Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Patent

WHILST Drake was plundering Spanish settlements in South America and circumnavigating the globe to avoid his enemies, the minds of the British queen and many of her leading subjects were powerfully directed to the more beneficent object of founding colonies in the region of North America discovered by Cabot three-fourths of a century before. With these better desires were mingled a thirst for gold which they believed existed in abundance somewhere in those regions. There were yearnings, also, for planting settlements and searching for treasures on the borders of the beautiful lands whose marvellous imagery had been portrayed by the shipwrecked Huguenots and the letters of Raleigh from France. These desires had assumed a more tangible shape than the day-dreams which had floated in the minds of England's monarch and people. They had been stimulated into action by Raleigh, on his return from the continent; and his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert--a kindred spirit--through the intervention of the young pupil of Coligni, obtained a patent from Elizabeth, which authorized him to explore and appropriate remote and barbarous lands unoccupied by Christian powers, and to hold them as fiefs or estates of the crown of England. That was in the year 1578. Gilbert did not believe there could be profit in searching for gold in the higher latitudes. A more comprehensive view of the fisheries off New-foundland, to which four hundred vessels from Europe repaired annually, turned his thoughts now to a project of planting a colony on that island; and in this scheme Raleigh acquiesced.

Walter Raleigh was one of the most illustrious of the English adventurers of his time. When, through his influence at court, Gilbert obtained his patent, he was only twenty-six years of age. Endowed with brilliant genius, unbounded ambition and extraordinary activity, his mind grasped the boldest projects, and his versatility, enthusiasm and credulity, led him to the immediate execution of any scheme which he might conceive. "Framed in the prodigality of nature," says an English author, "he was at once the most industrious scholar and the most accomplished courtier of his age; as a projector, profound, ingenious, and indefatigable; as a soldier, prompt, daring, and heroic; 'so contemplative (says an old writer), that he might have been judged unfit for action; so active, that he seemed to have no leisure for contemplation.' The chief defect of his mental temperament was the absence of moderation and regulation of thought and aim. Smitten with a love of glorious achievement, he had unfortunately embraced the maxim that 'whatever is not extraordinary is nothing;' and his mind (till the last scene of his life) was not sufficiently pervaded by religion to recognize that nobility of purpose which ennobles the commonest actions, and elevates circumstances instead of borrowing dignity from them. Uncontrolled by steady principle and sober calculation, the fancy and the passions of Raleigh transported him, in some instances, beyond the bounds rectitude, honor and propriety; and, seconded by the malevolence of his fortune, entailed reproaches on his character and discomfiture on his undertakings. But though adversity might cloud his path, it would never depress his spirit, or quench a single ray of his genius. He subscribed to his fortune with a noble grace, and by the universal consent of mankind his errors and infirmities have been deemed within the protection of his glory."

Raleigh became a favorite of his queen by a single act of gallantry. He had lately returned from Ireland, where he had distinguished himself in putting down the rebellion of the Desmonds. Meeting the queen one day whilst she was walking with two of her maids of honor, he took from his shoulders his rich velvet mantle, and bowing gracefully, spread it over a wet spot in her path for her to walk upon. Because of this delicate gallantry, Raleigh was immediately admitted to court, where he and the accomplished Essex became powerful rivals for the queen's special favor. Their intrigues were ceaseless and often romantic, and filled a large space in the gossip of court circles. Raleigh soon tired of such a fruitless life, and leaving the business of a courtier, engaged again in the graver thoughts and duties pertaining to American colonization.

Gilbert's patent, which bound him to pay to the crown one-fifth part of all gold and silver which the countries he might discover and colonize should produce, invested him with the powers of a civil and criminal legislator over the inhabitants of any territory which he might occupy, provided the laws should be in accordance with the statutes and policy of England, and not in derogation of supreme allegiance to the crown. It also guaranteed to his followers the civil rights of Englishmen. The patent, so far as it related to the appropriation of territory, extended six years, during which time no other persons should be permitted to establish a settlement within two hundred leagues of any spot which these adventurers might occupy.