Page:The Life of George Washington, Volume 1.djvu/58

 28 INTRODUCTION. chap. i. Lands were to be holden within the colony ? 1606. as the same estates were enjoyed in England, Kindness towards the heathen was enjoined ; and a power reserved to the king, and his suc- cessors, to ordain further laws, so that they were consonant to the jurisprudence of Eng- land. 11 Under this charter and these laws, which manifest at the same time a total disregard of all political liberty, and a total ignorance of the real advantages which may be drawn from colonies by a parent state ; which vest the higher powers of legislation in persons residing out of the country, not chosen by the people, nor affected by the laws they make ; and yet leave commerce entirely unrestrained, the pa- tentees proceeded to execute the arduous and almost untried task, of peopling a strange, distant and uncultivated land, covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited only by a few savages, easily irritated, and when irri- tated, more fierce than the beasts they hunted. u Robertson.