F 255 .N8765 V. 1 Copy 1 ADVANCE SHEETS OF LITERARY AND HISTORICAL ACTIVITIES IN NORTH CAROLINA, 1900-1905. Parts Relating to the First English Settlement in America and the Proposed Memorials thereof. ilnooujiiji^. ADVANCE SHEETS LITEH/f[YANDHISTO{|lC/L>C™^^^^ NORTH CAROLINA Since undertaking this publication it has been decided to enlarge its scope and change its subject matter to a considerable extent and therefore it has been thought best to issue what is already printed in the form of advanced sheets and issue the complete volume contemplated a little later. HISTOftlCAL AND LITERA[[Y ACTIVITIES NORTH CAROLINA. 1900-1905. PUBLICATIONS OF THE HISTORICAL COMMISSION Volume I. \V J PKELE. Chmrman J. D. HUFFHAM, H. [) VV. (X)NNOll, Secretary, RICHARD DILLARD, F. A. SONDLEY. OOMPILEO BY W. J. PEELE arid CLARENCE H. POE. GOLDS BORO : NASH BROS., PRINTERS AND BINDERS, 1904. Girt Author 17 '06 SIR WALTER RALEIQH. 1. Poem Read by Prof. Henry Jerome Stockard at Second Annual Meeting OF THE State Literary and Historical Association, October 33, 1901. He is not greatest who with pick and spade Makes excavations for some splendid fane; Nor he who lays with trowel, plumb, and line Upon the eternal rock its base of stone: Nor is he greatest who lifts slow its walls, Flutes its white pillars, runs its architrave And frieze and cornice, sets its pictured panes, And points its airy minarets with gold: Nor he who peoples angle, niche, and aisle With sculptured angels, and with symbol graves Column and arch and nave-and gallery: These are but del vers, masons, artisans. Each working out his part of that vast plan Projected in the master builder's brain. And he who wakes the organ's soulful tones, Faint, far away, like those tliat haply steal — The first notes of the song of the redeemed — From out the spirit- world to dying ears; Or rouses it in lamentations wild Of Calvary, or moves its inmost deeps With sobs aud cryings unassuaged that touch The heart to tears for unforgiven sin, — He voices but the echo of that hymn Whose surges shook the great composer's soul. Bold admirals of the vast high seas of dream. With neither chart nor azimuth nor star, That push your prows into the mighty trades And ocean streams towards continents unknown: Brave pioneers that slowly blaze your way And set your cairns for people yet unborn Upon imagination's dim frontiers, Ye are the makers, rulers of the world ! And so this splendid land to sunward laid. With opulent fields and many a winding stream And virgin wood: with stores of gems and veins Of richest ore: with mills and thronging marts, 26 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. The domain of tlie freest of the free — 'Tis but the substance of his dream, the pure, The true, the generous knight who raarlced its bounds AVith Hberal hand by interfusing seas. What though no sage may read the riddle dark Of Croatan, that band diffused through marsh And solitude? Their valor did not die. But is incorporate in our civic life. They were of those that fought at Bannockburn; Their vital spirits spake at Mecklenburg; They rose at Alamance, at Bethel led, And steered at Cardenas straight through blinding shells. They live to-day and shall forever live, Lifting mankind toward freedom and toward God. And he still lives, the courteous and the brave, Whose life went out in seeming dark defeat. The Tower held not his princely spirit immured; But in those narrow dungeon walls he trod Kingdoms unlimited by earthly zones; Nor holds the grave his peerless soul in thrall; It passed those dismal portals unafraid To an inheritance beyond decay Stored in the love and gratitude of man. He lives in this fair city, noble state. Puissant land — in all each hopes to be. He was the impulse to these later deeds. He lives in fateful words and splendid dreams. In strenuous actions and in high careers. An inspiration unto loftier things Upon the scheme of ages, man siiall find Success oft failure, failure oft success When he shall read the record of the years. on ROAfiOF\E ISLAND. Address of JUDGE WALTER CLARK at Meeting Inaugurated BY THE State Literary and Historical Association, Manteo, N. C, 24, July 1902. Ladies and Gentlemen : Standing on the Aventine hill, by the banks of the Tiber, we can still behold the cradle of the great Roman people, the beginning of that imperial race which for centuries held in its control the entire civilized world of their day and whose laws, whose feats of arms, whose thought, have profoundly impressed all succeeding ages. HERE BEGAN THE GREATEST MOVEMENT OF THE AGES. Standing here we see the spot where first began on this continent the great race which in the jSTew World in three hundred years has far surpassed in extent of dominion, in population and power the greatest race known to the Old. Farther than the imperial eagles ever flew, over more men than its dominion ever swayed, with wealth which dwarfs its boasted treasures, and intelligence and capacity unknown to its rulers, this new race in three centuries has covered a con- tinent, crossed great rivers, built great cities, tunneled moun- tains, traversed great plains, scaled mountain ranges and halt- ing but for a moment on the shores of a vaster ocean, has al- ready annexed a thousand islands and faces the shores of a Western continent so distant that we call it the East. We do well to come here to visit the spot where this great movement began. It was one of the great epochs of all history. Here, 36 years before the landing of the Pilgrims at Ply- mouth Rock, here 23 years before John Smith and James- town, in the year 1584, the first English keel grated on the shores of what is now the United States. Here the greatest movement of the ages began, which has completed the circuit of the globe. For thousands of years, God in His wisdom, had hidden this land behind the billows till His appointed time, and in Europe and Asia millions had fought and perish- 28 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. ed for the possession of narrow lands. The human intellect had been dwarfed with the dimensions of its prison house. In due season Copernicus gauged the heavens, revealing count- less worlds beyond our grasp and Columbus almost at the same time unveiled this tangible world beyond the Atlantic. Stunned, dazed, the mind of man slowly realized the broad- ened vision unrolled before it. Since then the energies of the human intellect have steadily expanded, and thought has widened with the process of every sun. Here broke the spray of the first wave of Saxon population and now westward across the continent to the utmost verge and beyond it, there rolls a human sea. Three centuries have done this. About this very date Amadas and Barlow landed here, for on July 4, a day doubly memorable on these shores, they de- scried land and sailing up the coast 120 miles they entered with their two small vessels through an inlet, probably now closed. Proceeding further they came abreast of this island, where they landed and were hospitably received. WHAT WONDROUS CHANGES. Nature remains unaltered. As on that July day, of the long ago, earth, air and sky and sea remain the same. The same blue arch bends above us. The same restless ocean rolls. The same sun shines brightly down. The same balmy breezes breathe soft and low. The same headlands jut out to meet the waves. The same bays lie open to shelter the coming ves- sels. The trees, the foliage, the landmarks, would all be recog- nized by the sea-worn Avandercrs of that memorable day. But as to what is due to man, how altered ! To the westward, where the Indian paddled his light canoe on great rivers, innumerable vessels, moved by the energies of steam, plow the waters, freighte the freedom of nature the liberty of speech and of action. WHERE the shackles OF THE AGES WERE BROKEN. \\e\] do we come liere to visit the spot where the shackles of the ages were broken, pr(>cedents forgotten and where man first began to stand upright in the likeness in which God had made him. Js^aught tells more forcibly the depression in which the minds of the men of that day were held than the fact that the hardy English mariners, the descendants of the Vikings of old, delayed nearly a century after Columbus had discovered the Xew World before the foot of an Anglo-Saxon had trod the shores of ISTorth America. From the discovery in 1492 to the first landing here in 1584 and the first permanent but feeble settlement at Jamestown in 1607 was a long time. Could another new continent such as this be discovered in 3,000 miles of London to-day, not as many hours would elapse as our ancestors of three centuries ago permitted years to pass, before the English race would land on its shores. In 1520 Cortez led the Spaniards to the Plateau of Mexico and sub- verted an empire. Yet 65 years more passed before Amadas and Barlow led the first English expedition to land on this continent. Not only were men's minds enthralled b}^ governments which existed solely for the benefit of the few, but the condi- tion of the upper classes was only in degree better than that of the poorer. Coffee, sugar, tobacco, potatoes and other articles of common use by the poorest to-day were unkno^vn. Queen Elizabeth herself lived on beer and beef, and forks being unknown that haughty lady ate with her fingers, as did Shakespeare, Raleigh and Bacon. Articles of the commonest use and necessity in the dwellings of the poorest now, were then not to be obtained in the palaces of Kings. Carpets were absent in the proudest palaces and on the fresh stre^vn rushes beneath their tables princes and kings threw the bones and broken meats from their feasts. Religion was to most a gross superstition, law was a jargon and barbarous, and med- icine the vilest quackery. Just in proportion as the masses On Roanoke Island. 31 have been educated, as freedom has been won by them, as their rights have been considered, the world has advanced in civilization and in material well being. Unlike the founding of Rome, where the seat of Empire abode by its cradle, no great cities arose here at Roanoke Is- land, at Jamestown nor at Plymouth. The new movement begun here was not for empire but for the people and it has advanced and spread in all directions. THE GKEAT DANOEE TO-DAY. In 1820 Daniel Webster delivered a memorable oration at the anniversary of the landing at Plymouth Rock. In that speech he prophesied that our free government could stand only so long as there was a tolerable equality in the division of property. What would he say could he stand here to-day and count over the names of those possessed of $20,000,000, of $50,000,000, of $100,000,000, even of more than $200,- 000,000, and name over the great trusts and corporations who levy taxes and contributions at their own will, greater than those exacted for all the purposes of government ? He in- stances that when the great monasteries and other church cor- porations under the Tudors threatened English prosperity the eighth Henry confiscated their property (as has been done in our day by Mexico and other Latin countries) and re-distrib- uted their accumulations. He might have added that when the new commercial monopolies under his daughter Elizabeth bade fair to take the place of the suppressed ecclesiastical foundations in re-creating inequality, the Commons called on her to pause and that haughty, unbending sovereign had the common sense to save her throne by yielding. Mr. Webster also utilized the occasion to point to the fact that in France by her exemption of nobles and priests from taxation, property had gravitated into their hands till the wild orgy of revolution had re-transferred it to the people and he prophesied that the new law in that country which by restricting the right to will property had prevented its accumulation into a few hands would inevitably destroy the restored monarchy and rebuild the republic. His prophecy has come true. 32 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. The great expounder of the constitution was right. Power goes with those who own the property of the country. When property is widely distributed and a fair share of the com- forts of life are equally in the reach of all, a country will re- main a republic. When property, by whatever agency, be- comes concentrated in a few hands, a change is impending. Either the few holders will bring in, as he stated, an army that will change the government to a monarchy, or revolution will force a redistribution as in England and France. That has been the lesson of history. In this day, of wider intelligence and general education, let us hope and believe that there is a third way, hitherto un- known in practice, and that by the operation of just and wiser laws enacted by the sovereignty of the people, a more just and equal distribution of wealth will follow and the enjoyment of material well being will be more generally diffused among the masses. All power is derived from and belongs to the people and should be used solely for their good. This is the funda- mental teaching of the institutions which begin their record from the landing of the Anglo-Saxon race on these shores, a landing which Avas first made at this spot. Had I the ability of Mr. ^Vebster, could I speak with his authority, I might point out as he did the great danger of the accumulation of wealth in a few hands, and might foresee and foretell the remedies which a great, a wise and an all-powerful people will apply. But I shall not follow in the path which he has trod, haud passihus equis. Let us not forget on this occasion that to this island belongs the distinguished honor of being -the birth-place of the first American girl. It is the Eden from which she sprung. She had no predecessor and remains without a model and without a rival. In that first Eden man was the first arrival and the garden was a failure. Here the girl was the first arrival and the boys have followed her ever since. Appropriately she bore the name of Dare, and daring, delightful, her successors have been ever since. We do well, were we to come here sole- ly to do honor to the memory of the first American girl, this finished, superlative product of her sex and of these later ages. THE RALEIGH CALEfiDAR. A Chronological Compendium of the Principal Events IN THE Life of Sir Walter Raleigh. Read by W. J. PEELE, of ItALEiGH, at the Fourth Annual Meeting OP the Literary and Historical Association, November 12, 1903. 1552 — Walter Raleigh was born in the county of Devon, South England, at an old country house or manor, called "Hayes." He was the son of Walter Raleigh of Fardel and Katherine Gilbert, his wife. She was also, by her first husband the mother of the celebrated Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with whom Raleigh was asso- ciated in fitting out his earlier American expeditions. 1566 — Entered College at Oxford, England, where he re- mained for three years, distinguished especially in oratory and philosophy. 1569 — Went to France as a volunteer, fighting six years in that country for the liberties of the Huguenots nnder the famous Admiral Coligny, the first citizen of France and the first victim of the massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day. 1575 — Returned to England. Studied and practiced naviga- tion and ship-building for several years, in which arts he became a master ; and in the meantime he made himself familiar with the West Indies and with the American coasts and waters. 1578 — xlccompanied (according to some authorities) his half brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in an expedition to the St. Lawrence, in Xorth America. 1580 — AVas commissioned captain of an hundred foot soldiers to fight the Irish rebels and their Spanish and Italian allies. His pay was only eighty cents a day — but in two years he was the most famous soldier in Ireland and attracted, by his xhIoy and success, the notice of Queen Elizabeth. 50 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. 1581 — AVas iiitrochiecd at tlie (Queen's court where he con- tinued to grow in favor until he became her most trust- ed adviser in military and naval affairs and the most active organizer of her forces against the Spanish. 1583 — Fitted out, with the aid of Sir llnmphrev Gilbert, his half brotlier, an expedition to Xew Foundland. The Queen and the public service requiring his pres- ence in England, Gilbert was placed in command, and, after remaining on the desolate shores of that Islaud for thirty days, the expedition sailed for Eng- land, it lost on its return voyage its brave command- er in a great storm; but his last words, uttered from his sinking ship, are the best seaman's motto that has come down to us : ^'Be of good cheer, friends, we are as near heaven by sea as by land.'' 1584 — March 25. Obtained charter from Queen Elizabeth under which the several settlements on Roanoke Is- land were made — being the first settlements of the English race in America, the beginning of the Amer- ican nation, and the seeds of Jamestown and Ply- mouth. The charter was the beginniug of English law in America. Emigrants to the lands that should be dis- covered and possessed under its authority were, by its provisions, guaranteed the rights and liberties they enjoyed in England. 158-1 — Ai)ril 27. Dispatched an expedition of two ships un- der the command of Amidas and Barlowe with au- thority to explore and take possession of such lands, (not under the dominion of any Christian Prince) as the}^ should discover. 1584 — July 4.* The expedition arrived off the coast of what is now known as IsTorth Carolina about one hun- dred and twenty miles south of an inlet not far from Roanoke Island. July 7. This inlet Avas entered and a landing effected on a part of the "Banks." The English took formal possession in the name of Elizabeth, the Queen, and * Dates from July 4, 1584. to December, inclusive, are approximate, having been obtained by estimiitioii. The Raleigh Calendar. 51 Sir Walter Ealeigh the governor of the newly dis- covered land; and the Queen called it "Virginia," in honor of herself the virgin queen of England. The country embraced under this name extended from the 34th to the 45th degree North latitude — that is from the region of Cape Fear to that where Maine touches Canada on the Atlantic. July 10. They were first visited by the Indians who caught for them fish, which are still abundant in those waters. July 11. They made friends with Granganimeo, the brother of Wingina, the king of that country ; the near- est mainland of which the Indians called Dassa- monque-peak. July 16. They visited Roanoke Island, the cradle of American civilization, and the birth place of Virginia Dare the first child of English parents born in Amer- ica — nature's best protected spot on the American coast in which to have begun the hitherto untried ex- periment of English colonization ; for the Chesapeake had been explored and sketched by the Spaniards, but the Sound section of North Carolina, behind its fro\ATi- ing barriers of sand, was terra incognita. August. They sailed for England taking with them the two Indians, Manteo, the friend, and Wanchese, the enemy, of the white race. September 15. The expedition returned to England. Barlowe published an account of it which Raleigh used, with the other accounts brought back, to thrill the English people with the fever of emigrating to America — a fever which has never fallen from that day to this. December. Was knighted "Sir Walter Raleigh" by Queen Elizabeth in honor of his exploits and discov- eries. 1585 — April 9. Raleigh's second expedition set out from Plymouth for the shores of "Virginia" (North Caro- lina) under the command of his cousin, the celebrated Sir Richard Grenville. It consisted of one hundred and eight colonists and five little ships, the largest being of one hundred and forty tons burden, the 52 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. smallest, fifty. Among the other famous men in this expedition was Thomas Cavendish, Avho afterwards circumnavigated the globe, Hariot, the mathematician and historian, and Ealph Lane, the explorer of East- ern North Carolina, and the first governor of an Eng- lish Colony in America. June 20. The vessels came in sight of "Florida," the name by which some explorers called so much of the continent as is now embraced within the limits of the South Atlantic States, and under which the Span- ish claimed the land from Key West to Nova Scotia. June 23. Sailing up the coast to what is now North Carolina they barely escaped shipwreck on a "breach called the Cap of Feare." Probably cape Look-out. June 24. They came to anchor in a harbor where they "caught in one tide so much fish as would have yield- ed twenty pounds in London." June 26. They came to anchor at Wokoken, where one of the ships Avas wrecked in the attempt to run her over the bar of the inlet — the first recorded ship- wreck in the region of Hatteras. Sept. 3. ^Vas written the first letter by an English- man in America ; it was from the "New Fort in Vir- ginia" (Fort Ealeigh on Roanoke Island) and writ- ten by Ralph Lane to Richard Hackluyt, of London. Lane's colony remained in "Virginia" (North Caro- lina) one year wanting five days, but lost only four of its number, and these died from natural causes. 1585-6- — During his ofcupation Lane explored the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds and their principal tributaries. He ascended the Roanoke River, called by the In- dians, Monatoc, about as far as Weldon. He explored the Chowan, called by the Indians Chowanoke, as far as Wyanoke Ferry, at the junction of the Black Water and Nottoway Rivers. He went North as far as the Elizabeth River and reported to Raleigh its commod- ious harbors and the deep waters of the Chesapeake. Hariot wrote the best account of these expeditions and a description of the principal food plants and ani- mals which were found; and DeBry, in 1588 and in 1590, published a book illustrated with maps, pic- The Raleigh Calendar, 53 tures and drawings of the sonnd section of ^North Carolina, its inhabitants and its food plants and ani- mals. The originals of these illustrations were made by John White, a painter, whom Sir Walter Raleigh, with the special approval of the Queen, and at his own cost, sent to our shores for this purpose. The book is the joint product of White, Hariot and DeBry, and is the most definite and valuable early English publication that was ever published of any part of America. With Barlowe's and Lane's narratives, it is the main source of the history of the earliest efforts to colonize America by the English. 1586 — June 19. Lane and his colony sailed for England in the fleet of Sir Erancis Drake. They had been doing well and were reasonably contented, but the sight of English ships and sailors made them home- sick and a terrible storm, such as still rage around Hat- teras, completed their demoralization. They landed in England, and Raleigh introduced from our shores the use of tobacco in England and the culture of pota- toes in Ireland. Shortly after the departure of the colonists, a ship loaded with provisions for them ar- rived at Wokoken, but soon sailed away for England. A fortnight later Sir Richard Grenville arrived and, finding none of Lane's colony, he left fifteen men on Roanoke Island to hold possession of the country until they could be relieved by a stronger force. ISTo white man ever beheld their faces again. The destruction of these men first proved to the Indians that the Eng- lish were not invulnerable and begun the long battle between the two races. 1587 — May 8. Raleigh's Fourth expedition sailed from Ply- mouth for the shores of ITorth Carolina. It consisted of three vessels with their crews and one hundred and fifty colonists, of whom 91 men, 17 women and 9 chil- dren remained. The emigrants were under the com- mand of their governor, John White ; they were fated to become what is known in history as the "Lost Colony." July 16. They landed on that part of the "Banks" then known as the Island of Croatan lying to the Qouth of Cape Hatteras. 54 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. July 22, They arrived at Hattorask Inlet and passed over to Roanoke Island where they learned the fate of the fifteen men left there by Grenville. August 13. Manteo was christened "Lord of Roanoke and Dasamonque-peak" by command of Sir Walter Raleigh. August 18. Was born Virginia Dare the first child of the English speaking race born in America. August — . Was born Harvie, the first American boy of that race. August 27. Governor John White sailed for England leaving his little colony to its unl^nown fate in the wilds of America. For three centuries the ingenuity of poets and historians has been exercised to discover its history, but the woods have not given up their se- cret. Perhaps the Red men of Croatan Island mi- grated inland to what is now Robeson Countv and carried the "Lost Colom'-" with them. There still resides in that region a tribe of Indians of mixed blood calling themselves by the mystic name of Croa- tan and there still exists among them a tradition that they came from a region called Roanoke. 1588 — Early in the year, Raleigh fitted out an expedition to relieve White's colony and placed it under the com- mand of Sir Richard Grenville, but, on account of the war with Spain, it was not permitted to sail. April 22. Sent a second relief expedition consisting of two little ships loaded with provisions, but they were captured and stripped by pirates. England being now menaced by the great invasion from Spain, Raleigh assigned his principal interests in "Virginia" to Sir Thomas Smith, Richard Ilack- luyt and others, who afterwards became, under lids in- spiration, the chief promoters of the settlement at Jamestown in what is now the State of Virginia. Aug. The Spanish Armada was, under Raleigh's advice, attacked at sea and destroyed before it could effect the invasion of England. lie was the real author of this victory which was the turning point of England's greatness and Spain's decline. It was in the destruc- tion of the Armada that he reached the highest point The Ralp:igh Calendar. 55 of his fortune and favor with the Queen. He was as great and brave as ever in the sea fight in the harbor of Cadiz, and, in his expedition up the Oronoko River was as zealous as ever for the extension of the Queen's empire in America, but he did not have the same in- fluence in the government nor receive the same recog- nition for his public services. 1589 — Co-labored with his friend the poet Spencer and was the subject and inspiration of the best English poetry since Chaucer. He was Spencer's patron, introduced him to the Queen and procured him the leisure to write and the means to publish the poems which made their author famous. It was with Spencer that Raleigh for the next two years cultivated his natural fondness for literature which in the after years resulted in his "History of the World" and other literary works. 1590 — March 20. The fifth expedition being the second un- der John White, sailed from Plymouth for Roanoke Island. August 15. The ships came to anchor at "ITattorask Inlet" which was then reckoned to be 3G degrees and 20 minutes North latitude, and this reckoning locates this inlet Xorth of Roanoke Island. August lY. White went with a party of men to Fort Raleigh, but found it dismantled and deserted. The colony had vanished ; only the name "Croatoan" carved on a tree could give a clue to its new abode; and he, who "joyed" in this "certain token of their being safe" left the country without making an honest search for their recovery. He who had before deserted his colony, could now be satisfied with only a "token" of their safety. August IS. (The anniversary of the birth of Virginia Dare.) The expedition sailed away and the "Lost Colony" was "lost" in the deep solitudes of Xorth Carolina's forests — affordimi the first of tJie many lost cliapters of our history. 1591 — November. Raleigh wrote an account of the fa:;ious sea fight between his ship the "Revenge" under the command of his cousin. Sir Richard Grenville, and a Spanish fleet of fifteen vessels. Tliis is one of his 56 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. best pieces of prose literature, and the subject of it, England's bravest sea-fight— the Thermopylae of naval warfare. 1592 — Married Elizabeth Throckmorten the Queen's maid of honor and forfeited the favor of the Queen who was herself reputed to be in love with him. He was de- barred from her Court for five years, but he did not cease to serve his country. 1592 — July 28. Was imprisoned in the Tower of London on account of the anger or jealousy of Queen Eliza- beth. During his imprisonment an expedition he had fitted out captured the Spanish plate-ship the Madre de Dios with its cargo valued at two and a half mil- lions. Sept. 21. Was released from prison as the only man in England who could save the treasure of the great prize- ship from the plunder of his own countrymen. The Queen, as sovereigTi, took the lion's share of what he recovered. 1594 — Sent a ship to get information concerning Guiana, in South America, which the Spanish had then lately an- nexed to their dominions and named the "Xew El Dorado." 1595 — Feb'y 6. Sailed with an expedition to explore and take possession of Guiana. March 22. Anchored off the Island of Trinidad and shortly took possession of it as a base of operations from which to explore the Continent. This Island still belongs to Great Britain. April. Began his famous voyage up the Oronoko River which he explored for four hundred miles from its mouth. His expedition remained in Guiana, Trinidad, and the American waters for several months. He was re- ported sailing along the coast of Cuba in the month of July, and he landed in England sometime in October. He told the Spanish Governor of Trinidad that he was on his way to his settlement in ''Virginia" hut there is no record that he touched our. coast. December. Published an account of his explorations The Raleigh Calendar. 57 which were speedily translated into Latin and German and circulated over Europe. 1596- — Sent another expedition to Guiana which explored the South American coast as far south as the Amazon. Of this also he published an account, written, as was the other, in some of the best prose of the Elizabethan period ; in both he set forth to the English people the boundless wealth of America and the advantage and practicability of colonizing it. Of the vast territory in the region of the Oronoko and the Amazon which Raleigh urged England to seize, it now holds British Guiana — a country about one and half times the size of jSTorth Carolina. June 21. Led the English to victory in the great naval battle of Cadiz. This fight placed him on the pin- nacle of his fame as commander of warships, re-instat- ed him in the counsels of his Sovereign, and made Great Britain, for the first time, Mistress of the Seas. 1597 — Sent another expedition to Guiana which obsequiously confirmed his own previous accounts. Ft returned without adding any new information, or materially advancing the policy of exploration and conquest which lay next to his heart. It was shrewdly sur- mised that the Spanish, failing in open warfare, were beginning to try the effect of gold upon his subordi- nates as well as his superiors in office. Sept. Stormed, at the head of a small force, the to"wn of Fayal in the Azores. It was his last l^attle and only added another spark to the envy of him which now in- creased with his fame. 1602 — Nov. 4. Had his last interview with Queen Eliza- beth. 1603 — Despatched two expeditions to America, the last of five which he sent at his own charge to search for the ''lost colony/' March 30. The Queen died, and with her perished Ra- leigh's hopes of preferment and even of personal safety. He had spent his years of freedom in oppos- ing "the tyrannous ambition of Spain," and now his well-beloved England was to be governed by a mon- arch, James I, who had taken into his counsels the 58 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. mercenaries of Spain — the conntry Avith wliieli Ra- leigh was even then urging war. He also wrote a letter denonncing Cecil, James' chief officer and ad- viser and one who was then privily receiving five thousand crowns a year from the Spanish Government. July 17. Was arrested on the charge of treasonable conspiracy with the Spanish Government. July 18. Was imprisoned in the Tower to await his trial which could not commence at once on account of the great plague which was then raging in London. ]!*^ov. 17. He was brought to trial at AVinchestcr on the charge of high treason and convicted on the same day. The prosecution was conducted by the famous law writer, Coke. Raleigh plead his own cause, the laws of England not allowing him to have counsel for his defense ; nor was he confronted by the witnesses against him. The jury Avas packed, the testimony against him was perjured, the Court was subservient to the Crown, and at least one member of it, Cecil, was in the ]iay of the Spanish Government. Immed- iately after his conviction he was roundly abused from the bench by Chief Justice Popham, who presided over the Court, and then sentenced to death. But he was not then executed. Popular favor which he had sac- rificed some years before by acepting from Queen Elizabeth a monopoly of the tax on wines and liquors, was in a measure now restored to him on account of his persecution and misfortunes. England would not believe, though a court record had spoken the lie,, that the great enemy of Spain who had spoiled her by land and ruined her prestige on the seas, would betray into her power his own country. Dec. 10. His sentence was commuted to imprisonment. The man of action and exploit w^as now caged for his long confinement. He was stripped of his vast pos- sessions that they might enrich the faAvning favorites of the king. 1604 — In prison he toHc up the study of physical sciences, especially the properties of medicinal herbs, and his cell became the resort of learned luen. He w^as visited by those concerned in his plans for colonizing America, The Raleigh Calendar. 59 among them his friend Hariot who wrote the most intelligent account of Lane's expedition. Hacklnyt, patriot and historian, also the principal assignee of his franchises and interests in "Virginia," more than any other man caught the spirit of his enterprise and kept popular interest alive, until King James was forced hy public sentiment or tempted hy his own lust for fame and dominion to give his sanction to sending a colony to America. 1606 — The most persistent efforts were made to set Raleigh at liberty, as his colonizing scheme again grew into favor. Queen Anne, of England, and the King of Denmark, and James' oldest son, Henry, used their utmost efforts in his behalf, but without avail. 1606 — Apr. 22. James granted a new charter to the two companies who now proposed to undertake the coloni- zation of "Virginia." Among the four named corpor- ators of the Company which settled Jamestown stands the name of Raleigh Gilbert, doubtless a nephew of the great explorer, after ivJiom he ivas named. The treas- urer and general manager of this company was Sir Thomas Smith who had acted in the same capacity over the company hy which the settlements on RoanoJce Island ivere effected: Of the nineteen corporators of the "City of Raleigh" ivhich John White was enjoined to huild in 1587, ten were among those tvho subscribed to the J arnestown expedition. Raleigh in prison, the men he had inspired were still the chief promoters of American colonization. 1607 — Jan. 1. The expedition under Captain Neivport hnown as the Jamestown expedition set sail for Roan- oke Island, hut was driven hy a storm into the Chesa- peake Bay, the shores of ivhich, twenty years before, Raleigh had designated for the settlement of the lost colony. This Chesapeake country ivas ivithin the limits of the territory granted him hy Queen Eliza- beth, and his grant ivas kept in force in tJie hands of his assignees until it was revoked hy James to pave the way for that monarch to possess himself of the fruits of Raleigh's labors and at the same time belittle so much of his fame as he could not appropriate. 60 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. The people of the nineteen States and five parts of States embraced in the territory of Raleigh's "Vir- ginia" on this side of the Mississippi, owe to him their first debt of gratitude for the land they occupy. It is fitting that North Carolina, on whose soil his far- reaching experiments were made, should have taken the lead in erecting suitable memorials of his labors; but the other States, and Virginia especially, should be proud to follow the State which more than a cen- tury ago named its capital in his honor. 1614 — Published his "History of the World" — a book com- mended by Cromwell and studied by Milton. Ra- leigh's royal persecutor objected to its circula- tion on the ground that its criticism of the an- cient Assyrian kings and of Henry VIIT of England might be construed into a reflection on James' own government. The notion that only a king was com- petent to sit in judgTiient on the conduct of a king, with the similar fallacies inherited from him by his son Charles I, cost the latter first his crown and then his head. 1616 — March 19. AVas released from the Tower after an im- prisonment for more than twelve years, broken in health and no longer fitted to endure the activities whicli had made him famous, but in spirit he was as undaunted as over, and immediately began to fit out an expedition to America. His enthusiasm seemed to suit the purposes of the king who was In^ut on marrying his son Charles into the royal family of Spain and lioped that the fear of the great "sea-rover" might succeed where diplomacy had failed. 1617 — June 12. Sailed out of Plymouth harbor on his last voyage for America. His expedition had been partly appointed by his enemies and not Avithont design: One ship deserted him before he was half across the Atlantic ; another was lost in a storm ; others still were hulks of disease commanded by disloyal captains and manned by men whom he called mere "scum." There is no better picture in English history than that of this old man, broken in health, racked by fever, long The Raleigh Calendar. 61 separated from the kindred spirits of his dauntless manhood, steadily setting his face toward the sunset to make his last play for a continent which the vanity and treachery of his king cast away. Nov. 17. Anchored in the mouth of Cayenne River in the Island of Trinidad. On the mainland the Indians still remembered him though it was more than twenty years since his first visit, and flocked to the coast when they heard he had returned. Himself too feeble to lead, he dispatched his son and his old friend Captain Keymis, with a party of men, up the Oronoko to search for a mine the Spanish and the Indians had told him existed somewhere in that region. Dec. 31. The party were attacked by the Spanish near San Thome and in the fighting which followed the younger Raleigh was killed at the head of his com- mand. 1618 — The Oronoko expedition returned and brought with it the certain tidings of its failure and disasters and also a letter which proved that the king of England had warned the Spanish Government of Raleigli's ap- proach. The great navigator saw now that he had been betrayed into a death trap. Reproached by him for his ill-success, Keymis com- mitted suicide. In a counsel of the remaining cap- tains, Raleigh proposed that they revictual the ships in Virginia and return to search for the mine, but two of them deserted, leaving him without sufficient force to contend with his daily increasing enemies. All his resources exhausted at last he sailed homeward by way of jSTew Foundland, but there is no record that he passed near enough to our shores to behold the land he had spent more than a million dollars to colonize as measured in the currency of these times. . June 21. Arrived at Plymouth in his flag-ship the Destiny and shortly thereafter was arrested. The king held out his execution as an inducement to the proposed marriage of his son Charles to the Spanish Infanta. The wily Spaniards were shrew^l enough 62 Historical and Literary Activities in N, C. to have the execution come off first, and the marriage never come off at all. Oct. 15. The king of Spain declined James' offer to turn Raleigh over to him to be executed, but requested that the business be done by the English King, and as soon as possible. Oct. 28. Raleigh was condemned to die on the old charge of treasonable conspiracy with the govern- ment whose head was now demanding his death for the invasion of Spanish territory. Oct. 29. Was executed in the 67th year of his age, Sir Walter Raleigh, soldier, navigator, explorer, au- thor, poet, philosopher and patriot, the statesman who wrested our continent from Spain, the pioneer who first planted the seeds of law and liberty and Anglo- Saxon civilization in America, the hero-martyr of English colonization on our shores. His name and fame are indissolubly linked with Xorth Carolina. Pie made the first chapter of her history, which is also the first chapter of Anglo-American history, and one day the English speaking race on this continent, with the Carolinians in the lead, will call its brethren across the seas and go l)ack to the Island where it began its conquering march to do honor to the man who gave himself and all he had for its advancement. THE STATE'S HISTORICAL MUSEUN. By F. a. olds, Esq., Raleigh, N. C, Chairman of the Committee on Historical Mcseum. It is difficult to give a condensed account of the first year's wark in the collection of objects in the Plall of History in the State Museum, so numerous and so varied is the collection and so great the progress made in forming it. The grouping is as far as possible by periods in the State's history. Begin- ning with relics of the Indians, the collection follows the var- ious periods. The people of the state have been liberal in the way of gifts and loans. Out of the thousands of articles only a few can be referred to as most notable. Mrs. Mar- garet Devereux, of Kaleigh, lends the valuable documents of Governor Thomas Pollock, including grants by him, Gover- nors Eden and Everard and others, and the treaty between the whites ami the Tuscarora Indians. In the same section are ballast from the vessels of Amidas and Barlowe at Roanoke Island, a will dated 1692, Lawson's History of North Caro- lina, first edition; lease by the Lords Proprietors of the ]^orth Carolina fisheries to Mr. Burrington, afterwards gov- ernor. In the Revolutionary section is the protest of the North Carolina Quakers against bearing arms, the auto- graphs of signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, &c. The Swain collection of autograph letters, owned by the State, is of extreme value and contains the signatures of most of the great N"orth Carolinians of Revolutionary times. Bish- op Joseph Blount Cheshire is a valued contributor, his case containing the first book about ISTorth Carolina and the first map, printed in 1590; the "Yellow Jacket," the first book printed in North Carolina, New Bern, 1752 ; the only known copy of the journal of the State Convention at Hillsboro in 1788, which rejected the Federal Constitution, and the jour- nal of the convention at Fayetteville in 1789 which ratified it, Mr. Charles E. Johnson, of Raleigh, gives the public an op- portunity to see a part of his extensive and valuable collec- tion, and the portraits, mainly etchings, of prominent colon ial North Carolinians attract much attention. He also ex- 112 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. hibits a proclamation of Governor Josiah Martin, which bears the only known second seal of North Carolina ; a copy of the South Carolina Gazette of June, 1775, containing the Meck- lenburg Resolves of May 30th ; a rough draft of the opinion of Judge Iredell of the United States Supreme Court in the noted case of Chisholm against Georgia, which resulted in the eleventh amendment to the constitution of the United States. By the courtesy of Governor Aycock and Secretary of State Grimes a collection of autograph letters of the governors is being made, already containing letters and public documents bearing the signature of 40 governors. Kelics of I^athaniel Macon, secured from Mrs. J. T. TurnbuU and Julian S. Carr, are objects of much public interest. Judge Robert M. Douglas lends the original petition of the people of Mas- sachusetts to congress for the dissolution of the Union on ac- count of slavery. What may be termed the Confederate section is very rich in uniforms, swords and other relics of officers, including those of Generals Branch, James H. Lane, W. H. C. Whit- ing, Robert Ransom, Collett Leventhorpe, Matt W. Ransom, James Johnston Pettigrew, Bryan Grimes, Thomas F. Toon, as well as Col. William Lamb, the commander of Fort Fish- er ; Col. Cowand and Col. Henry K. Burg'^vyn, of the famous 26th regiment. The collection of Confederate flags em- braces the ''Bethel" flag, that of the First N'orth Carolina volunteers; that of the 24th volunteers; the 14th ISTorth Caro- lina troops ; the battle flags of the 50th and the 58th regi- ments, the latter having been in all the great battles in the southwest, including Chickamauga. Li autographs of the Civil Wnr period the collection is not- able and there are also orders written on the battlefield to North Carolina officers l\v the greatest of the Confederate generals. A case, mainly contributed by Col. Thomas S. Kenan, is devoted to souvenirs of prison life. Tn other cases the literary and domestic life of the Confederacy is illus- trated in a very striking way. INFrs. Elias Carr has presented the only painting in existence of the North Carolina block- ade-runner, "Advance," while from Governor Aycock has been secured the silver service which was in the captain's cabin of that noted vessel. The collection of swords of all The Historical Museum. 113 periods is a very fine one, some of these being in the cases devoted entirely to arms of all kinds, gronped by periods, while others are shown in connection with nniforms and other relics. A photograph of President Jefferson Davis and one of the last letters he ever wrote are objects of much general interest, as is also the candlestick which he used while secretary of war and during the campaign in Mexico, and also in the Confederacy, and which was in his tent when he was cap- tured near Washington, Ga. In the Mexican war period one of the most valued objects is the sword which was presented to Major JMontford S. Stokes by the officers and men of the First IsTorth Carolina Regiment, U. S. Volunteers. The Spanish American War period is well illustrated, a special case being devoted to uniforms and other relics of Ensign Worth Bagley, U. S. jSTavy; and another to relics of Lieut. William E. Shipp, IT. S. Army, who was killed at the storming of San Juan Hill, Santiago. The latter case also contains the first American flags borne through the city of Havana, these having been carried by the First Regiment, ]^orth Carolina Infantry, North Carolina Volunteers. There are also all that remains of the noble marble statue of Washington by Canova, which was partially destroyed by the burning of the old ca]>itol, and a large engraving showing the statue as it stood in the rotunda of the old building; a framed collection of all the state currency issued durino- the Civil War and all the currency except four bills issued by the Confederate States. Cannon captured at Manila and Santiago illustrate the greatest sea fights of the war with Spain, while the smoke-stack and armor-plate of the North Carolina-l)uilt ram Albemarle show the remarkable work of that vessel. The public interest in the collection is constantly on the increase and not a day passes without additions. The Agri- cultural Department enters heartily into the spirit of the work and Commissioner Patterson gives his most cordial co- operation. THE ROANOl^E CELEBRATION AND THE RALEIGH AEnORIAL INSTITUTE. By W. J. PEELE, Esq., Kai.eigii, N. C. The idea of having a celebration on Roanoke Island to commemorate the historic events associated with Raleigh's efforts to colonize America, was suggested by Father Creecy as far back as 1884 — the ter-centennial of the landing of the Amidas and Barlowe expedition ; and Senator Vance intro- duced in Congress a resolution respecting it. At that time our people knew so little of their own history that the prop- osition fell still-born. Before and since the crucifixion it has been easy to under- rate an apparent failure. The apparent failure at Guilford Court House paved the way for Yorktown and Peace. Be- tween 1584 and 1590, while Raleigh was breaking Spain's sea power, he was winning from her a continent — claims to which he never ceased to assert even in prison. He was more the immediate inspiration of the Jamestown expedition than the monarch on the throne, but the continent had been already won l3y his bold strokes and held by his repeated expeditions until the crucial time had passed for its recovery to Spain. Its effectual colonization (Avhich Raleigh never ceased to urge, even when fortune failed) had now become only a question of time, ft was now safe for conservative and cowardly royalty to undertake it and leisurely appro- priate the fame of its real author. It has been left to North Carolina to tear away the veil which mean spirits have drawn around this collossal figure. She began more than a century ago by naming after him her capital, the beautiful "City of Oaks." In a few years a noble monument to his memory will stand in the center of one of her principal squares. At the great meeting of th-e State Literary and Historical Association held in Raleigh Oct. 22, 1901, Maj. Graham Daves, of ^STew Bern, (now deceased) offered the following resolution which he supported by an appropriate speech. Besolved, That a committee be appointed to provide for an The Roanoke Celebration. 115 appropriate celebration on Roanoke Island of the landing- there in 1584 of the expedition of Amidas and Barlowe of the settlement in 1585-1587 of the hands of colonists sent ont by Sir Walter Raleigh. This resolution was seconded by Governor Chas. B. Aycock in his well known felicitous style and manner, inaugurating a movement which has been ever since growing in popular favor in the State and in the country at large. On the 24th of July, 1902 a large and representative body of citizens met at Manteo on Roanoke Island, and, as a preliminary to what will be one day done on a grand scale, proceeded to celebrate by patriotic speeches and appropriate songs the historic events which had transpired there on the island more than three centuries before. Among the great speeches on that occasion that of Chief Justice Clark is given in this volume, an inspiration for the many which are to fol- low. During the session of the Legislature of 1903 it was pro- posed to establish on Roanoke Island a memorial institution in which should be investigated and taught the arts and sciences which relate to obtaining wealth from the sea — such as ship-building, navigation, meteorology, fish culture, &c. The bill which embodied these ideas was introduced into the Legislature by Representative Thos. W. Blount, of Washing- ton County. It became a law the 9th day of March, 1903, and is published as chapter 408 Private Laws of that year. Besides Representative Blount, among those most etJicient in securing its passage should be mentioned Senators Don- nell Gilliam, of Edgecombe ; Mitchell, of Bertie ; and Joseph A. Spruill, of Tyrrell ; and Representatives Guion of Craven, Etheridge of Dare. The corporators are Thos. W. Blount, R. B. Etheridge, Theo. S. Meekins, B. G. Crisp, F. P. Gates, A. G. Sample, R. C. Evans, J. B. Jennett, tlohn W. Evans, W. H. Lucas, Joseph A. Spruill and C. W. Mitchell. The charter is unique in the history of charters. It grants powers amply sufficient for its purposes but provides that they cannot be exercised until an hundred subscribers to be selected by the corporators named shall subscribe a sum not less than ten thousand dollars to the capital stock of the Company; "it 116 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. shall then be the duty of the Secretary of State to issue a charter artistically designed and ornamented." This preliminary fund, the amount of which is variously estimated at from ten to fifty thousand doHars, is to be sub- scribed first by representative I^orth Carolinians, preferably one from each county or Senatorial District, and then by representative citizens of the United States and from other countries. Those who subscribe to this fund will have their names and autogTaphs enrolled in the charter to be issued by the Governor and Secretary of State under the Great Seal. At the proper time a suitable reward will doubtless be offered for the best design for this instrument. Some wealthy gentlemen from the North have already in- dicated their purpose to subscribe as soon as the corporation is' organized and ready to take subscriptions. The Jamestown Exposition — a little more than one hun- dred miles North of Roanoke Island — is attracting the atten- tion of the world to the shores and waters of Virginia and North Carolina. Whether those in charge of that exposition will it or not, Sir Walter Raleigh is the central figure in the English colonization of America, and North Carolina should join Virginia in her efforts to make the Jamestown Celebra- tion worthy of the man and of the events he inspired. The success of that enterprise rightly taken advantage of by North Carolina would mean almost as much for one State as for the other. The following are some of the principal sections of the act of incorporation : Sec. 11. That the sum of fifty thousand dollars be and the same is hereby appropriated for the establishment and equip- ment of the said institution ; and the State Treasurer is here- by authorized and directed to pay this sum out of any fund in the treasury not otherwise appropriated upon the warrant of the board of directors of said company : Provided, That it shall first be made to appear to his satisfaction that the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars has been realized from other sources, at least one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of which shall have been appropriated to or made available for the buildings, equipment and endowment of the said institution of scientific investia'ation and instruction: The Roanoke Celebration. 117 Provided further. That no part of the appropriation herein provided for shall be paid before the first day of January, 1907 : Provided further. That it shall be unlawful for the board of directors of said company or the trustees of the said institution, or any of the authorities of either, to pledge the faith or credit of the said company or institution or to un- dertake to pledge the faith or credit of the State for any sum of money or other thing of value for the purposes of this act, or any purpose whatsoever ; and that any director or trustee or other officer of the institution who shall violate this pro- vision shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and the State hereby notifies all persons that it will in no wise recognize the valid- ity of any pledge, contract or obligation so made. Sec. IV. That the principal office of said coroporation shall be at Washington, ]^. C, or Manteo, jS^. C, but the board of directors may change the principal office to some other place and may open branch offices at any place desired. Sec. V. That the said corporation shall have full power and authority to promote, organize and conduct on Roanoke Island and on such other adjacent places as the stock holders may select a celebration of the landing and settlement of Sir Walter Raleigh's colonies on Roanoke Island, the birth place of Virginia Dare, the first Anglo-American and the cradle of American civilization ; and to hold as a part of such cele- bration an exposition of Indian and colonial relics, imple- ments, w"ea]:)ons, utensils, curios, documents, maps, surveys and books illustrative of that period and such other objects of historical and educational value as will show the progress of our race on this continent and that the said corporation shall have full power and authority to do and perform all such acts and things not unlawful under the laws of this State as may be deemed necessary or proper for the successful pros- ecution of the above mentioned objects. Sec. VI. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be two hundred and fifty thousand dollars divided into fifty thousand shares of the par value of five dollars each, but the said corporation may begin Inisiness when ten thousand dol- lars shall have been subscribed to the capital stock and the charter shall have been issued by the Secretary of State as hereinafter provided. 118 Historical and Literary Activities in N. C. Sec. IX. That the company is authorized and empowered to establish on Eoanoke Island, on lauds which may be do- nated or purchased for the purpose, in commemoration of Sir Walter Ealeigh and his efforts to colonize America, an insti- tution for investigating and teaching useful arts and sciences, and especially those relating to ship building and navigation, meteorology, and to the culture and propogation of fish and oysters, and the protection and preservation of aquatic birds and animals. The instruction in shipbuilding and naviga- tion, and so far as may be, in the other special subjects above named, shall be industrial, and practically illustrated by examples and work personally conducted by the students in such a way that they shall learn to apply the principles and theories in which they are instructed and be made familiar with the manipulation necessary to that end. The other in- struction in the institution shall be as may be prescribed by the trustees hereinafter provided for. Sec. XII. That as soon as one hundred subscribers to be selected by the corporators named in section 2 of this act shall have subscribed a sum not less than Ten Thousand Dol- lars to the capital stock of the company it shall be the duty of the Secretary of State to issue to the company a charter artistically designed and ornamented. Sec. XV. That if the work is not begun on the business of said corporation within five years from the ratification of this act, then this charter shall become void and of no effect; otherwise so, it shall remain in full force and effect for the period of thirty years from the date of its ratification. The Island itself — the fulcrum by which Raleigh raised a continent into English possession — is interesting without its history and associations. Thirteen miles long — a mile for each of the colonies of Raleigh's ''Virginia" — and three in breadth, this cradle of the Anglo-American race, like the ark in the bulrushes, lies embowered in evergreens amid the gently heaving waters of four Sounds — Albemarle, Pamlico, Roanoke and Croatan. A little to the East of it, and be- tween it and the stormy Atlantic, is ridged the great barrier of sand, all knotted like a huge serpent, and stretching itself in the sheen of its yellow beauty for two hundred miles be- tween the ocean and the Soimds. In the little land-locked sea, the best protected waters on The Roanoke Celebration. 119 the American coast, in the safety and the privacy of great dame JSTatiire was prepared the birth place of the nation, which has become the greatest of her children. After more than three centuries a feeling akin to home-sickness stirs the breasts of Americans and they are turning their longing eyes toward the place of the nation's nativity. About the year 1