before. They found matters in so desperate a state that it was resolved to abandon the country and take the few survivors back to England. Some of the settlers, glad to escape from that wretched place, proposed to burn Jamestown, but fortunately this was not done. There was none to shed a tear over their ruined hopes, none that mourned their wrecked enterprise.

Lord Delaware Arrives.-They had actually embarked and dropped some distance down the river with the tide, when they met a fleet of ships coming up the stream. It was commanded by Lord Delaware, who had been appointed governor of Virginia by the London Company, and given a new charter under which he had entire control of the colony. The ships contained abundant supplies and a new company of colonists, and at the command of the new governor the vessel turned back and Jamestown was once more saved from ruin. Lord Delaware, on landing, fell upon his knees and thanked God that he had come in time to save Virginia.

Governor Dale.-Lord Delaware remained but a few months, ill health obliging him to return. Governor Dale, a stern old soldier, succeeded him. He was a rigid martinet. If a colonist dared to criticise his doings, he had a hole bored through his tongue. A man who refused to go to church was starved and whipped until he changed his mind.

Communism.-Yet with all his strictness he had good sense. Up to this time the colony had been conducted on the plan of communism. That is, there was no separate property. All things belonged to the community. All products were brought to the public storehouse, out of which every one was fed. This system was well meant, but it did not work well, since it discouraged industry and

encouraged idleness. The lazy would not work at all if they could get food without. The industrious would not work hard if they were to be no better off for it.

A Change of Plan.-Governor Dale changed this system. He gave every settler a tract of land, on which he could work for himself. At a later date any one was permitted to purchase one hundred acres. At once a new spirit was shown. Work became brisk. Even the lazy were spurred to exertion. It was now only required that each farmer should bring yearly two and a half bushels of corn to the public granary, as a tax in kind.

A New Industry.-In 1612, John Rolfe, a prominent settler, began the systematic culture of tobacco. This plant was rapidly becoming an article of common use in England. King James was strongly opposed to it, and wrote a pamphlet called "Counterblast against Tobacco." But as his people smoked in spite of his counterblast, he tried to make it of use by laying a heavy tax on it.1

1

The demand for tobacco increased. By 1616 the settlers were giving nearly all their time to it. At one time it was planted even in the streets of Jamestown. Its cultivation quickly carried the colony from adversity to prosperity. Many English farmers now came to Virginia, hoping to make their fortunes from the new plant. By 1619 the annual shipment of tobacco to England was more than forty thousand pounds. By 1670 it reached twelve million pounds.

The Effect of this Industry.-As a result of this culture nearly all the Virginians became farmers. Few towns

1 Tobacco had long been in use by the Indians. Its name is believed to have been derived from "tabaco," the Carib name for the instrument used in inhaling its smoke. It was first brought to England by Sir Francis Drake.

were built. Tobacco plantations were formed on the banks of all the rivers, where vessels could load and whence the tobacco could be shipped direct to England. In time plantations lined both banks of the James for many miles, while the culture flourished also on the banks of the Chesapeake and of its smaller rivers.

Marriage of Pocahontas.-John Rolfe, who introduced the culture of tobacco in 1612, married the following year,

POCAHONTAS.

his wife being Pocahontas, the Indian maiden who had saved Captain Smith's life, and who had now grown to womanhood. She was baptized in the little church of Jamestown, and there married to young Rolfe. Three years afterward he took her to England, where her grace and simplicity of manners won the greatest admiration. As she was about to return to Virginia with her husband, she suddenly sickened and died. She left an

infant son, who gained distinction in later life, and from whom many Virginians of to-day are indirectly or directly descended.

This marriage had one important effect. It won the friendship of Powhatan, the father of Pocahontas, for the colonists. There was no more trouble with the Indians while he lived, while his death was quickly followed by a

massacre.

Importation of Women.-Rolfe's seeking an Indian bride may have been partly due to the lack of young women in Virginia. There were married women there,

but few maidens. This was a serious defect in the organization of the colony, and the London Company, perceiving this want, sent over ninety young women as wives for the colonists. The price for the passage of each was fixed at one hundred pounds of the best tobacco,-afterward it went up to one hundred and fifty pounds,-a sum which had to be paid by the young planters who wanted these maidens for wives. The price was willingly paid, and the demand was so brisk that the first importation was quickly disposed of, and others were sent for.

The Need of Laborers.-The demand for new immigrants was not confined to wives. Laborers were as greatly needed. The rapidly growing cultivation of the tobacco plant had caused the taking up of large tracts of land, divided into numerous plantations, and needing many hands alike for work in the fields, the curing of the leaf, and its conveyance to the water's edge for shipment abroad.

The Apprentice System.-This need was filled in a violent manner, well suited to the character of the times, but which would be impossible in these days. Shiploads of criminals were taken from the crowded prisons of England and sent to Virginia to be sold into years of slavery. This business became profitable, and the numbers were added to by kidnapping. Gypsies, vagabonds, and orphan children were seized in the English seaports and sent as laborers across the ocean. The vile gangs of kidnappers did not confine themselves to this class, but reputable persons were sometimes added to the number. Some enterprising young men without money, who wanted to get to America, came over willingly in this way.

In Virginia these persons were bound out to labor for a term of years. They were called "indentured servants,"

but were practically slaves during their term of service. When set free some of them became planters themselves; some fell back into their old idle vagabondage; some made their way to the frontier and became hunters and trappers.

Negro Slavery.-In August, 1619, a Dutch vessel came into the James River, and sold twenty negroes as slaves to the colonists. As they proved useful on the plantations, others were soon brought. By the year 1700 there were enough of them to serve the purposes of the planters, and the system of white apprenticeship soon ceased.

System of Government.-Up to 1619 the colonists were virtually slaves themselves. They had no voice in their

king. When governors came, beginning with Lord Delaware, they had arbitrary power, and used it in an arbitrary fashion. They made what laws they pleased, and forced the people to work for the benefit of the company.

This system worked well enough with the French and

Spanish colonists, who had been governed in much the same way at home, and knew no better method. It did