OUTLINE. HISTORY OF VIRGINIA. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION, PROGRESS OF COMMERCE, ROANOKE SETTLEMENTS. Discovery of America.—England.—Want of Commerce in early times.—Voyages of the Cabots.-Progress of English discovery-Frobisher-Gilbert-Raleigh.-Failure of the Roanoke settlements. THE claims of the Icelanders, the Welsh, and even the Norwegians,* to the discovery of America, seem in modern times to be universally set aside in favor of a native of a milder clime. Indeed, the evidence by which their respective claims were sought to be established was so vague, contradictory, and unsatisfactory,† and their discoveries, if proved, so entirely accidental, and useless to mankind, that it is not at all astonishing that all, the merit should be given to that individual whose brilliant genius first demonstrated a priori the existence of a continent in the western waters, and whose adventurous daringt led him to risk his life in the search of a world, of the existence of which he was only informed by his science, with little aid of any human experience; or that posterity should give to COLUMBUS the undivided glory of an exploit for which he received only the ignominy of his contemporaries, and to Italy the honor due the birthplace of so distinguished a son, from whose brilliant achievements she has received little else. In 1460, the Portuguese discovered the Cape de Verd islands, and afterwards extended their discoveries farther south. This near prospect of an easier and more direct route to India, had already begun to excite the jealousy of the Venetians, who then nearly monopolized the trade of India, and to elevate the hopes of the Portuguese, who expected to enjoy a portion of the wealth and luxury which the Venetians derived from that trade; when the minds of both, and indeed of all Europe, were turned in another * Winterbotham's America, vol. I. p. 1 and 2, and Hinton's United States. + Bancroft's Hist. U. States, vol. I. p. 6, and notes. "L'Italie reparut, avec les divins tresors que les Grecs fugitifs rapportèrent dans son sein; le ciei lui révéla ses lois; l'audace de ses enfants découvrit un nouvel hémis phère.”—De Staël-Corinne. direction by the occurrence of an event in the history of maritine discovery, compared with which all others sunk into insignifi cance. This event was the discovery of America, by Christopher Columbus. The education of this daring mariner, his disOct. 11, 1492. appointments and dangers, his difficulties and his brilliant success, or the melancholy story of his sad reverses, and the example afforded in him of the ingratitude of kings, it is not the purpose of the writer to narrate. He refrains from recounting so temptingly interesting a narrative, because it would lead him too far from his purpose, which is only to narrate succinctly the progress of navigation and discovery to the time of the first colony settled in Virginia,-and because the same story has been so well told by Robertson, Irving, and others, that it ought to be fa-, miliar to all. Notwithstanding the advances in navigation which have been enumerated, the art of ship-building was still in such a rude and imperfect state, that the vessels in which Columbus embarked on an unknown sea, a modern mariner, with all the advantages of modern science, would scarcely venture in, to cross the Atlantic. The largest was a vessel of no considerable burden,* and the two others scarcely superior in burden to large boats, and the united crews of the three only amounted to ninety men, including officers, and a few gentlemen, adventurers from Isabella's court. But notwithstanding these inadequate means for the prosecution of maritime discovery, the ardor of enterprise was so much excited by the brilliant achievements of Columbus, the greedy thirst for gain, and hope of finding some country abounding in gold, together with the eager desire which still prevailed of discovering some passage through the great continent of America, which might lead to India, that in twenty-six years from the first discovery of land by Columbus, the Spaniards had visited all of the islands of the West Indies-they had sailed on the eastern coast of America from the Rio de la Plata to the western extremity of the Mexican Gulf-they had discovered the great Southern Ocean, and had acquired considerable knowledge of the coast of Florida. It is also said that these voyages in search of a nearer passage to the East Indies, had extended much farther north, but not however until that country had been discovered by the seamen of another nation, of whose exploits in the field of maritime adventure we shall presently speak. The great interior was still unknown, the whole western and the extreme southeastern coasts were still undiscovered, and the long line of coast from Florida to Labrador had only been seen, and touched upon in a few places. England did not at an early period make those advances in navigation, to which the eminent advantages of her insular situation Robertson-Hist. America, 49. invited, and gave no promise of that maritime distinction, and commercial wealth, to which the wise policy of her subsequent rulers have led her to attain. From the times of the conquest to the discovery of America, England had been engaged in perpetual wars, either foreign or domestic; and thus, while the southern portion of Europe and the free cities on the Rhine were advancing so rapidly in opulence and power, England was destitute of even the germ of that naval strength to which she is so much indebted for her present greatness. Every article of foreign growth or fabric which she consumed, was wafted to her shores in the barks of other nations, and the subsequent mistress of the seas scarcely dared to float her flag beyond the limits of her own narrow jurisdiction. Scarcely an English ship traded with Spain or Portugal before the beginning of the fifteenth century, and it required another half century to give the British mariner courage enough to venture to the east of the Pillars of Hercules.* Feeble as the marine of England then was, her reigning monarch, Henry VII., did not lack the spirit required for undertaking great enterprises, and accident only deprived him of the glory of being the patron of the discoverer of America. Columbus, after the failure of his own native country of Genoa to encourage his great enterprise, and his second rebuff from his adopted country, Portugal, fearing another refusal from the king of Castile, to whose court he then directed his steps, dispatched his brother Bartholomew to England to solicit the aid of Henry VII., who being then at peace, was supposed to have leisure to undertake a great enterprise which promised such renown to himself and emolument to England. Bartholomew was captured by pirates on his voyage, and robbed of all his effects, which, with an illness that followed, prevented him from presenting himself at court, after he arrived in England, until he could provide himself with suitable apparel Feb. 13, 1488.+ by his skill in drawing maps and sea-charts. He brought himself to the notice of Henry by presenting him with a map, and upon his representing to him the proposal of Columbus, he accepted it with "a joyful countenance, and bade him fetch his brother." So much delay had been produced by the circumstances mentioned, that Bartholomew, hastening to Castile, learned at Paris, from Charles, king of France, that his brother Christopher's efforts had already been crowned with the most brilliant success. When we reflect upon the difficulties which were thrown in the way of Columbus at the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, even after they became convinced of the practicability of his scheme, Robertson's Virginia, p. 18, 19. + This date is preserved in some curious verses upon the map, of which we give a specimen: "Bartholmew Colon de Terra Rubra." "The yeere of Grace, a thousand and four hundred and fourscore" "And eight, and on the thirteenth day of February more," "In London published this worke. To Christ all laud therefore." Hacklyt, vol. III p. 22. and the yet more arduous difficulties which he encountered on his voyage, from the mutinous timidity of his crew, we may well doubt whether Henry's courage would have sustained him in the actual accomplishment of the enterprise, or whether England at that time afforded mariners sufficiently hardy to have persevered a sufficient length of time in a seemingly endless voyage upon an unknown sea. Fortunately, perhaps, for mankind, the courage of England was not put to the test of making the first great advenJune 24, 1497. ture; and whether she would have succeeded in that or not, she was not destitute of sufficient courage to undertake an enterprise of very considerable magnitude at that day, soon after the existence of land in our western hemisphere had been discovered. The merit of this new enterprise is also due to a native of Italy, and his motive was the same which prevailed in most of the adventures of the time, the desire to discover a new route to India. Giovanni Gaboto, better known by his anglicised name of John Cabot, a Venetian merchant who had settled at Bristol, obtained · from Henry a charter for himself and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Santius, allowing them full power and authority to sail into all places in the eastern, western, or northern sea, under the banners of England, with five ships, at their own proper costs and charges, to discover countries before unknown to Christians, to plant the banners of England in all such places, and to take possession of them, to hold as vassals of England, to have the exclusive monopoly of the trade of all such places, paying to the king one-fifth of the clear profits of every voyage. All other persons were prohibited from visiting such places, and the Cabots were bound always to land on their return only at Bristol. Under this patent, containing "the worst features of colonial monopoly and commercial restriction," John Cabot, and his celebrated son Sebastian, embarked for the west. The object of Cabot being to discover the passage to India, he pursued a course more northwardly than any selected by previous navigators, and the first land he reached was the coast of Newfoundland, which on that account he named Prima Vista; next the Island of St. John; and finally the continent, among the "polar bears, the rude savages and dismal cliffs of Labrador;" and this seems to have been the only fruit of the first British voyage to America. In the following year a new patent was given to John Cabot, and the enterprise was conducted by his adventurous Feb. 3, 1498. and distinguished son, Sebastian. In this expedition, which was undertaken for the purposes of trade as well as discovery, several merchants of London took part, and even the king himself. Cabot sailed in a northwest course, in hopes of finding a northwest passage to India, as far probably as the 58th or 60th degree of latitude, until he was stopped by the quantities of ice which he encountered, and the extreme severity of the weather; he then turned his course southward and followed the coast, aĉcording to some writers to the coast of Virginia, and in the opinion of some, as far as the coast of Florida. The only commodities with which he returned to England, as far as our accounts inform us, were three of the natives of the newly discovered countries. He found, upon his return, the king immersed in his preparations for a war with Scotland, which prevented his engaging in any further prosecution of his discoveries, or entertaining any design of settlement. It is not our purpose to notice the Portuguese discoveries under Cotereal, the French under Verrazzani and Cartier, or their abortive attempt at settlements in Canada and New England. Nor shall we notice the extensive inland expedition of the Spaniards under Soto from Florida, through the states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, across the Mississippi, and into Louisiana,-or the attempts of the French at settlement in Florida and the Carolinas,— these matters belong rather to the history of the United States, than to the sketch of the history of Virginia which we propose to give. We pass at once to the British attempts at colonization in America. The progress of maritime adventure extended rapidly. The evidence exists of several English voyages having been made not only to the coast of North America, but the Levant, the harbors of northern Africa and Brazil. The visits to the fisheries 1548. of Newfoundland had become frequent; and the commerce from that source had become of such importance, and had been the subject of such long and oppressive exactions, as to require the action of parliament for their prohibition. India was still the great object with the merchants, and the dis covery of a nearer passage than that offered by the Cape 1550. of Good Hope, the great desideratum with mariners. The northwestern passage had been attempted thrice by the Cabots in vain; a northeastern expedition was fitted out, and sailed under the command of Willoughby and Chancellor. Willoughby with his ship's company were found in their vessel frozen to death in a Lapland harbor; Chancellor with his vessel entered the port of Archangel, and "discovered" the vast empire of Russia, till 1554. then unknown to Western Europe. This discovery led to the hope of establishing an intercourse by means of caravans across the continent to Persia, and thence to the distant 1568. empire of Cathay. Elizabeth afforded every encouragement to the maritime enterprises of her subjects, and especially encouraged the newly established intercourse with Russia. The hope of discovering a 1576. northwest passage was by no means as yet relinquished. Martin Frobisher, after revolving in his mind the subject for fifteen years, believed that it might be accomplished, and "determined and resolved within himself to go and make full proof thereof," "knowing this to be the only thing in the world that was left |