BRITISH, COLONIAL, AND OTHER CORRESPONDENCE, ETC. 567 



He afterwards repeated the voyage, formed an acquaintance with 

 the natives, and during his residence, Sir Humphrey Gilbert arrived 

 in Newfoundland with three ships (some say five) and 250 men, 

 with a commission from Queen Elizabeth to take possession of the 

 island for the crown. On the 5th August, 1583, he took formal 

 possession in the name of his sovereign, and received the acknowl- 

 edged obedience of the crews of thirty-six vessels of different nations, 

 then in the harbour of St. John's. 



He then promulgated some laws for the government of the colony 

 and levied contributions of provisions on the ships there. He left 

 Newfoundland on the 20th August with three ships, one of which was 

 lost on the Isle of Sables; and on returning homeward, the ship 

 which he commanded foundered during a storm, and all on board per- 

 ished. He is described as a gentleman of the most amiable character, 

 engaging manners, courage, wisdom, and learning, and also much 

 esteemed by Queen Elizabeth. He may justly be considered the par- 

 ent of English colonies. After this we find no mention of Newfound- 

 land until 1585, when a voyage was made there by Sir Bernard 

 Drake, who claimed its sovereignty and fishery in the name of Queen 

 Elizabeth, and seized upon several Portugese ships laden with fish, 

 oil, and furs. 



The most active spirit of discovery and commercial enterprise was 

 at this period beginning to rouse the people of England ; but the war 

 with Spain, and the terror of the Grand Armada, checked, although 

 it did not subdue, the ardour of the most sanguine of those who were 

 bent on planting newly-discovered countries ; and fifteen years passed 

 away before another voyage was made to Newfoundland. The spirit 

 of trade and discovery was again revived in England by Mr. Guy, an 

 intelligent merchant of Bristol, who wrote several judicious treatises 

 on colonization and commerce ; and, from the arguments of this gen- 

 tleman, several persons of distinction applied to James I. for that part 

 of Newfoundland lying between the Capes of St. Mary and Bona- 

 vista, which they obtained in 1610, under the designation of " The 

 Treasurer and Company of Adventurers and Planters of the Cities of 

 London and Bristol, for the Colony of Newfoundland." This patent 

 was granted to the Earl of Northampton, the Lord Chief Baron Tan- 

 field, Sir John Doddridge, Lord Chancellor Bacon, Lord Verulam, 

 &c., and was in substance, " That whereas divers of his Majesty's sub- 

 jects were desirous to plant in the southern and eastern parts of New- 

 foundland, where the subjects of this realm have, for upwards of 

 fifty years past, been used annually, in no small numbers, to resort to 

 fish, intending thereby to secure the trade of fishing to our subjects 

 for ever ; as also to make some advantage of the lands thereof, which 

 hitherto have remained unprofitable; wherefore, his Majesty now 

 grants to Henry, Earl of Northampton, (and forty-four persons here- 

 in named,) their heirs and assigns, to be a corporation with perpetual 

 succession, &c., by the name of the Treasurer and Company of Ad- 

 venturers and Planters of the Cities of London and Bristol, for the 

 Colony and Plantation in Newfoundland, from north latitude 46 to 

 52 ; together with the seas and islands lying within ten leagues of 

 the coast; and all mines, &c., saving to all his Majesty's subjects the 

 liberty of fishing there," &c. 



My Guy went to Newfoundland as conductor of the first colony, 

 which he settled in Conception Bay, and remained there two years; 



