1485-1603 through a thousand perils, to their vessels. All these, as well as his explorations, the natural advantages of the country, the riches of the natives, the fertility of the soil, and the salubrity of the climate, he described in such seductive language, in an account which he published, that numbers offered to share with him the charges of another expedition; and, while he embarked in the memorable expedition to Cadiz, his friend, Laurence Keymis, made the second voyage to Guiana (1596). But no settlement was formed, nor any additional discoveries made. 9. Attempts to establish a colony at Virginia. Raleigh would have prevented one great reproach being placed upon his character, had he sailed to relieve the poor colonists whom he had left in Virginia, instead of making a wild expedition in search of a fabulous empire. In 1576, Sir Humphrey Gilbert (Raleigh's step-brother) obtained letters patent from Queen Elizabeth, giving to him, his heirs and assigns, full power to discover and subdue foreign and heathen lands not in the possession of any Christian prince, nor inhabited by any Christian people; to hold them of the English crown, on the payment of one-fifth of all the gold and silver ore that might be extracted; to resist and expel all who attempted to settle within two hundred leagues of the place where he or his dependents might fix their habitation within the next six years; and to capture all ships which attempted to trade. in the rivers, or on the coasts within the limits aforesaid.* In consequence of this most ample grant, Gilbert undertook two voyages to North America, landing in Newfoundland in the second one (1583), and taking possession of the country in the sovereign's name, with the usual feudal ceremonies. But no settlement was made; and, when Gilbert sailed in search of a more favourable shore, his ships met with such disasters that he was compelled to return. The largest ship deserted, under pretence of a contagious disease; but most of the crew were pirates. The ship, called the Admiral, was lost in a storm; and then Gilbert, in defiance of advice, hoisted his flag in a small vessel of ten tons. On the 9th of September, while they shipwreck were contending with " foul weather and terrible seas, Humphrey breaking short and high, pyramid-wise-men, which all Gilbert. their life had occupied the sea, never saw it more outrageous," the pinnace was nearly cast away. Yet at that time she recovered; and, giving forth signs of joy, the general, sitting abaft with a book in his hand, cried out to those in the Golden Hind, as often as they came within hearing, We We are as near heaven at sea as on land." That same midnight the lights of the pinnace suddenly went out, and Gilbert and his little crew were swallowed up in the deep. He was the worthiest man of that age.† Raleigh, not 66 of Sir * Robertson's America, II., 295-296; Hakluyt, III., 135. † Ibid, III., 143, &c. Sir voyage. CHAP. VII. disheartened by the fate of his relative, procured a patent, as ample as his brother's, in the following year (1584); and immediately sent out two exploring ships, with instructions to take a more southerly course. The result was the discovery of that part of the American continent which Elizabeth, in allusion to herself, honoured with the name of Virginia. Raleigh's patent was then confirmed by act of parliament, and, early in 1585, he sent out a fleet of seven vessels, under the command of his relative, Sir Richard Grenville, another of the grand men of this heroic age. After sailing among the West India islands, and capturing Spanish prizes (for Englishmen in those days, always turned aside to have a shot at the "ravenous strangers"), Grenville landed a colony of 108 persons on the island of Roanoke, an incommodious station, without any safe harbour, and almost uninhabited. Scarcely had the ships departed, when the settlers became involved in hostilities with the natives; and, provisions becoming scarce, they were glad to embark in the fleet of Sir Francis Drake, who chanced to touch at the place on his return from an expedition against the Spanish Main. They arrived in England about the end of July, 1586. A fortnight after their departure, Grenville came to their relief; and, finding them gone, left fifteen men in the place, with provisions for two years. Next year (1587), Raleigh sent out three more vessels, with a governor, Captain John White, and assistants, to whom he gave a charter, incorporating them by the name of the governor and assistants of the city of Raleigh, in Virginia. A miserable spectacle met their gaze on reaching Roanoke-the bones of the fifteen men, who had been murdered by the Indians, lay scattered about; the buildings were deserted; the fort was in ruins; and the wild deer had returned to the haunts from which they had been driven. When White returned to England for provisions, he found the public mind solely occupied with the Spanish Armada; Raleigh was too busy to attend to his infant colony; and what became of the unhappy settlers is a matter of gloomy uncertainty. Certain it is they perished; and thus terminated the work of colonisation, as prosecuted by the English in the reign of Elizabeth.* 10. Voyages to India and the South Sea. It was natural that the English, after all the experience gained in these daring enterprises, should be prepared for bolder speculation, and begin to extend their views to the most distant regions of the world. As early as 1530, Captain William Hawkins, the father of the * Southey's Lives, IV., 217-241; Robertson's America. II., 295-304. 1485-1603 Islands famous Sir John Hawkins, traded regularly with the coast of Guinea and Brazil, and thus led his countrymen half way to India and the South Sea. How Drake and Cavendish followed him years afterwards, we have before seen. In a second South Sea voyage undertaken by Cavendish (1591), Davis, the Falkland Arctic navigator, discovered the Falkland Islands; Andrew discovered. Merrick made another voyage to the same regions; and in 1593 Sir Richard Hawkins, the brother of Sir John, set out in his ship, called by his wife Repentance, because that "was the safest ship we could sail to purchase the haven of Heaven"; but altered by Queen Elizabeth to the name of the Dainty. He purposed sailing to Japan, China, and the East Indian Islands, but he was taken by the Spaniards off the coast of Peru. Two years before this, the first English voyage to India, round the Cape, was made, under the auspices of the Turkey Company. In 1583, they despatched two agents, Newbery and Fitch, to Tripoli, in Syria, whence they proceeded to Bagdad, down the Tigris and Persian Gulf to Ormus, where they embarked for Goa. Newbery died in India; but Fitch visited Agra, Bengal, Pegu, Ceylon, and Cochin, and returned to England in 1591. Furnished with the information thus obtained, Captain Lancaster, with three Lancaster's ships, sailed from Plymouth for the Cape of Good Hope. India. Lancaster's vessel reached India alone; he took in a cargo of pepper and other spices at Sumatra and Ceylon, and then set out for the West Indies, where he lost his ship, and was left with his crew on the unhabited island of Mona, near Hispaniola, from which he was brought home to Europe by a French vessel, in May, 1594. The scheme, however, was still prosecuted, and on the 22nd of September, 1599, a public meeting was held at Founders' Hall, London, where an independent associa- East India tion was formed, and incorporated by royal charter in the formed. following year, under the title of "The Governor and Company of the Merchants of London, trading to the East Indies." voyages to Company The charter, among other privileges, conferred the exclusive right of trading, for fifteen years, to all parts of Asia, Africa, and America, beyond the Cape of Good Hope eastward as far as the Straits of Magellan, except such countries and ports as might be in the actual possession of any Christian prince at amity with the Queen. The company commenced proceedings without delay, by sending out five ships, under Captain Lancaster (February-April, 1601). He reached Sumatra on the 5th of June, 1602; sent a pinnace to the Moluccas, and established a factory in the island of Java. When he returned (September 11th, 1603), Elizabeth was no more, so that the history of English commerce with India belongs to a later period. CHAP. VII. 11. English trade with Antwerp: The Intercursus Magnus. The rapidity with which all these discoveries followed each other, soon began to effect an important change in Europe. Gold, silver, West Indian spices, and all the luxuries of the east, became common in the markets of the west, especially at Antwerp, which was the greatest emporium of the age, and contained above a thousand foreign merchants. Its commerce with England was very great; indeed, the Netherlands, from very early times, kept up an active intercourse with this country, and our sovereigns were always prudent enough to encourage it. In 1496, Henry VII. made that great treaty with the Archduke Philip, called the Intercursus Magnus, which may be called the earliest commercial treaty, based upon the principles of free trade. It stipulated the freedom of trading to the ports of both countries without passport or licence; freedom of fishing on the coasts of both; mutual protection against pirates; and free shelter in storm. The pillage of wrecks before a year after the time of the wreck was restrained; the usual privileges of traders were secured; the arrest of foreign debtors regulated; the importation into either country of an enemy's goods forbidden; and no letters of marque or reprisal were to be granted, till after due warning to the sovereign of the wrong doer. Effects of No other transaction," observes Mackintosh,* "had before so strongly evidenced, that Europe began to recognise a reciprocity of rights and duties between states, and to reverence a the treaty code of rules and usages as much morally obligatory on nations, as the ordinary maxims of private duty are on the conscience of individuals." It is evident that an approach was being made to those mighty but unobserved changes which were about to raise the middle classes to greater influence; to restore personal property to that equality with real, of which the feudal institutions had robbed it; to extend political importance to the lowest limits of liberal education, and to diffuse that education so widely, as to alter the seat of power, and bring into question many opinions hitherto prevalent amongst statesmen. The commodities which England obtained from the market at Antwerp, comprised every commercial article of the day, while she in return sent wools and draperies, metals, peltry, and provisions. The English cloths and stuffs were then sent by the Antwerp traders to every place in Europe, and in Germany were highly esteemed as rare and curious things. The place where the merchants of the several nations congregated, was called the English Bourse, or Exchange. But when the Dutch rose in rebellion against their Spanish rulers, and Antwerp was sacked by the Duke of Parma (1585), this great trade became The Antwerp trade. 1485-1603 dispersed over several countries. The fishing trade removed to Holland; the woollen manufacture settled in Leyden, and the linen, in Amsterdam and Haarlem; and about a third part of the trade in silks, damasks, serges, and stockings, settled in England. The Dutch were then fast depriving the Spaniards and Portuguese of their trade, and Amsterdam became the greatest emporium of Europe. channels merchants 12. Restrictions upon English trade. The new channels of trade opened out by the discoveries, and which have been noticed, were the Newfoundland cod-fishery, the Greenland whale- New fishery, the East Indian, Russian, and Turkey trades. of trade. Ships from Bristol took out cloth, soap, and other articles to the Canaries, and brought back drugs, sugar, and kidskins; others brought elephants' teeth from Guinea, and tall ships of London and Southampton conveyed English woollen cloths to Syria and the Levant, and returned laden with silks, camlets, rhubarb, malmsey, muscadel and other wines, oils, cotton wool, Turkey carpets, and Indian spices. But English merchants laboured under many disadvantages at first. The government Foreign still encouraged the settlement of foreigners in England, encouraged. and granted them charters, with exclusive privileges, and permission to settle in all the large towns. The German merchants of the Steelyard, and the merchants of the Staple, were still important companies, and Henry VII. granted a charter to certain Venetian merchants resident in London. Indeed, there were traders of every nation to be found in London, as well as in Antwerp. But the presence of these was odious to the English, and always had. been; and in 1517, a great insurrection of the Londoners was made against them, which, from the day on which it occurred, was long remembered under the name of "Evil May-day." The complaint against them was, that they were so numerous, the English merchants had nothing to do, and it was impossible to buy, except from them. They also forestalled the market, it was said, so that no good thing came thither, and Englishmen lacked and starved, while the foreigners lived in plenty and pleasure. Another circumstance which restricted the commercial Statutes enterprises of native merchants was the spirit of legislation, trade. as shown by different statutes enacted against usury, or interest, by which credit, one of the great foundations of commerce, was destroyed. Capital, thus forbidden to be invested, was accumulated in the form of plate, and no one who had in his house less than £100 worth of silver plate was considered to be worth anything. A statute of Henry, however, allowed a rate of 10 per cent. interest, restricting |