The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5)

Commission of Cabot.... His voyage to America.... Views of discovery relinquished by Henry VII.... Resumed by Elizabeth.... Letters patent to Sir Humphry Gilbert.... His voyages and death.... Patent to Sir Walter Raleigh.... Voyage of Sir Richard Grenville.... Colonists carried back to England by Drake.... Grenville arrives with other colonists.... They are left on Roanoke Island.... Are destroyed by the Indians.... Arrival of John White.... He returns to England for succour.... Raleigh assigns his patent.... Patent to Sir Thomas Gates and others....

Code of laws for the proposed colony drawn up by the King.

The United States of America extend, on the Atlantic, from the bay of Passamaquoddi in the 45th, to Cape Florida in the 25th, degree of north latitude; and thence, on the gulf of Mexico, including the small adjacent islands to the mouth of the Sabine, in the 17th degree of west longitude from Washington. From the mouth of the Sabine to the Rocky mountains, they are separated from Spanish America by a line which pursues an irregular north-western direction to the 42d degree of north latitude, whence it proceeds west, to the Pacific. On the north they are bounded by the British provinces; from which, between the Lake of the Woods and the Rocky, or Stony mountains, they are separated by the 49th parallel of north latitude. Their northern boundary, west of these mountains, has not yet been adjusted.

The extent of this vast Republic, in consequence of its recent acquisition of almost unexplored territory, has not yet been accurately ascertained; but may be stated at two millions of square miles.

Its population, which began on the Atlantic, and is travelling rapidly westward, amounted in 1820, according to the census of that year, to nine millions six hundred and fifty-four thousand four hundred and fifteen persons. The enumerations which have been made under the authority of government, show an augmentation of numbers at the rate of about thirty-four per centum[2] in ten years; and it is probable, that for many years to come, this ratio will not be materially changed.

Public sentiment, to which the policy of the government conforms, is opposed to a large military establishment; and the distance of the United States from the great powers of the world, protects them from the danger to which this policy might otherwise expose them.

The navy has become an object of great interest to the nation, and may be expected to grow with its resources. In April 1816, Congress passed an act appropriating one million of dollars annually, to its gradual increase; and authorising the construction of nine ships, to rate not less than seventy-four guns each, and of twelve, to rate not less than forty-four guns each.

The execution of this act is in rapid progress. Inconsiderable as the navy now is, with respect to the number and force of its ships, it is deemed inferior to none in existence for the bravery and skill of its officers and men. When we take into view the extensive sea coast of the United States, the magnificent lakes, or inland seas, which form a considerable part of their northern frontier, the abundance of their materials for ship building, and the genius of their population for maritime enterprise, it is not easy to resist the conviction that this bulwark of defence will, at no very distant period, attain a size and strength sufficient to ensure the safety of the nation and the respect of the world.

The net revenue of the United States amounted, in the year 1822, to considerably more than twenty millions of dollars; and, unless a course of legislation unfavourable to its augmentation be adopted, must grow with their population.

In arts, in arms, and in power, they have advanced, and are advancing, with unexampled rapidity.

The history of their progress, from the first feeble settlements made by Europeans on a savage coast, to their present state of greatness; while it has just claims to the attention of the curious of all nations, may be expected deeply to interest every American.

Soon after the return of Columbus from that memorable voyage which opened the vast regions of the west to civilized man, the maritime states of Europe manifested a desire to share with Spain, the glory, the wealth, and the dominion to be acquired in the new world. By no one of these states, was this desire carried into action more promptly than by England, Henry VII. had received communications from Columbus, during the tedious and uncertain negotiations of that great man, at the dilatory court of Ferdinand, which prepared him for the important discoveries afterwards made, and inclined him to countenance the propositions of his own subjects for engaging in similar adventures. Commission of Cabot.On the 5th of March 1495, he granted a commission to John Cabot, an enterprising Venetian who had settled in Bristol, and to his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sanctius, empowering them, or either of them, to sail under the banner of England, towards the east, north, or west, in order to discover countries unoccupied by any Christian state, and to take possession of them in his name.

His voyage to America.

It does not appear that the expedition contemplated at the date of this commission was prosecuted immediately; but in May 1496, Cabot, with his second son, Sebastian, sailed from Bristol in a small squadron, consisting of one ship furnished by the King, and four barks fitted out by merchants of that city; and, steering almost due west, discovered the islands of Newfoundland and St. Johns, and, soon afterward, reached the continent of North America, along which he sailed from the fifty-sixth to the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude, in the vain hope of discovering a passage into the Pacific.

Thus, according to the English historians, was first discovered that immense continent which stretches from the gulf of Mexico as far north as has yet been explored; and to this voyage, the English trace their title to the country they afterwards acquired by settlement, and by arms.

France, which has since contested with Britain the possession of a considerable portion of this important territory, has also advanced claims to its discovery; but they seem not to be well founded.

The scheme of making settlements relinquished.

The ardour which had been excited in the bosom of Henry for making acquisitions in the new world, expired with this first effort. Cabot, on his return, found that monarch entirely disinclined to the farther prosecution of a scheme in which he had engaged with some zeal, the commencement of which had been attended with encouraging appearances.

Several causes are supposed to have contributed to suspend the pursuits of the English in America. Previous to its discovery, the Portuguese had explored the Azores, or Western Islands; in consequence of which they claimed this continent, and contended for the exclusion of the Spaniards from the Western Ocean. The controversy was decided by the Pope, who, on the 7th of May 1493, of his own "mere liberality and certain knowledge, and the plenitude of apostolic authority," granted to Spain, the countries discovered or to be discovered by her, to the westward of a line to be drawn from pole to pole, a hundred leagues west of the Azores; (excepting such countries as might be in the possession of any other Christian prince antecedent to the year 1493;) and to Portugal, her discoveries eastward of that line.

The validity of this grant was probably strengthened, in the opinion of Henry, by other circumstances. He set a high value on the friendship of the King of Spain, with whom he was then negotiating the marriage which afterwards took place between his eldest son and Catharine, the daughter of that monarch. Ferdinand was jealous to excess of all his rights; and Henry was not inclined to interrupt the harmony subsisting between the two crowns, by asserting claims to the country discovered by Cabot, which was obviously within the limits to which the pretensions of Spain extended.

Renewed by Elizabeth.

The fisheries of Newfoundland were carried on by individuals, to a considerable extent, and a paltry traffic was continued with the natives; but no serious design of acquiring territory, and planting colonies in America was formed until the reign of Elizabeth, when a plan for making permanent settlements was proposed and patronized by several persons of rank and influence. To select a man qualified for this arduous task, and disposed to engage in it, was among the first objects to which their attention was directed. Sir Humphry Gilbert had rendered himself conspicuous by his military services, and by a treatise concerning the north-west passage, in which great ingenuity and learning, are stated by Dr. Robertson, to be mingled with the enthusiasm, the credulity, and sanguine expectation which incite men to new and hazardous undertakings. On this gentleman the adventurers turned their eyes, and he was placed at the head of the enterprise. On the 11th of June 1578, he obtained letters patent from the Queen, vesting in him the powers that were required; on receiving which, he, with the associates of his voyage, embarked for America. But his success did not equal his expectations. The various difficulties inseparable from the settlement of a distant, unexplored country, inhabited only by savages; the inadequacy of the supplies which could be furnished for a colony by the funds of a few private individuals; the misfortune of having approached the continent too far towards the north, where the cold barren coast of Cape Breton was rather calculated to repel than invite a settlement; have been assigned as the probable causes of his failure.[3]

Two expeditions conducted by this gentleman ended disastrously. In the last, he himself perished; having done nothing farther in the execution of his patent, than taking possession of the island of Newfoundland, in the name of Elizabeth.

Sir Walter Raleigh, alike distinguished by his genius, his courage, and the severity of his fate, had been deeply interested in the adventures in which his half brother, Sir Humphry Gilbert, had wasted his fortune, and was not deterred by their failure, or by the difficulties attending such an enterprise, from prosecuting with vigour, a plan so well calculated to captivate his bold and romantic temper.