him with a bunch of feathers for a towel; some were the daughters, and had been the wives, of distinguished rivals and enemies conquered in battle. When he became weary of them, he transferred them as presents to his favorite warriors.

Having described "the emperor's" residence, it would be doing him great injustice to conceal from our readers his skill in traffic. Captain Newport, on his second voyage to Virginia, took thither a quantity of goods, adapted, as he supposed, to the Indian market, with a view to exchange them for corn, in which the colonists, by reason of their indolence, were sometimes deficient. The natives of the "lower class" (for it seems there were different ranks among these children of the forest,) were anxious to buy, but having little corn to sell, were unprofitable customers. It was, therefore, an object to drive a trade with "the emperor" himself. This, however, the latter affected to despise. "Captain Newport," said he, "it is not agreeable to my greatness to truck in this plodding manner for trifles. I am a great werowance; and I esteem you as the same; therefore lay me down all your commodities together-what I like I will take, and in return you shall have what I conceive to be a fair value." Smith reminded Captain Newport of the hazard he would incur by accepting the offer; but Newport being a vain man, and expecting to dazzle "the emperor" by his bounty, complied with his request, and it unluckily proved as Smith had predicted. "The corn," said the latter, "might as well have been purchased in Old Spain." They received scarcely four bushels, when they expected twenty hogsheads.

Smith next tried his hand, and relied for success, not upon "the emperor's" sagacity, but on his simplicity. He accordingly took some toys or gewgaws, and by glancing them dextrously in the light, they showed to great advantage. "The emperor" soon fixed his observing eye upon a string of blue beads, and became anxious to obtain them. - Smith, how. ever, was unwilling to part with these precious gems: "They being," as he said, "composed of the rarest substances, of the color of the skies, and fit to be worn only by the greatest kings in the world." The savage grew more and more eager to own such jewels, and a bargain was struck between the captain and "the emperor," to the entire satisfaction of both parties-by which Smith obtained two or three hundred bushels of corn for a pound or two of blue beads. Blue beads afterward grew in such estimation among the Indians, far and near, that none but great werowances, and their wives and daughters, dared to be seen with them-being, as it was supposed, imperial symbols of enormous value.

The capture of Smith afterward, and the story of Pocahontas, "the nonpareil of the country," as Smith used to call her, we pass over without comment; not because they are destitute of interest, but because we have neither time nor space to do them justice. Another consideration, too, has also weight with us. They are familiar, or ought to be so, to every child in this Republic. A repetition of them would, therefore, be unnecessary.

Having alluded to the style and manner in which "the emperor" lived, it may not, perhaps, be foreign to our purpose, to compare it with the style and manner of an English nobleman of the same period. We have already mentioned that Percy, a brother of the Earl of Northumberland, was among the first emigrants to Virginia. If the reader will peruse a note in Hume's history of England, which describes an ancestor of the noble earl, during the reign of Henry VII., (1508,) after the discovery of this country by Columbus, he will there learn, that there was not so much difference between an Indian prince and an English earl, as many suppose. (See note 1.) And were we to indulge ourselves in a still higher comparison, between "the emperor" and his royal brother of England, it would be questionable, perhaps, whether there was such a difference between them as by some is pretended. (See note 2.) Whether it be true, as James I. said to the English Parliament, in 1621: "That public transactions depended on a complication of views and intelligence, with which they (the Parliament) were entirely unacquainted; that they could not better show their wisdom, as well as duty, than by keeping within their proper sphere; and that in any business that depended on his prerogative, they had no title to interfere with their advice, except when he was pleased to desire it;" we shall not now assume the province, either to admit or deny. When, however, his majesty further says to his Parliament, in his address from the throne: "Although we cannot allow of your style, in maintaining your ancient and undoubted right and inheritance, but would rather have wished that ye had said that your privileges were derived from the grace and permission of our ancestors and us; yet we are pleased to give you our royal assurance, that as long as you contain yourselves within the limit of your duty, we will be as careful to maintain and preserve your lawful liberties and privileges, as any of our predecessors were:" we must confess that the style might have been improved, and, according to our ideas of liberty, its matter might have been amended in divers particulars. The English nation, however, at that time having been accustomed to hear such language from the throne, thought but little of the matter; and as the "divine right" of James I. and Powhattan emanated from the same source, and was supported by similar means, we will not attempt here to disturb its harmony.

Newport, on his return to England, fitted out another expedition, and repaired to Virginia with one hundred and twenty new emigrants. The new comers, however, were principally "vagabond gentlemen, and goldsmiths," and added little or nothing to the strength or importance of the colony. There was no talk now-no hope-no work; but dig goldwash gold-refine gold-and load gold. The refiners were enamored of their skill, and supposed themselves on the road to fortune. Smith was the only man to dispel this illusion. He saw famine staring them in the face, and strove hard to avert the impending calamity. He penetrated the interior-laid the foundation for beneficial intercourse, and com

menced trafficing with the natives; and on his return was made president of the council. Industry was fostered, and order at once diffused throughout the colony. In 1609, only thirty or forty acres in all, had been cleared and cultivated. It was, therefore, still necessary to obtain food from the Indians; and this was effected by Smith with extraordinary success. In 1609, five hundred additional emigrants arrived under Sir Thomas Gates and Sir Guy Somers. They were "desperate gallants," packed off to escape worse distresses at home; broken tradesmen-gentlemen impoverished in spirit and fortune; "rakes and libertines-men more fitted to corrupt than to found a commonwealth." Such were the materials of which the State of Virginia was originally composed. Such were its fathers-men, whose descendants have since asserted the liberty of this Republic by their eloquence, and defended it by their valor.

Smith resolutely maintained his authority over this unruly herd, until, by an accidental explosion of gunpowder, he was compelled to return to England for surgical aid. Having delegated his authority to Percy, he resorted thither, without having received in remuneration for his services, privations and sufferings, a shilling in money, or one foot of land-not even the house he had reared, or the field he had planted.

After Smith's departure the colony languished, and from four hundred and ninety persons, of whom at one time it consisted, but sixty remained, and these became so desperate and wretched, that they resolved to embark for Newfoundland, and dispose of themselves among the fishermen. "No one dropped a tear at parting, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness."

They fell down the river with the tide, in order to embark, and were met by Lord Delaware near its mouth with reinforcements and supplies. The fugitives paused, reconsidered their former resolution, and returned with alacrity to their deserted dwellings on the next day after they had left them; and by the ability and zeal of Lord Delaware, a new state of things shortly existed. When ill health compelled him afterward to leave the colony, he was succeeded by Sir Thomas Dale, an officer of great merit; and the latter, by Sir Thomas Gates of equal merit, first named in the Virginia patent. The lands were parcelled out among the colonists. The joint-stock system was abandoned, and the right of property was respected. Industry soon awoke from its long sleep, now sure of reward; and peace and plenty pervaded the land.

Lord Delaware arrived on the 10th of June, 1610, and from that time, more properly perhaps than from any other, may be dated the first settlement of Virginia.

During the administration of Sir Thomas Dale, the government was administered upon the basis of martial law. The code written in blood, was printed and sent thither by the treasurer, Sir Thomas Smith; and in substance was the same as the rules and articles of war, previously adopted in the Low Countries. The Episcopal church coeval with the settlement of James Town, was subjected to military rule, and courts mar

tial had authority to punish indifference with stripes, and infidelity with death. The introduction of this arbitrary system excited no commotion, because the colonists, not having as yet tasted of liberty, were unacquainted with its value.

In 1611, a hundred kine were sent thither by the company, the most fortunate step yet taken. This emanated from the wisdom of Cecil, and it is strange indeed, that a measure so important, should have been deferred so long. In the following year, (1612,) a modification of the charter was effected, which consisted in giving to the corporation a democratic form. All power previous to this, had resided in the council; it was now transferred in part to the company, frequent meetings of which were now held. Those meetings, contained the germ of another revolu tion, and became in a short time the theatre of bold and animated discussion. While the powers of the company were thus enlarged, the stability of the colony was confirmed. Some Indian tribes shortly thereafter, without solicitation, became the tributaries of King James, and the marriage of John Rolfe "an honest, discreet, and amiable enthusiast," with Pocahontas, the daughter of "the emperor" in April, 1613, gave to the whole scene the most animating effect.

Rolfe, it is said, daily and hourly, and as it were in his very sleep, heard a voice crying in his ears, that he should strive to make her a Christian. With the solicitude of a troubled soul, he reflected on the object and end of his being. "The Holy Spirit," (says Rolfe) "demanded of me why I was created; and conscience whispered, that rising above the censure of the low-minded,' he should lead the blind in the right path." After a long and serious struggle in his own mind, accompanied by daily prayer, he resolved "to labor for the conversion of the unregenerated maiden." He succeeded; and she stood in the little church of James Town, before the font, "hewn hollow like a canoe" from the trunk of a tree, and openly renounced "her country's idolatry, professed the faith of Jesus, and was baptized." This was followed by her nuptials with Rolfe. "She stammered out before the altar her marriage vows," and the English colonists and the tawny sons of the forest, to all appearance, were united in harmony."

A confirmed peace, not only with Powhattan, but with the powerful Chicahomanies, followed the marriage of Rolfe; and other tribes, from thenceforward, sought English protection.

In May, 1614, a petition for aid was presented in the House of Commons. "All that Virginia requires," (says the petition,) "is but a few honest laborers burdened with children." Although supported by Lord Delaware and other gentlemen of influence, it failed of success. It was not, therefore, to parliaments or to kings, that Virginia was indebted for its prosperity, but to the industry of its inhabitants, directed to the culture of its then staple article, tobacco-a better and surer resource than the patronage of England or any other country on the globe. Tobacco became eventually not only the staple but the currency of the country.

Industry being now respected and property secure, the emigrants began to think of public rights. Under the influence of faction, Argall had been appointed lieutenant governor of the colony, and martial law having been adopted, opportunities for unrestrained tyranny frequently occurred. These, Argall had improved; and the first appeal from America to England was in 1618, from his decision, condemning in a wanton manner a colonist to death. By the influence of Sir Edwin Sandys, the appeal succeeded, and the mild and popular Yeardly was appointed captain general of Virginia. During his administration, the colonists were allowed to participate for the first time in legislation; and in June, 1619, the first colonial assembly met in James Town. Two representatives from each of the eleven boroughs, hence called burgesses, constituted the first popular representative body, that ever met on this side of the Atlantic. Although their acts were of no force till ratified by the company in England, their first assembling was an era in the progress of freedom. They demanded a code based upon the English laws, and claimed the privileges of Englishmen.

Sir Edwin Sandys, the new treasurer, (the patriot party in England having now control of the London company,) set about reforming abuses in earnest. After twelve years of labor, and an expenditure of eighty thousand pounds by the company, there were not more than six hundred persons now resident in the colony, (1619.) Sir Edwin Sandys, in one year, provided a passage to Virginia for one thousand two hundred and sixty-one persons, and among them "ninety young ladies, agreeable persons and uncorrupt," who were assured of a cordial welcome. They were transported thither at the expense of the company, and married afterward to their tenants, and to others who were able to support them, and who willingly paid the costs of their passage, which were rigorously demanded. The adventure succeeded so well, that it was proposed to send hither a hundred more the ensuing year; before, however, they were collected, the company became so poor, that recourse was had to a subscription. After some delay, sixty were actually dispatched, "maids of virtuous education, young, handsome, and well recommended." Their price rose from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco, and in some cases even more. The debt contracted for a wife was a debt of honor, and took precedence of any other, and the company, in conferring employment, gave a preference to married men. Domestic ties were thus formed, and virtuous habits inculcated. The tide of emigration swelled at once to a mighty flood, and Virginia became a refuge even for Puritans.

On the resignation of Sandys as treasurer, in 1620, a struggle took place in the election of his successor. Many distinguished leaders in Parliament participated therein, and among others, King James himself. Notwithstanding, however, the opposition of the king, the choice fell upon the Earl of Southampton, the friend and patron of Shakspere. The company having now vindicated their own rights, proceeded to redress former