two others, one in each of the provinces, with subordinate jurisdiction. These bodies, called councils, were to consist severally of thirteen members, all to be appointed by the king. The councils were to administer the government according to a rule contained in ordinances and instructions signed with the royal hand, or the sign manual, and passed under the privy seal. By this code of instruction, the provincial councils were empowered to make all necessary regulations for the provinces, provided that they should be consonant to the laws of England, and subject to revision by the king or the supreme council in England. The councils were also authorized to levy duties on foreign commodities, and the amount thus raised might be used for the benefit of the colonies, for the space of twenty-one years, then, to be paid into the royal exchequer. They were to superintend and direct the distribution of lands among the settlers, and all lands that were granted out were to be held in free and common soccage only, and not in capite. They were to administer justice according to British customs and laws, and to establish Divine worship in conformity with the doctrines and rites of the Church of England. The colonists and their descendants were to have and enjoy all liberties, franchises, and immunities in the same manner as if they had remained, or been born, in England.

The conditions of the patent may be considered as they related to the company, and as they affected the settlers generally. In the former respect, the grant was sufficiently favorable, in view of the objects pursued. There is reason to believe that the companies did not contemplate the establishment of independent and prosperous communities, so much as their own particular advantage; they sought to secure for themselves, the real or imagined treasures of the new world.

Some of the provisions in relation to the settlers were such as to do honor to the royal grantor, but they were rendered of little effect from their incongruity with others. Lands were granted upon the freest tenure. All the rights and franchises of English subjects were also fully conceded, a grant however which it was scarcely necessary to make.

The liberties and franchises of Englishmen were not to be given

or withheld at the pleasure of the king; they were secured to every one by the laws of the realm, and the claim to them was neither lessened or lost, in the remotest parts of the kingdom. In conferring them, the king did but give, what the subject had a right to enjoy, either with, or without his grant. Yet, notwithstanding this, and notwithstanding the royal concession itself, the patent, in some of its provisions, was a virtual denial of the rights and immunities of Englishmen. It established a rule in which the people had no participation, either direct or remote. The whole government was in the hands of bodies appointed by the king, and holding and using their authority at his discretion; the royal element in the English government would therefore exist in the province to the exclusion of all the others. This indeed might amount to little more than a negative evil so long as the action of government was properly bounded; so long as it continued within the limits which marked out the sphere of royal authority. But these limits were not observed. New powers were assumed, and hence the colonists were reduced to absolute dependence upon the clemency or discretion of the king, except in a few particulars.

But these objections to the charter granted at this time, were but little regarded, and it was under the authority of this instrument that the first permanent settlement within the limits of the British possessions was made.

This enterprize was carried on by the South Virginia, or London Company. Three ships were sent out under the command of Christopher Newport, carrying a body of emigrants, one hundred in number. The expedition arrived in the bay of Chesapeake on the 26th of April, 1607.

Presently after landing, a situation for a settlement was sought out, and the place selected was called Jamestown, in honor of the king. The colony here planted was the first to take firm root in the country. The history of its early struggles cannot here be pursued, but it would be unjust to pass on without some notice of one individual. John Smith, one of the members of the Colonial Council, was a man who from nature and from previous habits, seemed to be fitted for the time, and the place. He had great

energy and determination, and was accustomed to strenuous effort. He shrunk from no trial or danger, and amidst the difficulties and perils of this period bore up the spirits of the people, and more than once preserved the colony from ruin. His prudence too, was equal to his vigor; whilst he boldly explored the country and kept the savages in awe, he directed the interests of the settlers, urging them to cultivate the lands, and to rely upon their own labor as the only sure means of success. He may be regarded as the true founder of this settlement, and indeed, as a chief leader of colonization in the new world.

After a trial of three years, the South Virginia Company became dissatisfied with the state of the colony, and upon application to the king, they received on the 23d of May, 1609, a new charter containing a grant of additional priviledges and powers. The company was made "one body or commonalty perpetual," and was incorporated under the name of "The Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London, for the first colony of Virginia." To this body an absolute title was given to the territory extending from Point Comfort, two hundred miles to the north, and the same distance to the south, and reaching westwardly from sea to sea.

This grant differed from the former one in several particulars. The whole of the lands included within the limits just mentioned, were given absolutely to the company as property; before, a small portion only was thus granted. The limits also were enlarged in some directions, but were reduced toward the north; two hundred miles from Point Comfort northwardly, would only reach to the fortieth degree of latitude, whereas the former grant extended to the forty-first degree.

The territory between the fortieth and forty-first degrees, in which more than one half of the State of New Jersey was included, fell from the time of this grant, under the sole authority of the Northern Virginia, or Plymouth Company. Before this, both the Virginia companies had a claim within this extent. Hence, from the time of the second grant to the Southern Company, the country which is here to be particularly noticed, belonged, in part to one company, and in part to the

other, the fortieth degrees of latitude being the line of division between them.9

Such was the situation of affairs when a new company of explorers made their appearance, as will be noticed in the ensuing chapter.

The extensive grant that had been made to the Northern Company was reduced by the positive limitation of the second patent to the Southern one, and thus by a loss and gain between the two bodies, the limit came to be fixed as is here mentioned.

CHAPTER III.

THE DUTCH CLAIM.

In the year 1609, Henry Hudson, a native of England, visited the American Continent with a view to the discovery of a northwest passage to the Indies. The discovery of a continent of almost measureless extent, and teeming with all the elements of wealth, had not lessened the desire of the people of Europe to reach and to share the riches of "the gorgeous East." To find a more direct passage to that region, was an object which continued to claim the attention and to excite the efforts of governments and of corporate bodies, as well as of private adventurers. Hudson had already been repeatedly engaged in these attempts. On his present voyage, he proceeded closely beside the American coast, and examined the appearance and direction of some of the principal streams. On the 28th of August he entered "a great Bay," the same to which the name Delaware was afterwards given.' But he did not explore the stream to any extent, finding it to promise but little in reference to the special object he had in view, and after a brief survey, he proceeded onward in a northwardly direction. On the 12th of September he entered a bay farther north, the Bay of New York, and discovered the river which still bears his name. After exploring this stream and holding some intercourse with the natives upon its shores, the commander descended and immediately put to sea, and proceeded to Europe.

The next year after the voyage of Hudson, Lord Delaware touched at this bay on his passage to Virginia. It is probable that either he or some of his company gave his name to the bay at that time, for about two years afterwards, in May, 1612, it was mentioned by the name of Delaware Bay, in a letter written by Captain Argal, from Virginia. The letter is given in Purchas.

It is to be observed that Hudson proceeded at first, from north to south, he afterwards changed his course and ran in an opposite direction. In the first part of his voyage-he made the land first in the latitude of fourty-four degrees, fifteen