first child of English parents on American soil was born there, and was named "Virginia Dare." She was grandchild of the governor of the settlement. He went to England without his family, and was gone several years; and, when he came back, the whole colony had disappeared; and no one has ever discovered what became of little Virginia and her companions.

Thus colony after colony proved unsuccessful; and, for a long time, the most important results of the new discoveries, so far as England was concerned, appeared to be the introduction of potatoes and tobacco. They are both said to have been made known through Sir Walter Raleigh; and it is said that when, after one of his voyages, he sat smoking in his room in England, some one threw a pail of water over him, supposing him to be on fire.

Finally, in April, 1606, King James I. granted a charter to two companies formed in England. This charter gave them the whole continent of North America, from the thirty-fourth to the forty-fifth parallel of latitude. That left the French undisturbed at the north, and the Spaniards at the south; and yet it included all the present States along the Atlantic, north of South Carolina, except a part of Maine. As was said before, all this territory was called "Virginia" by the English. The books of that day said, "Virginia is that country of the earth which the ancients called Morosa, between Florida and New France."

Moreover, the king decided that this territory should be further divided into two parts. The London Company must take the southern half, and the Plymouth Company the northern half; and their nearest settle

ments must be a hundred miles apart, so that there should be no quarrelling.

Then the two companies sent out their colonies about the same time. The southern colony reached Jamestown, Va., in April, 1607; and the northern colony arrived at the mouth of the Kennebec River in August of the same year. The southern colonists remained, and founded what is now the State of Virginia; but

the Maine colonists gave up their enterprise very soon. Most of them went back to England in the autumn; but a portion staid till spring, building a storehouse, with a fort, which was called "Fort St. George." But they suffered great hardships; and in the spring their leader, George Popham, died, and all the survivors returned home. If they had remained, Maine would have been permanently settled almost as early as Virginia. The colonists under Popham did some good by

helping to establish the English title to the country; but they did harm by telling everybody, after their return, that New England was too cold to be inhabited. This so discouraged the people who had thought of emigrating, that it was more than twelve years before another colony came to New England. Thus Virginia was the oldest of the English colonies; but I shall tell their story in geographical order, beginning with the New England States, because this arrangement will be easier to remember, and less confusing, than to regard only the order of time.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE MASSACHUSETTS COLONIES.

THE PLYMOUTH COLONY.

ORE than two centuries and a half ago, there was a time of great religious persecution in England. People had not then learned to leave each other free to worship, or to abstain from worship, in their own way. If a man did not attend the services of the Established Church of England, he was liable to be severely punished; and, if he attended any other religious service, it might lead to exile or death. So a great many of the persecuted people went to live in Holland, where there was more religious freedom. There they dwelt in peace, and won the respect of all. The Dutch magistrates said, "These English have lived among us now these twelve years, and yet we never had any suit or accusation against any of them.”

But, when children began to grow up around them, these exiles thought that they would rather teach their boys and girls the English language, and give them an English education. Besides, war between the Dutch and Spaniards was just beginning again, after ten years of peace; and this caused the English emigrants. much anxiety. They had to work very hard, too, and

began to wish that they could be laboring to found a settlement of their own, where they could feel at home. Above all, they wished to do something, as they said, "for the propagating and advancing the gospel of the kingdom of Christ in the remote parts of the world." So they decided to leave Holland for the unexplored continent of America, where there was as yet no English settlement but in Virginia. Even before they had resolved on this, they had been called familiarly by the name of " Pilgrims;" because they were wandering from place to place on the way "to heaven, their dearest country," as they said.

So, out of a thousand English Pilgrims in Holland, about a hundred were selected to go to America, "such of the youngest and strongest as freely offered themselves." They procured two small vessels, the

Speedwell," of sixty tons, and the "Mayflower," of one hundred and eighty tons; this last being intended to sail from Southampton, England. In July, 1620, the "Speedwell" sailed from Delft-Haven. The Pilgrims had religious services before sailing; and their old minister, John Robinson, said in his address to them, "I charge you, before God and his blessed angels, that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord has more truth yet to break out of his holy word." Then they were feasted. at the pastor's house; and one of them wrote, “We refreshed ourselves, after tears, with singing of psalms, making joyful melody in our hearts, as well as with the voice; there being many of the congregation very expert in music; and indeed it was the sweetest melody that mine ears ever heard."