The sun., 1909-01-10

interest was detected TO the colonizatio,
OF America. It 10 we'll known that 70,
long time the American continent wa,
In the eyes Of many merely halfway
station TO an ultimate goal In the east
In 1873 Gilbert received a patsnt from
Queen Elizabeth permitting him 10 founA
a colony in America. The first attemp,
was a complete failure. and the secono
expedition was equally unsuccessful,
except In so far as during It's cours:
! lin 1881 he took formal possession O,
Newfoundland, whose fishing banks, how.
ever, ever since Cabot's time had beeu
more OF less regularly visited by Engss
fishermen. On Gilbert's death his naia
brother, Raleigh. was empowered te
continue the work OF colonization by
letters patent issued in 1884. We need
not follow any further the familiar story
whose repeated miscarriages were at
length succeeded by permanent settle.
ments at jamestown, Plymouth and
Massachusetts, Bay.
As regards the attitude OF the English
Government toward the oolonizing move
ment the fact which needs to be KEEP,
In view and which is never overlooked
by the author of this volume 10 tha'
American colonies were looked upor
partly as a field for the propagation Of
the Christian religion. but mainly. IL 10
to be feared. as sources OF supply whence
England could obtain commodities whict
hitherto she had been compelled TO i'm.
port from foreign countries. III the landf
settled by Englishmen from Albemarls
Sound to the Kennebec River could no,
produce precious metals or sugar or
indigo or cotton. at least they could be
expected to furnish the naval stores for
which England had hitherto been de
pendent principally on the Baltic regions,
The fact that the desired amount Of nava.
stores demanded from New Englanc
was not forthcoming tended in the sos
Of the seventeenth century to pref
udice the Government OF the English
Commonwealth against that section OF
the English colonies and led to a resolute
attempt to bring about the wholesale
migration Of the inhabitants Of Massa-
chusetts Bay to the West Indies. At that
juncture, as almost always. everything
depended on the point OF view. and II
the single test Of a colony's value TO the
mother country was it's ability to pro-
vide the supplies needed the failure OF
Massao ohusetts Bay TO do this was not
unreasonably looked upon as a proof OF
worthlessness.
The truth is that during the serious
economic crisis which Massachusetts, Bay
underwent In 1899 and 1910 there had been
a spontaneous movement OF immigration
a. Iala In tho pahannac
Speaking OF the movement In 1880. VIM
throp wrote: Many men began TO inquire
after the southern parts, and the great
advantages supposed to be had in Vir-
pinia and the West Indies made this
country to be disesteemed OF many" Ten
years later the author OF "A Perfect De-
scription Of Virginia. expressed the belief
that "it was great pity that all those people
Iof New Englandl, being now about LOCO,
did not seat themselves at first TO the
south of Virginia in a warm and rich
country. where their industry would have
produced sugar. indigo. ginger, cotton
and the like commodities Relying
probably, on such reports and keenly
alive to the advantages Of tropical col
onization, Cromwell when Lord Protector
assumed that New England could be only
a temporary refuge for the Puritans and
planned a more or less general removal
Of its population to Jamaica. A serious
effort to this end was made. but as by this
time QeS8) the New Englanders had be-
come more satisfied with their lot it mis-
carried entirely. Nothing could bring
out moro strongly the point Of view Of the
most enlightened English statesmen in
the middle Of the seventeenth century
than the fact that they highly valued New
foundland for the product Of it's fisheries.
but desired to bring about the abandon
ment OF Massachusetts, Bay. OF course
Cromwell put his proposal not on eco
nomic but religious grounds. He did
apprehend,' he said. that the people OF
New England had as clear a call to trans
port themselves thence to Jamaica as
they had from England TO New England
in order to their betterng their outward
conditions. God having promised that
His people should be the head and not
The tell