George Bancroft, History of the Colonization of the United States, Vol. 1, 17th edition.

[136] emoluments;¹ the enthusiasm of the English seemed

Chap. IV.} 1609.

exalted by the train of misfortunes; and more vast and honorable plan² were conceived, which were to be effected by more numerous and opulent associates Not only were the limits of the colony extended, the company was enlarged by the subscriptions of many of the nobility and gentry of England, and of the tradesmen of London; and the name of the powerful Cecil, the inveterate enemy and successful rival of Raleigh, appears at the head of chose,³ who were to carry into execution the vast design to which Raleigh, now a close prisoner in the tower, had first awakened the attention of his countrymen. At the request of the corporation, which was become a very powerful body, without any regard to the rights or wishes of those who had already emigrated under the sanction of existing laws, the constitution of Virginia was radically

May 23.

changed.

The new charter⁴ transferred to the company the powers which had before been reserved to the king. The supreme council in England was now to be chosen by the stockholders themselves, and, in the exercise of the powers of legislation and government, was independent of the monarch. The governor in Virginia might rule the colonists with uncontrolled authority, according to the tenor of the instructions and laws established by the council, or, in want of them, according to his own good discretion, even in cases capital and criminal, not less than civil; and, in the event of mutiny or rebellion, he might declare martial law, being himself the judge of the necessity of the measure,