-1603. Gilbert 1578. A.D. 1558 15781, though they only sent some fifty sail, while the Spaniards had over a hundred and the French a hundred and fifty. They could obtain sea-salt in plenty and become the lords of the fishing if they were settled there, while there was always a chance of mining, and furs might be had from the adjoining mainland. Just before the Bristol merchant had urged his scheme, however, a patent had been granted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert "for the inhabiting and planting of our own people in America," couched in the widest terms and empowering Gilbert to settle in America, to take out subjects there and to exercise jurisdiction over them. The difficulties which attended this ill-fated expedition "in which Sir Humphrey consumed much substance and lost his life at last," have been related in detail by Mr. Edward Hayes one of his companions. In sending it out, Elizabeth had evidently been actuated by the hope of obtaining precious metals, for she had reserved a right to one-fifth of all the minerals discovered; the Saxon refiner who accompanied the expedition declared that certain ores they discovered in Newfoundland contained silver, but this proved to be an error. The chief cause of failure, however, lay in the vagueness of the enterprise; it was Sir Humphrey's intention to take possession of the whole coast from Florida to Newfoundland and grant assignments to settlers who chose to occupy some particular points. But in order to found a colony it was necessary to fix on some definite place of settlement which should be chosen for clear and intelligible reasons and concentrate the enterprise on that point. Raleigh 1584. Sir Walter Raleigh" who received a very similar patent in 1584, did not fall into the same error, but expended his efforts on special points in Virginia. The settlers wrote enthusiastically of the fertility of the soil and the excellence of the grapes and maize it produced, but they had to contend with many difficulties; their stores failed them before they reaped their harvest, and after ten months' residence they returned to England, with the assistance of Sir Francis 1 Hakluyt, Voyages, III. 134, also III. 150. 2 13 Nov., 1578. 4 Hayes in Hakluyt, I. 160. 8 June 11, 1578. Hakluyt, III. 135. 5 Hakluyt, m. 243. Drake'. Raleigh shortly afterwards sent out an expedition; A.D. 1558 fifteen men, with stores for two years, were left in the 1603, deserted colony, and in 1587 an expedition was sent out on a much larger scale. Raleigh obtained a charter of incorporation for the Virginia Company, and appointed Mr John White governor, with twelve assistants, to carry on the affairs White. of the colony. But disaster still dogged the attempt; it was found necessary to move the colony inland, and the vessels, which came from England after a long delay, were unable to follow the settlers to their retreat, where they at last perished miserably. 175. The distance from the mother country and the lonely and defenceless position of colonists in America was certainly a grave disadvantage; Camden remarks that such undertakings were too much for private persons to attempt; and some who might otherwise have adventured in these expeditions preferred if possible to try their fortune nearer home. in Ulster The idea of establishing plantations in Ireland was talked Plantations of as early in the reign as 1560 when Sussex who was then Deputy proposed it. In 1567 a definite plan was arranged; Sir Humphrey Gilbert and other west-country Englishmen undertook to plant crown lands in Ulster; and an elaborate plan was drawn up by which every two parishes in England were to provide a man, and £9. 2s. to keep him. It was also suggested that some of the refugees from Flanders, who were coming to England in great numbers, should be sent there": the scheme however fell through. ster. Two years later the Devonshire men offered to plant and MunMunster, a scheme of which Cecil did not altogether approve'. The Earl of Desmond had surrendered his large territory in Munster, and it was proposed that the whole. should be declared forfeit, and granted to these gentlemen of Devonshire, who would proceed to carry England into Ireland; they were ready to transport labourers, and artisans 2 Ib. II. 280. 8 Elizabeth, anno 1583, p. 287. 1 Hakluyt, ш1. 263. 5 Froude, x. 225. 6 State Papers, Ireland, XXI. 48, July, 1567. 7 Froude, x. 232. State Papers, Ireland, XXVIII. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9. -1603. A.D. 1558 from their own neighbourhoods, and they were prepared to proceed to extremities with any of the native Irish, who would not suffer themselves to be absorbed in the new social system: they hoped after three years to be able to pay a regular rental to the Queen. The scheme was too bold and thoroughgoing to commend itself either to Elizabeth or to Cecil; and any prospect of its being carried into effect was wrecked by Sir Peter Carew and others of the projectors, who attempted to enforce claims to landed possessions to which they had legal claims under ancient deeds', though they had been re-occupied by the Irish during the fifteenth century. The whole of Ireland was set in a blaze by their proceedings, and the project of planting the Desmond estates was deferred. It was revived in 1584, under specially favourable circumstances, as the country was so entirely waste that there was no reason to fear difficulties with the native inhabitants2; but between the dilatoriness of the commissioners who surveyed the estates, and the recklessness of the undertakers who occupied them, the whole proved a miserable failure. Ardes. Meanwhile the scheme for planting lands in Ulster3 had been kept in view; Sir Thomas Gerrard undertook it in 1570, but the attempt was first really made by the son of Sir Thomas Smith". When the Irish heard of the scheme the country was in an uproar"; and Smith was killed in a fray soon after his arrival'. Sir Thomas Smith did not relinquish the effort, however, to which he had given 1 Froude, x. 234. 2 Dunlop in English Historical Review, III. 250. 8 Cox, Hibernia Anglicana, 1. 393: Camden, Elizabeth, 190. (Sir Thomas Smith) has "sithens his returne tolde me divers times that he 7 Strype, Life of Sir T. Smith, 133. -1603. much thought, and his nephew William Smith endeavoured A.D. 1558 to carry on the undertaking after his death; but he had no success, and his heirs failed to establish a claim to the lands on which so much had been spent1. About the time when Sir Thomas Smith was planning the undertaking, Essex obtained a grant of Clandeboy, and many gentlemen joined with him to establish a settlement, but after a fruitless attempt he gave up the enterprise and resigned his grant. The Elizabethan planters had but little success either in America or Ireland, but subsequent generations profited by the experience which they had purchased so dearly, and accomplished what they had attempted. IV. INDUSTRY. 176. It is unnecessary to describe in any detail the Protective Legislaindustrial policy which Elizabeth pursued; in its main out- tion." lines it was protectionist, and utilised the various expedients which had been already tried and had been deemed successful. hibited a. The importation of finished goods from abroad was Import of manufacprohibited early in her reign; the list of articles to be ex- tures procluded is not as lengthy as that in the statutes of Edward IV. or Richard III., and consists for the most part of cutlery and small hardware goods; but the principle of action is precisely similar to that of preceding monarchs, and the preamble urges the old pleas, in the encouragement given to the artisans abroad and the consequent enrichment of other realms while our own workmen were unemployed3. b. The exportation of unmanufactured products, which and export of raw might be worked up at home, was also restricted. The materials. English wool was of course the mainstay of the manufactures of the realm, and it was desirable to retain the English breed of sheep; in consequence a very severe measure was passed in 1566, and those who exported sheep or lambs alive were 1 Strype, Life of Sir Thomas Smith, p. 137. 2 State Papers, Ireland, XL. 59–71 (May, 1573). 8 5 Eliz. c. 7. Compare also on Wool cards, 39 Eliz. c. 14. C. II. 3 -1603. A.D. 1558 liable to lose a hand for the first offence, while a second was adjudged felony1. At the same time it was enacted that no Kentish or Suffolk cloth was to be exported unless it was wrought and dressed, and that for every nine unwrought cloths sent from other parts of England, one dressed cloth should be sent abroad2. Encouragements to consumption of native goods. Patents. C. Another mode of encouraging native industry was by trying to promote the consumption of English manufactures. During the whole of the Tudor period there was frequent interference in regard to the cappers. Henry VIII. had tried to regulate the trade3; while Elizabeth insisted that her subjects should wear English made caps. The trade had apparently been very extensive: London alone had maintained 8000 workers, and it had also been practised in Exeter, Bristol, Monmouth, Hereford, Bridgnorth, Bewdley, Gloucester, Worcester, Chester, Nantwich, Alcester, Stafford, Lichfield, Coventry, York, Richmond, Beverley, Derby, Leicester, Northampton, Shrewsbury, Wellington, Southampton, Canterbury, and elsewhere; the division of employment had been carried very far in this science of capping, for carders, spinners, knitters, parters of wool, forcers, thickers, dressers, walkers, dyers, battelers, shearers, pressers, edgers, liners, and bandmakers are all mentioned; but it was alleged that people had left off wearing caps, that many who had been busily occupied were thrown into beggary, and that there were fewer personable men to serve the Queen in time of war. On every Sunday and Holy Day every person of six years and upwards, with some few exceptions, was to wear on his head one cap of wool fully wrought in England, and if he neglected to do so, was to pay a fine of three and fourpence for each offence. d. Attention was also directed to the introduction of new industries, and in 1565 an exclusive patent for the producBrimstone. tion of brimstone was given to two men named Wade and 8 3 Hen. VIII. c. 15. He subsequently limited the prices charged for foreign caps. 21 Hen. VIII. c. 9. 4 13 Eliz. c. 19. 5 On the constitutional character of these patents see below, p. 157. |