The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1898-10-16


| find the following record preserved Of the
| landing of Lord Delaware, June 10, 1919:
Before he showed any token, or per-
formed any act OF authority, he fell upon
his knees, and In the presence OF all the
people, made a long and silent prayer
70 himself after which he rose, and
marching In procession TO the town.
passed on into the church, where he
heard a sermon"
In 1911 we find the habits of the colony
thus described "They worked from 8
o'clock In the morning until TO- and from
IN the afternoon until 4:at both which
times they are provided Of spiritual
and corporal reliefe. First, they enter
the church and make their praires unto
God; next they return to their houses
and receive their proportion Of food
Again. when Sir Thomas Dale, High
Marshall of Virginia. landed at Old
Point the 18th OF May, 16l1, he states
that being Sunday in the afternoon"
when he landed, he first reoaired 10 tie
church" where Mr.. Pool gave a sermon.
In another place we read that they .ock
their captive Indians 10 m)inu5 AID
evening prayers.
THE EARLY TRIALS.
or the story OF the trials and suffer
ings and vicissltudes of the colony 10 is
difficult to speak IN the brief time at my
disposal. 1t is truly an Had OF woes
that those early chronicles contain, and
the pen Of a Virgil or a Homer would
be needed 10 do It justice. Certain IL is
that men have never stood in greater
need OF the support and consolation OF
the Christian faith than did the coionists
Of jamestown during the first quarter
Of century after their landing.
The very next day after they landed
they began TO build their fort on what
is now an island, but was then n pen
insula, connected with the mainland by
narrow stretch Of sand They chose it
for the double advantage OF anchorage
and defense. not only as chiefly against
tho Indians. but against the dreaded
power Of Spain.
Within two weeks after their landing
the savages made a murderous attack
upon them in the absence OF Captain
Smith The same summer n terrible
scourge OF sickness decimated their ranks
20 such a point that the living wear
scarce able to bury the dead The fol-
lowing January every house but three
I'm the plantation was destroyed by fire.
The same month Newport arrived from
England with succOr and with second
supply Of colonlsts.
Nv The shrewd sense and masterful viii
of Smith the Colony was saved from de-
struction. But after his departure In the
autumn Of 1909 disaster again overlook
IL. The starving time" fell upon them
ike relentless fate and Of the so souls
whom Smith left behind him in October,
1909 by the following May, 1910. only sixty
miserable wretchcs, men. women and
children. survived. and they had eaten the
very skins Of their horses and finally had
resorted 10 cannibalism They We're
scarcely able TO totter about the ruined
village" and the CLEAN Of madness was
In their eyes, So IN June il was resolved
TO abandon the Colony. Those three
brave captains. Gates and Somers and
Newport. consulted together, land de-
cided with tears I'm their eyes that Nir-
ginla must be abandoned" ION Thurs
day, eth June. 1910 10 the funereal roll
Of drums the cabins were stripped OF
such things as could be carried away, and
the doeful company went aboard the
pinnaces. weighed anchor. and started
down the river" But Heaven had de-
creed otherwise. Lord Delaware with his
little fleet of well stocked ships arrived I'M
the nick of time, and Virginia was saved.
such were some of the vicissitudes and
suffering which the infant Colony expert
enced during the first sixteen years. from
1901 10 1923. Ii has been reckoncd That
during that period no less than 600 COD
onsls landed here. and that at the close
Of IL only about 1919 survived. These fig
ures tell a terrible story Of hardship, sui-
fering and death.
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
Something more ought 20 be said here
Of Capt. John Smith. The history of the
planting Of an English nation on these
shores is indissolubly connected with his
name. because it was his indomitable en-
ergy and clear, practical ability that saw
cd the Colony from dissolution in the
first years of IT'S existence II has been
the fashion to sheer at Smith as a vapor-
ing braggart, but the careful ana candid
historians are finding out that he was
truly q remarkable man. real maker of
history whose deeds mark him as a man
OF "heroic mould" Mr.. John Flske has
given the world a complete vindicatiOn
both Of his ability and his illustrious
services. lie describes him as man OF
great force and incisiveness Of character
OF dignity and purity, "a staunch Puritan
In morals. though not IL doctrine
New Englanders may be reminded that
Il was he who first explored their coast
in 1914, and changed the name OF that part
Of tne country from North Virginia TO
New England. You will expect some in
ference 10 the church whose ruined tower
is DeApIe Us
There is good reason to conclude that
the first brick church was erected here on
the sites OF Smiths and Lord Delaware's
churches In 163S-40. and that though it
may have been damaged by fire ia Ba-
cons rebellion, IL was not destroyed, and
that the present ruins are those OF that
first brick church. and that after being
repaired. that church continued IN use at
least until 1913. But of this there can be
no doubt: upon yonder spot stood the
church in which POcahOntas, the Indian
princess. daughter OF the great king
Powhatan, was baptized, under the
Scripture name OF keDekah, in the year
l61l
There also she was married TO John
Rolfe. a highly reputable English gentle
man. From this union sprang many men
who have held honorable place and dis
tinction in the history OF the Old Do
miniOn.
This Indian maiden had been the good
angel of the Colony. exhibiting both cour-
age and tact and resource in succoring
the distressed adventures. Her visit TO
England. the distinguished reception ac-
corded her there, her dignihed, modest
and womanly bearing-her pathetic death
at Gravesend in 1911 on the eve Of en-
barking with her husband ana son for
Anerica-are we'll known. l may remark
that it is in connection with her remarka-
BILE history that Mr.. Fiske makes the
following caustic observation: "Skepucism
which is commonly supposed 20 indicate
superior sagacity. is quite as likely to re-
suit from imperfect understandings
Needless TO add that able historian holds