Selections From Early American Writers 1607 1800

rom which the survivors escaped to Jamestown nearly a year later. Strachey's chief work written while he was in America is an account of these and subsequent experiences, which he sent to London in 1610, and which was published in "Purchas His Pilgrimes" under the title of "A true repertory of the wracke, and redemption of Sir Thomas Gates Knight; upon, and from the Hands of the Bermudas: his comming to Virginia, and the estate of that Colonie then, and after, under the government of the Lord La Warre." As secretary he compiled for the colony "Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall," published in London in 1612; and after his return to England he wrote "The Historie of Travaile into Virginia Brittania," which remained in manuscript until 1849. William Strachey was evidently a man of education who had seen something of the world. His writings are, however, very uneven, and it is only when he is inspired by his subject that he attains any distinction of style. That he is remembered above his contemporaries is due in part to the fact that the powerful description of a storm, given in the following pages, has been supposed by some critics to have given Shakespeare suggestions for "The Tempest." The evidence on this point is purely circumstantial, and unless new facts are brought to light, it will always be impossible to reach a definite conclusion. An impartial statement of the case may be found in Furness's Variorum edition of "The Tempest." The text which follows is ... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.