THE "STARVING TIME."--Unfortunately, Smith was disabled by a severe wound and compelled to return to England. His influence being removed, the settlers became a prey to disease and famine. Some were killed by the Indians. Some, in their despair, seized a boat and became pirates. The winter of 1609-10 was long known as the Starving Time. In six months they were reduced from 490 to 60. At last they determined to flee from the wretched place. "None dropped a tear, for none had enjoyed one day of happiness." The next morning, as they slowly moved down with the tide, to their great joy they met their new governor, Lord Delaware, with abundant supplies and a company of emigrants. All returned to the homes they had just deserted, and Jamestown colony was once more rescued from ruin. THE THIRD CHARTER.--Up to this time the colony had proved a failure and was publicly ridiculed in London. To quiet the outcry, the charter was changed (1612). The council in London was abolished, and the stockholders were given power to regulate the affairs of the company themselves. THE MARRIAGE OF POCAHONTAS (1613).--The little Indian girl had now grown to womanhood. John Rolfe, a young English planter, had won her love and wished to marry her. In the little church at Jamestown, rough almost as an Indian's wigwam, she received Christian baptism, and, in broken English, stammered the marriage vows according to the service of the Church of England. Three years after, with her husband, she visited London. The childlike simplicity and winning grace of Lady Rebecca, as she was called, attracted universal admiration. She was introduced at court and received every mark of attention. As she was about to return to her native land with her husband and infant son, she suddenly died. [Footnote: This son became a man of wealth and distinction. Many of the leading families of Virginia have been proud to say that the blood of Pocahontas coursed through their veins.] FIRST COLONIAL ASSEMBLY.--Governor Yeardley (yard'-le) believed that the colonists should have "a hande in the governing of themselves." He accordingly called at Jamestown, June 28, 1619, _the first legislative body that ever assembled in America_. It consisted of the governor, council, and deputies, or "burgesses," as they were called, chosen from the various plantations, or "boroughs." Its laws had to be ratified by the company in England, but, in turn, the orders from London were not binding unless ratified by the colonial assembly. These privileges were afterward (1621) embodied in a _written constitution_--the first of the kind in America. A measure of freedom was thus granted the young colony, and Jamestown became a nursery of liberty.