urer until the close of the year 1618, when he was succeeded by Sir Edwin Sandys, who was succeeded by his brother, George Sandys, who came to Virginia and completed, on the banks of the James river, a translation of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, the first English book prepared in America, which was published in London in 1621. The portrait of George Sandys appears in this work. Sir Thomas Smith was a man of ability, and evidently an astute politician. He is stated by the historian, Rev. E. D. Neill, to have been embassador to Russia, but it is probable that the envoy was another of the same name and title, who died Nov. 28, 1609.

EDWARD MARIA WINGFIELD.

Edward Maria Wingfield, the first President of the Council in Virginia, was a man of gentle birth and honorable record, who had been a companion of Ferdinando Gorges in the European wars, subsequently served in the English army in Ireland, it is presumed with the rank of captain, as he is so designated in the "List of Adventurers," and, later, had been a merchant in London. Because of disagreements in the Colony, he returned to England in 1608. He wrote "A Discourse of Virginia,” which was first printed in 1860 by the American Antiquarian Society, with an introduction and notes by Charles Deane, LL.D.

JOHN RATCLIFFE.

Captain John Ratcliffe was President of the Colony from September 10, 1607, to September 7, 1608, when, suffering from a wounded hand and enfeebled by sickness, he went to England, but returned in command of the "Diamond," with colonists, in July, of the following year.

CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH.

A biographical notice of Captain John Smith, President of the Colony from September 7, 1608, to August, 1609, will be found in the historical sketch of Virginia, in the second volume of VIRGINIA AND VIRGINIANS. He has been justly termed "the father of Virginia."

CAPTAIN GEORGE PERCY.

Captain George Percy, a younger brother of Henry, Earl of Northumberland, President of the Colony of Virginia from August, 1609, to May 23, 1610, and from March 28, 1611, to May 19, 1611, and sometime its faithful treasurer, was born September 4, 1586, and died, unmarried, in March, 1632. He was a gentleman of honor and resolution," and had served with distinction in the wars of the Low Countries,

and his soldierly qualities were evidenced in the Colony as a leader against the Indians, as well as his administrative ability as the successor of John Smith. The portrait of him given in this work is from a faithful copy of the original at Syon House, the seat of the Duke of Northumberland, made, in 1853, for the Virginia Historical Society. A mutilated hand in the portrait, it is said, was the result of a wound received in battle.

LORD DE LA WARR.

Sir Thomas West, third Lord De La Warr (or Delaware, as the name now obtains in America), the first resident Governor-in-Chief of the Colony of Virginia, and the descendant of a long line of noble ancestry, was born about the year 1579. His relatives and family connections, who were closely allied with royalty, were among the most active and influential agents of American colonization. The Virginia colony being in a languishing condition, the London Company obtained, May 23, 1609, a second charter, with enlarged privileges and territory, and, under it, Lord De La Warr received the appointment of "Governor and Captain General of Virginia" for life. He is contemporaneously characterized as "one of approved courage, temper and experience," and as "religious, wise, and of a valorous mind." The newly organized Company embraced an imposing representation of rank, wealth and influence, and to the "example, constancy and resolution" of Lord De La Warr is ascribed this revival of " that which was almost lifeless."

The new Governor arrived at Jamestown, June 10, 1610, and immediately instituted vigorous measures for the recuperation of the drooping settlement. The church at Jamestown was repaired and religious services regularly held; two forts were built on the Southampton river, and called after the King's sons, Henry and Charles, respectively. The administration of Lord De La Warr, though ludicrously ostentatious for so insignificant a dominion, was yet highly wholesome, and under his judicious discipline the settlement was restored to order and contentment. His health failing, Lord De La Warr sailed March 28, 1611, for the Island of Mevis, for the benefit of the warm baths, leaving his colony in the charge of Captain George Percy. His health improving somewhat, he desired to return to his government in Virginia, but was overruled by medical advice, and sailed for England instead. His generous exertions for the welfare of the Colony here continued were most assiduous, and were largely instrumental in the frequent procurement for it of new supplies, and in securing a third and yet more advantageous charter for the Company, which was granted by the King, March 12, 1611-12. Lord De La Warr set sail from England to return to Virginia some time in March or April, 1618, but unfortunately died in or near Delaware Bay, on the 7th of June following, sealing his devotion to the Colony

with his life, after having dissipated his fortune in the advancement of its interests. The portrait of Lord De La Warr given in this work is from a photograph of the original at Buckhurst Park, in the county of Sussex, England, the seat of the present Earl De La Warr, and was furnished by Hon. L. S. Sackville West, a younger brother of the Earl and the present British minister at Washington, D. C. He prepared a "Relation" of the planting of his Colony in Virginia, which was published at London in 1611. It was reprinted (50 copies) in 1859, and again by R. W. Griswold (20 copies) in 1868. A letter from Lord De La Warr, July 7, 1610, from the Harleian manuscript, is printed in the Hakluyt Society's edition of Strachey, p. xxiii.

SIR THOMAS GATES.

Sir Thomas Gates, a patentee named in the first charter to the Virginia Company, was a Captain in the English army, and, by leave, served in the United Netherlands in 1608. He sailed for Virginia with the title of Lieutenant-General, accompanied by his wife and daughters, June 1, 1609, in the "Sea Venture," with colonists and supplies. The vessel being shipwrecked on the Bermudas, they were detained there some months, during which the wife of Gates died. He arrived at Jamestown May 23, 1609, and assumed the government of the Colony until the arrival of Lord De La Warr on the 10th of June following. Gates was sent to England the same year, and returned to the Colony with supplies in August, 1611. He remained as Governor until March, 1613, when he finally departed for England. He is mentioned subsequently as being present at a meetimg of the Virginia Company, held in London, July 13, 1619.

SIR THOMAS DALE.

Thomas Dale, a soldier of distinction in the Low Countries, was knighted by King James the First in June, 1608, as Sir Thomas Dale of Surrey. He sailed with the appointment of "high marshall" from England, for Virginia, March 17, 1611, arrived at Jamestown on the 19th of May following, and superseded Captain George Percy in the government of the Colony. The States-General soon after gave him a three years' leave of absence, which, in 1614, was extended. Under an extraordinary code of "Lawes, Divine, Morall and Martial," compiled by William Strachey, Dale inaugurated vigorous measures for the government and advancement of the Colony. He planted a new settlement at Henrico, remedied to some extent the pernicious system of a community of property by allotting to each settler three acres of land to be worked for his individual benefit; planted "comon gardens for hemp and flaxe, and such other seedes," and conquered the Appomattox Indians and took

their town. He was superseded by Sir Thomas Gates in August, 1611, but continued to take an active part in the affairs of the Colony; and on Gates' return to England in March, 1613, he resumed the government. It was under his auspices that the marriage of John Rolfe and Pocahontas was consummated, and this politic example he singularly attempted to follow himself, though he had a wife living in England. He sent Ralph Hamor (who had been Secretary of the Council under Lord De La Warr) to Powhatan, with a request for the younger sister of Pocahontas, a girl scarce twelve years of age, but his overtures were disdainfully rejected.

Dale returned to England in April, 1616. He was in Holland in Feb. ruary, 1617, and in January, 1619, was made Commodore of the East Indian fleet, and had an engagement with the Dutch near Bantam. His health gave way under the climate and he died early in 1620.

SIR GEORGE YEARDLEY.

Captain George Yeardley, as President of the Council, was left by Dale as his Deputy in the government of Virginia, upon the departure of the latter for England in April, 1616. Yeardley was superseded by Captain Samuel Argall, May 15, 1617, and returned to England. Upon the intelligence of the death of Lord De La Warr, Yeardley, who was knighted on the occasion, was appointed to succeed him. He arrived in the Colony April 19, 1619, and assumed the government. On July 30th following the first representative legislative assembly ever held in America was convened at Jamestown. Yeardley was superseded November 18, 1621, by Sir Francis Wyatt, but resumed the government May 17, 1626. He died in November following. During his administration many important improvements were made, and the power, population and prosperity of the Colony much enhanced.

He is reported in January, 1622, as having built a windmill, the first erected in America. He left a widow, Lady Temperance, and two sons, Francis and Argall, the first of whom remarkably instanced individual enterprise, effecting, in 1654, discoveries in North Carolina, and purchasing from the natives at a cost of £300, "three great rivers and all such others as they should like Southerly," which country he took possession of in the name of the Commonwealth. Sir George Yeardley has representative descendants of the name in the United States, but it is not known to the writer that such exist in Virginia.

SIR SAMUEL ARGALL.

Captain Samuel Argall, born at Bristol, England, in 1572, was a relative of Sir Thomas Smith, the Treasurer of the Virginia Company. He

first arrived in Virginia at Jamestown in July, 1609, with a ship-load of wine and provisions to trade on private account, and to fish for sturgeon contrary to the regulations of the Company. The colonists, suffering for provisions, seized his supplies. Argall remained in the Colony until June 19, 1610, when he sailed in the "Discovery" for the Bermudas for provisions for the Colony, in company with the vessel of Sir George Somers, from whom, however, he was soon separated in a violent storm. Being driven northward, he came to anchor in a great bay, which he named Delaware Bay. He soon made his way back to Jamestown, and about Christmas, sailing up the Potomac to trade with the natives, recovered from Jopassus, a brother of Powhatan, a captive English boy, Henry Spelman, who afterward wrote a narrative of his captivity, which was printed from the original manuscript by J. F. Hunnewell in 1872. In February, 1611, Argall attacked the chief of the Warroskoyaks for a breach of contract, and burned two of his towns. Early in 1613 he bribed Jopassus with a brass kettle to deliver Pocahontas into his hands, designing to hold her for a ransom.

In 1614, under orders from Sir Thomas Dale, Argall broke up the French settlement at Mt. Desert, on the coast of Maine, causing a war between the French and English colonists. He also destroyed the French settlements at St. Croix and Port Royal. He now sailed for England, where he arrived in June, 1614. He returned to Virginia as Deputy Governor, May 15, 1617, with a purpose to traffic in violation of the laws he was to administer. He found "the market place, streets, and other spare places in Jamestown planted in tobacco," so alluring to the colonists was the profit yielded by the weed. He enacted severe sumptuary laws, and by his arbitrary conduct rendered himself odious. He was recalled, and Sir George Yeardley appointed in his place, but, before the arrival of the latter, Argall secretly stole away from the Colony. Called to account for his misconduct, he was shielded from punishment by his trading partner, the Earl of Warwick. In 1620 he was a captain in the expedition against the Algerines; was knighted by James I. in 1623, and in 1625 was engaged in Cecil's expedition against the Spanish. He died in 1639. An account of his voyage from Jamestown in 1610, and his letter respecting his voyage to Virginia in 1617, are preserved in Purchas. After the death of Lord De La Warr, Argall took charge of his estate; and letters of Lady De La Warr are in existence accusing him of the most flagrant and barefaced peculation

CAPTAIN NATHANIEL POWELL.

Captain Nathaniel Powell, of the Council, was Acting Governor of the Colony from the departure of Argall, April 9, 1619, until the 19th inst.,