It should be noted that this patent, given by James to the combined London and Plymouth companies, differed greatly from that granted by Elizabeth to Gilbert and Raleigh, for it prescribed a constitution for the colonies, and left but little to the judgment of the patentees. The latter, in their eagerness to get a commercial charter, had allowed the king to assume an undue political control over their establishment. It was fortunate for Englishmen, both in America and England, that James was a weak monarch. He might readily have used his supreme power over the Virginia colonists, not only to browbeat them at will, but to tax them unmercifully for the purpose of raising money, with which he would be the better enabled to bid the home Parliament defiance while attacking the liberties of his people. He did not lack desire, but was wanting in courage and astuteness, and allowed those shrewder than himself gradually to re-shape the American charter until, within twenty years, Virginia had emerged into practical independence. 30. The Settlement of Virginia (1607-1624). Sidenotes: The London Company first in the field. Character of the colonists. The London Company, of which Hakluyt, Somers, and Gates were the most active spirits, was first in the field. A hundred and forty-three colonists were gathered aboard three ships,--the "Discovery," the "Good Speed," and the "Susan Constant,"--which on the 19th of December, 1606, sailed down the Thames, on the way to Virginia. The composition of the party was not promising. Most of them were "gentlemen," unused to and scorning manual toil; only twelve were laborers; and among the artisans were "jewellers, gold-refiners, and a perfumer." Adventure, mines, and golden sands were in the minds of the company, and the "gentlemen" doubtless thought they were out for a holiday excursion. The fact that there were neither women nor children in the expedition shows how little conception these people had of the true mission of a colony. The little fleet was in charge of Christopher Newport, a seaman of good reputation, with whom Gosnold was associated. Sidenote: John Smith. Among the party was one of the patentees,--Captain John Smith. He was the son of a Lincolnshire gentleman; and being a soldier of fortune, had travelled and experienced adventures in many European countries,--a brave, robust, self-reliant, public-spirited, enterprising, humane, and withal a boastful Englishman, he has come down to us as one of the most romantic figures in American history. Smith's active temperament was not at first appreciated by his fellow-colonists, and in a fit of jealousy on shipboard they put him into irons upon a silly charge of conspiracy; and though he had been named a councillor by the king, he was not allowed to participate in the government for nearly a month after landing. Sidenote: Jamestown settled.