colony, no further
attempts were made to settle the region until 1606, when new interest
in American colonization had been aroused in England. The credit for
awakening this interest is given to Bartholomew Gosnold, an English
navigator who, in 1602, sailed directly west and in May reached Cape
Cod. Then, coasting along New England, he found and named Martha's
Vineyard, and in July returned to England.

English adventurers were so much impressed with his enthusiastic
reports and his arguments in favor of new endeavors to occupy western
lands, that they began to urge a fresh undertaking. Gosnold's views
were strongly supported by the geographer Richard Hakluyt, "to whom
America owes a heavy debt of gratitude." There were numerous offers
of money and service, and when application was made to King James I
he was quite ready to sanction the project. He is said to have
thought of the profits that might return to him and also of the
satisfaction to be found in being rid of the "turbulent spirits" sure
to be drawn into the enterprise.

On April 10, 1606, James I issued a patent to Sir Thomas Gates, Sir
George Somers, Richard Hakluyt, and others with them associated, under
which they proposed to embark upon their eagerly sought scheme. This
royal grant deserves our close attention, as it will explain the nature
of the enterprise and the powers originally enjoyed by those who entered
upon it.

Selecting for the scene of operations the beautiful belt of country lying
between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth parallels of north latitude,
the King certainly provided an ample field for the success of the
patentees. This tract extends from Cape Fear to Halifax, and embraces all
the lands between its boundaries in North America, except perhaps the
French settlement in Arcadia, which had already been so far matured as to
come under the excluding clause of the patent. For colonizing this
extensive region the King appointed two companies of adventurers--the
first consisting of noblemen, knights, gentlemen, and others in and about
the city of London, which, through all its subsequent modifications, was
known by the title of the London Company; the other consisted of knights,
gentlemen, merchants, and others in and about the town of Plymouth, and
was known as the Plymouth Company, though its operations were never
extensive and were at last utterly fruitless.

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