The history and antiquities of Boston .. . d of discovery and enterprise. It was duringthe reign of Elizabeth, that British perseverance first showed itself ableto surmount all obstacles. Men not courtiers came to be patronized byroyalty, and merchants and mariners could hold meetings in London andelsewhere, to mature plans for the extension of commerce, without beingsuspected of plotting against the state. Little more can be done, in thisreview of the progress towards^he settlement of New England,ihan merely to glance at a few ofche stirring spirits of that age ;among whom must be mentionedSi
The history and antiquities of Boston .. . d of discovery and enterprise. It was duringthe reign of Elizabeth, that British perseverance first showed itself ableto surmount all obstacles. Men not courtiers came to be patronized byroyalty, and merchants and mariners could hold meetings in London andelsewhere, to mature plans for the extension of commerce, without beingsuspected of plotting against the state. Little more can be done, in thisreview of the progress towards^he settlement of New England,ihan merely to glance at a few ofche stirring spirits of that age ;among whom must be mentionedSir Humphrey Gilbert, as de-serving more than a passing no-tice. He w^as boin the same, orif not the same year with SirFrancis Drake, he was not morethan two years his junior. Theywere indeed kindred spirits. Gil-bert was wanting in none of thatthirst for daring adventure, ofwhich Drake was so large a pro-prietor ; and while his early ca-^^ reer was more prosperous, hehaving been cut off almost in theWhen about thirty-three years of age, he. SlK HUMPHREY a copy of a portrait of Sir II. Gilbert, in Hollandrologia. less fortunate in the end ;of his was less lormnate inbeginning of his career. published that masterly Discourse to prove a passage by the North-west to the East Indies, which is in a style superior to most writings ofthat age. In 1578, he obtained a patent of Queen Elizabeth, empow-ering him to discover and possess any unsettled land in North the energy and perseverance which he employed to improve theadvantages under his ample charter, he has been declared, by somewriters of respectability, the real founder of the English possessions inAmerica. He made two voyages to Newfoundland between 1578 and1583. At St. John he gave leases to certain individuals, under whichpermanent settlements were eventually there made. On the 9th ofSeptember, of the year last named, having embarked for England, hisship foundered, and he was swallowed up in the sea. When
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