The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1900-10-05
The BANKERS AND FIRST SET
Tiers.
monwealth.

To-day is not the first time in the his
tor, of Virginia that the James River has
carried on its bosom a body of men who
were deeply interested in the future pros
perty of the country at which they were
looking Some two hundred an! ninety
odd years ago the first settlers &an'e to
this commonwealth in three small ships,
and despite the fact that many of ;tlcm
were undoubtedly drawn hither Ivy noble
sentiments there IS little doubt but that
the moving spirit in this enterprise was
the desire to earn a dividend for the Nir-
ginia Company. Michael Drayton, the
poet laureate of England, wrote a fare
well ode 10 those hardly souls and larded
to the skies Their noble resolve to get
pearls ana gold in Virginia. earth's only
paradise We are apt to forget in look
ing back at the tolls which those men
endured and the su:ferings which they
underwent in order that they might win
THIS land FOR themselves and their chill
tlren. that when they first looked at the
broad expanse and wooded shores of The
stately river, the fair meadows AMI lefty
forests that lie on its banks, they saw
a field wherein they might reap an ample
reward for their labor. And they saw it
gladly. for they had laborea to small adj
vantage in England.
All of the contemporary letters ard
books on Virginia set forth with an en-
thusiasm that would put the cheerfuest
prospectus TO blush the great wealth that
was TO be reaped from the iron mines and
silk worms, from the skins and ivory, the
maize and fruits, the tobacco and rare
woods that lay ready for the hanc! of
man in the fair and bountiful soil Of
Virginia
The settlers came expecting comforts
and luxuries that had been utterly I'M
7 known to England. The ci1,ef men in the
Virginia Company saw dividends beyond
the dreams of avarice. and SO seeing they
encouraged the poor from the streets Of
London and the lanes of England to enter
into the field that lay before them and
vigorously exploit it. But like most en-
terpr:ses even this met with unforeseen
difficulties and heavy contingent expenses.
The possibilities were vast, but early re-
turns were visionary. It was not because
the scheme was not feasible, but because,
like every undertaking of great magnitude,
it required years Of labor and eXpendi-
ture of wealth to get she necessary mo-
mentum. The end was never II doubt,
it was the beginning that was difficult, for
i. took money TO buy plows and horses
and build log cabins, ana tie Iadian
showed q totally. unexpected resistance
to the proposition that he should move
west in the cause of civilization. And so
the first body of men the James River
suffered terribly from lack of strong flnan-
cial support.
The day of the underwater was ncr. yet.
THE oay of the syndicate that could and
woud put up the necessary money had
MT cawned. and the hardy adventures
of those days gained by their hearts blood
and the sweat Of their brow the Soodly
heritage that to-day lies spread before the
eyes of that body of men whose business
and reason for existence It is to help
our modern explorers IN their efforts to
find new fields for energies and new
sources for comfort for the teening mil
lions that are always pressing Up to-
wards a higher level