contributed in money and supplies to the expedition, were assembled, and
the fleet numbered altogether nine vessels. But Newport and his fellow
commissioners suffered shipwreck on the Bermudas, and did not reach
Jamestown till nine months later, in May, 1610. The calamitous state of
things which there awaited them was an unwelcome surprise; and the
despairing colonists would be contented with nothing short of exportation
to Newfoundland. But before they could gain the sea, Lord Delaware with
his ships and provisions was met coming into port; and the intending
fugitives turned back with him. The hungry were fed, order was restored,
and industry was re-established. A wave of religious feeling swept over
the little community; the rule of Lord Delaware was mild, but just and
firm; and all would have been well had not his health failed, and
compelled him, in the spring of 1611, to return to England. The colony was
disheartened anew, and the arrival of Sir Thomas Dale in Delaware's place
did not at first relieve the depression; his training had been military,
and he administered affairs by martial law. But he believed in the future
of the enterprise, and so impressed his views upon the English council
that six more ships, with three hundred emigrants, were immediately sent
to their relief. Grates, who brought these recruits to Jamestown, assumed
the governorship, and a genuine prosperity began. Among the most important
of the improvements introduced was an approximation to the right of
private ownership in land, which had hitherto been altogether denied, and
which gave the emigrants a personal interest in the welfare of the
enterprise. In 1612 a third charter was granted, still further increasing
the privileges of the settlers, who now found themselves possessed of
almost the same political powers as they had enjoyed at home. It was still
possible, as was thereafter shown, for unjust and selfish governors to
inflict misery and discontent upon the people; but it was also possible,
under the law, to give them substantial freedom and happiness; and that
was a new light in political conceptions.