■z^b A. D. 1606. 



was in confequence of the newly incorporated Levant company of the 

 preceding year, eredied in perpetuity. 



Henry, the patriotic king of France, ereded a council for the encou- 

 ragement and improvement of commerce ; and he perfevered in his en- 

 deavours to introduce new manufa6lures in his kingdom. Befides thofe 

 already mentioned, mills for working and cleaning of iron, manufac- 

 tures of gauzes and thin linen cloth, cloth and ferges, and gilt leather, 

 were eftablifhed in various parts of France. 



Captain Gofnold having given an advantageous defcription of Virgi- 

 nia, as Raleigh and others had done before, the gentlemen and mer- 

 chants of England began to entertain frefh hopes of planting a perma- 

 nent colony there ; and both the London and Briftol merchants had for 

 three or four years paft, traded (as Gofnold had alfo done) for fuch 

 commodities as the Indians on the coafls of that country could fupply. 

 Captain Gilbert alfo in this year firfl landed in the great bay of Chefa- 

 peak, where he loft his life. Moreover, Captain Weymouth, fitted out 

 by the earl of Southampton and the Lord Arundel of Wardour in 

 the year 1605, had traded alfo on thofe coafts with the Indians, barter- 

 ing his beads, knives, combs, &c. for their furs, fkins, &c. to vafl pro- 

 fit. At length, after much folicitation, Captain Gofnold obtained of 

 King James a charter for two companies. 



The fii-ft company confifted of Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George So- 

 mers, Edward Wingfield, Efq. Mr. Hakluyt the induftrious compiler 

 of a colledion of voyages, and others, who, under the name of the 

 South Virginia company, or the London adventurers, had a patent for all 

 the lands in America comprehended between the 34th and 41ft degrees 

 of north latitude, which are now called Maryland, Virginia, and Ca- 

 rolina. 



The fecond company was called the Plymouth adventurers, who were 

 empowered to plant and inhabit as far as to 45 degrees of north lati- 

 tude, including what are now called Peni'ylvania, New Jerfey, New 

 York, and New England. But thefe laft did not plant till fome years 

 afterwards. 



The London company fent out two fhips, in which went Mr. Percy, 

 the earl of Northumberland's brother, and four more of the council 

 of that company, carrying with them a clergyman, fundry artificers 

 and tools, provifions, ammunition, &c. They landed and fortified three 

 miles from the mouth of Powhatan (now James river) v>'ithin Chefapeak 

 bay, and gave their firft fettlement the name of James town, which 

 it ftill retains. This therefor was properly the firft Englifti colony on 

 the continent of America which took root, and has proved permanent 

 to our days, all former attempts having proved abortive. Here one 

 hundred men fettled, with all necefiaries, and Captain John Smith (who 

 has written the firft account of the country) was left to be their princi- 



