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enterprising spirit was destined to exert a powerful
and long-continued influence.
His first appearance in
America was as a surveyor,
1 sent by the London company to make a map of the country.
At the fall of the corporation, he had been appointed by King James a
member of the council;
2 and, on the accession of Charles, was continued in office, and, in repeated com-
missions, was nominated secretary of state.
3 At the
same time, he received authority from the governors of
Virginia to discover the source of the
Bay of the
Chesapeake, and, indeed, any part of that province, from the thirty-fourth to the forty-first degree of latitude.
4 It was, therefore, natural that he should become familiar with the opportunities for traffic which the country afforded; and the jurisdiction and the settlement of
Virginia seemed about to extend to the forty-first parallel of latitude, which was then the boundary of
New England.
Upon his favorable representation, a company was formed in
England for trading with the natives; and, through the agency of
Sir William Alexander, the Scottish proprietary of
Nova Scotia, a royal license was issued, sanctioning the commerce, and conferring on
Clayborne powers of government over the companions of his voyages.
5 Harvey enforced the commands of his sovereign, and
confirmed the license by a colonial commission.
6 The
Dutch plantations were esteemed to border upon
Virginia.
After long experience as a surveyor, and after years employed in discoveries,
Clayborne, now acting under the royal license, formed establishments, not only on
Kent Island, then within the Old Dominion, but
