University of Virginia Library

VIRGINIA UNDER THE SECOND CHARTER.

It was on the 23d day of May, 1609, that King James revoked the
first charter of the London Company, and at the same time granted a
new one by which the government was completely changed. The new
patent included all the country lying between the mouth of the Cape
Fear river on the south and that of the Hudson on the north, the
Atlantic on the east and an undefined boundary on the west. The
company was permitted to choose its own councilors, and they in turn
were to select the governor. Lord Delaware was chosen to this high
position for life. The British government now began to dream of a
flourishing empire in the west, which should be tributary to the parent
one then rapidly rising to the first place among the nations of Europe,
and accordingly surrounded Delaware with stately officers whose high-sounding
titles would indicate that they were the dignitaries of an opulent
kingdom, instead of a half-starved colony on the distant shores of
Virginia. Sir Thomas Gates was commissioned lieutenant-general; Sir
George Somers, admiral; Christopher Newport, vice-admiral; Sir
Thomas Dale, high marshal; Sir Fernando Wainman, master of cavalry,
and a long list of others constituted the royal establishment. But
the long array of titled nobility was not without its effect upon the future
of Virginia. Five hundred emigrants were speedily collected, and
in June a fleet of nine vessels sailed for Jamestown. The gentlemen
composing the new government sailed in the Sea Vulture, the largest
vessel in the fleet. When nearing the capes of Virginia a fearful storm
was encountered. One small vessel was lost, and the Sea Vulture was

driven far to sea, and finally stranded upon the rocks of the Bahamas,
and did not reach Jamestown till April of the next year. The other
vessels outrode the storm and reached their destination. When the
news of the appearance of so large a fleet in the bay was received, it
was thought to be a part of the Spanish navy, the object of which was the
conquest of the colony. Everything was put in a state of defense
against the supposed enemy. Smith had, in the meantime, by his kindness,
won the good will of the Indians, and hundreds of them now
responded to his call, and joined in defense against the supposed invasion.
Fear was, however, soon changed to rejoicing; the supposed enemy
proved to be friends. The emigrants having landed, elected Captain
Francis West (the brother of Lord Delaware), temporary president,
the council being all dead save Smith; but he obtaining the sympathy
of the sailors, refused to surrender the government of the colony. For
the sake of health, to avoid dissension between the old and newly arrived
colonists, and for trading with the Indians, Smith decided to establish
two new settlements, and accordingly selected a company of the best
men, placed them under command of Francis West, and sent them to
the falls of the James, there to erect cabins and establish a permanent
settlement. He then placed another company under Martin and dispatched
them to a place called Nansemond, with the same object in
view. Martin exhibited his imbecility by making an attack upon the
natives in his immediate vicinity, and then by his cowardice and carelessness
permitted them to return, attack his position and kill and
wound a number of his men. He then sent to Jamestown for reinforcements,
and when they arrived, set a limit to his own management by
leaving his men to their fate and going to Jamestown, where he remained
cowering under Smith's denunciations of his perfidy and cowardice.
The president not hearing of his colony at the falls, determined to pay
it a visit; and upon his arrival found that West had selected, as the
site of the projected town, a location subject to inundation and many
other disadvantages. He offered to purchase from Powhatan the site
upon which the city of Richmond now stands, but the restless adventurers,
dreaming of rich gold fields further up the river, refused the offer,
despising alike the president's kindness and authority. But Smith was
born to rule. With five of his own men he rushed boldly into the midst of
the mutineers, and arrested the ringleaders of the opposition, but a hundred
infuriated men gathered around him and compelled him to release
the prisoners. He escaped to the supply-ship which lay at the foot of
the falls, and being supported by the sailors, he here spent nine days in
making every effort to conciliate the turbulent spirits who were in a
frenzy of excitement over the "guilded hopes of the South Sea mines,"
but all in vain. Discouraged and well-nigh exhausted, Smith set out
on his return to Jamestown, but no sooner had he departed than the
Indians attacked those left behind. Those of the terrified wretches who
escaped fled to Smith, whose boat had grounded on an island above
Jamestown. Here the disturbers were again arrested. The president
returned to the falls, satisfied the demands of the savages, and left all
again under the care of West, who listened to the deceitful statements
of the prisoners and released them. Thus Smith again saw his authority
set at defiance, and for the last time left the falls of the James. His
work was nearly completed. On the journey down the river his powder
flask exploded while he was sleeping and tore the flesh from his body in
a frightful manner. Crazed with pain, he threw himself into the river
to cool the burning sensation, and was nearly drowned before his companions
could rescue him. Nearly one hundred miles lay between him
and the only surgeon, Dr. Russell, in Virginia, and to him he must go
before his wounds could be dressed. In this pitiable condition he arrived
at Jamestown, where Ratcliffe and Archer were then on trial on a
charge of treason, and, fearing his evidence, they hired an assassin to
murder him; but when the fiend saw the pitiable condition of his intended
victim, his heart failed him and he was unable to fire the fatal
shot. The term of Smith having expired, Captain George Percy, a
younger brother of the Earl of Northumberland, was elected president,
and Smith, in September, 1609, sailed for England, never to return
again to the scenes of his toils and sufferings. An eventful life was
rapidly drawing to its close. "The Father of Virginia," the benefactor
of his country and his race, he who had faithfully discharged every
duty imposed upon him, was yet to feel the sting of base ingratitude.
Those whose interests he had best served were the first to condemn his
actions. Like Columbus, Boone, Robert Harris, and a host of others
whose lives were to be known, their labors appreciated, and names honored
by succeeding generations, his name has become the most celebrated
that appears in the early history of America. Truly has it been said
that great men are never known by the generation in which they live.