy citizens of the prosperous town of Plymouth
arranged with him for the planting of a colony in that region;
and subsequently, Sir John Zouch was associated with the

Sir Walter Raleigh

same intrepid explorer for a like purpose. But these farsighted
and public-spirited projects were frustrated by unexpected
and unavoidable circumstances.

The enterprise that was destined to be successful took its
first practical shape in the petition for a charter for an association
which was organized for opening up the Atlantic
coast to European civilization. This document was signed
and submitted by Sir Thomas Gates, an officer who had accompanied
the excursion of Admiral Drake in 1685; Sir George
Somers, a former lieutenant of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had
distinguished himself in the fierce raids against the Spanish
West Indies; Rev. Richard Hakluyt, the friend and chronicler
of all the great explorers of his own times; Captain Edward
Maria Wingfield, who had won a reputation for gallantry in
the course of the wars in the Low Countries; William Parker,
George Popham, and certain others, who, during the preceding
reign, so glorious for its daring spirit, had served as
navigators in American waters. The charter asked for was
granted on April 10, 1606.

When this epochal patent passed the royal seal, England
claimed all that huge section of the North American continent
which was situated between the thirty-fourth and the fifty-fifth
north latitude. The new charter, in reality, incorporated two
associations, one of which was empowered to plant a colony
in South Virginia; the other, to plant a colony in North Virginia.
The first colony was to be founded in the region lying
between the thirty-fourth and forty-first north latitude; the
second, upon a suitable site somewhere in the remaining
region included in the letters-patent. An interval of one hundred
miles was to be left unoccupied between the two. The
entire area of territory really embraced within the bounds of
the north and south colonies was not in excess of twenty
thousand square miles. England, however, at this time,
asserted her title to at least two million square miles, since
her domain in that quarter was supposed to run back to the
South Sea itself.

Sir Thomas Smith

By the first letters-patent, the north and south lines of
South Virginia were to run one hundred miles from the
Atlantic Ocean back towards the Pacific, and its frontage on
the Atlantic was to extend one hundredd miles also. Both
colonies were to possess jurisdiction over all islands in the
Atlantic and South Seas that were situated within that distance
of their respective coasts.

It was provided in the charter that the colony in South
Virginia should be under the administration of two councils.
The first, consisting of thirteen members, was to be appointed
by the king, and to be subject to such instructions as he should
give from time to time. This council was to reside in England.
The second council, which was to comprise a membership of
thirteen also, was to be appointed by the Company and to
reside in Virginia. This body was to elect its own presiding
officer, and in case of delinquency, was authorized to remove
him and fill the vacancy. It was empowered to try all civil
cases, and also the smaller criminal cases. The heinous ones
were to be left to the verdict of a jury.

The London Company, by their letters-patent, secured the
right to explore Virginia for the precious metals, to coin
money, to repel invasion, and to bring in people for its permanent
settlement. During the first twenty-one years, the
duties to be paid by persons trading with the colony were to
be reserved for its use; and for seven years, a certain number
of its commodities were to be exempted from the customs.
The most important political feature of the charter was that
clause which declared that the inhabitants of Virginia were
to enjoy every privilege in the possession of the native subjects
of England.

The King contributed not a shilling to the funds required
for the success of the enterprise. These funds were raised
by the joint stock of numerous private investors. The business
management of the Company was undertaken by casual
and temporary associations. In character, this organization
was what was known as a regulated company. Its members

did not engage in trade as one body. Individuals among them
subscribed separately to a voyage in proportion to their
means, or to the degree that their confidence in a particular
venture suggested. The influence brought to bear to induce
subscription was one of gain exclusively. The benefits of
colonization did not, in the beginning, play any part in the
outlay of a joint stock. It is true that such a stock was sometimes
expended in transporting colonists to Virginia in these
first years, but it was the pecuniary return, not the settlement
of the new country, which was the motive for making the
expenditure. Agents were appointed in London in the case
of each adventure to supervise the despatch of merchandise or
emigrants to Virginia, and they were authorized to receive the
profits. The goods thus sent over were delivered by the shipmasters
in charge to the cape merchant in Jamestown, who had
been chosen for this duty by the President and Council there.

The great enterprise launched by the charter, it may be
inferred from this description, was a purely commercial one,
both in its organization and in the ends which it had in view.
The king, exempted from all risk of heavy expense to his
treasury, countenanced it for the single purpose of spreading
the trade of the realm into new fields. James, however, participated
in the operations of the Company to a larger degree
than had been customary with his predecessor, Elizabeth, in
her relations with similar associations. He not only encouraged
that body by his direct royal patronage, but he actually
appointed and overlooked the chief council that administered
its affairs. It was to the immediate interest of the crown that
he should do this, for, besides the aims of exploration and
search for the precious metals, the Company, as specifically
stated in its charter, was designed to increase the volume of
the royal revenues by the importation of new commodities,
and to quicken the growth of the English navy by lowering the
price of all raw naval supplies.

If colonization had not been indispensable in carrying out
the commercial objects of the association, the introduction of

permanent settlers into Virginia for the purpose of founding
a great English community overseas would have been put off
for many years. The more people brought over, the deeper
the interest of the kingdom in the prosperity of the colony
would be, and the more disposed its citizens to open their
purses for advancing its welfare. The expansion in actual
settlement only overshadowed all the other purposes of the
enterprise when the orginal objects of that enterprise had
proved, by the touchstone of experience, to be delusive.

The London Company did not stand entirely alone as a
corporation. The principal men interested in its success were
also interested in the fortunes of the other great contemporary
associations, like the Russian and East India Companies.
Particularly close was its relation with the East India. Not
less than one hundred persons were members of both corporations;
and the governor of the East India Company was, during
many years, the treasurer and the real head of the London
Company.