reer of a
hero. In the dedication of his "General Historie" to Frances, Duchess of
Richmond, he says:

"I have deeply hazarded myself in doing and suffering, and why should I
sticke to hazard my reputation in recording? He that acteth two parts is
the more borne withall if he come short, or fayle in one of them. Where
shall we looke to finde a Julius Caesar whose atchievments shine as
cleare in his owne Commentaries, as they did in the field? I confesse,
my hand though able to wield a weapon among the Barbarous, yet well may
tremble in handling a Pen among so many judicious; especially when I am
so bold as to call so piercing and so glorious an Eye, as your Grace,
to view these poore ragged lines. Yet my comfort is that heretofore
honorable and vertuous Ladies, and comparable but amongst themselves,
have offered me rescue and protection in my greatest dangers: even in
forraine parts, I have felt reliefe from that sex. The beauteous Lady
Tragabigzanda, when I was a slave to the Turks, did all she could to
secure me. When I overcame the Bashaw of Nalbrits in Tartaria, the
charitable Lady Callamata supplyed my necessities. In the utmost of
my extremities, that blessed Pokahontas, the great King's daughter of
Virginia, oft saved my life. When I escaped the cruelties of Pirats
and most furious stormes, a long time alone in a small Boat at Sea, and
driven ashore in France, the good Lady Chanoyes bountifully assisted
me."

It is stated in his "True Travels" that John Smith was born in
Willoughby, in Lincolnshire. The year of his birth is not given, but
it was probably in 1579, as it appears by the portrait prefixed to that
work that he was aged 37 years in 1616. We are able to add also that the
rector of the Willoughby Rectory, Alford, finds in the register an entry
of the baptism of John, son of George Smith, under date of Jan. 9, 1579.
His biographers, following his account, represent him as of ancient
lineage: "His father actually descended from the ancient Smiths of
Crudley in Lancashire, his mother from the Rickands at great Heck in
Yorkshire;" but the circumstances of his boyhood would indicate that
like many other men who have made themselves a name, his origin was
humble. If it had been otherwise he would scarcely have been bound as an
apprentice, nor had so much difficulty in his advancement. But the
boy was born with a merry disposition, and in his earliest years was
impatient for adventure. The desire to rove wa