Jamestown’s Providential Legacy: An Unlikely Story
Dedication Remarks for the Jamestown Children’s Memorial

by Wesley Strackbein, June 18, 2007

Editor’s Note: These dedication remarks were delivered on June 15, 2007 on the grounds of Fort Pocahontas as part of the Jamestown Quadricentennial Celebration held June 11-16 in Virginia’s historic triangle.

We gather here today to dedicate the Jamestown Children’s Memorial, a monument to God’s providential faithfulness in the life of our nation. Paid for by the $1 donations of America’s grateful children, this landmark is being raised to remind future generations of the mighty deeds which God wrought at Jamestown’s founding four centuries ago.

Matthew Henry once observed that “those who note providences will have providences to note.”^[1]

On this our Quadricentennial, we purpose to note God’s providential blessings in our nation’s past, even as we ask God to prepare our children’s hearts for providential blessings in the days to come.

We do this in the spirit of Psalm 78, the first seven verses of which are engraved on top of this memorial. With grateful hearts, we pledge to tell “the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Psalm 78:4).

On this day, we note Jamestown’s legacy of freedom which includes these fives firsts on America’s shores: The Bible, Christian Worship, Gospel Conversions, Scripture-based Common Law, and Republican Representative Government.

We also note Richard Hakluyt’s vision for gospel dominion, as well as the imperative that we honor our father and mother — the first commandment with a promise (Exodus 20:12).

Jamestown’s Success: An Unlikely Story

In the world’s eyes, Jamestown’s success is an unlikely story. Humanly speaking, the colony should have failed, just like the others before it did.

But “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise...the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Corinthians 1:27).

And why? So “that no flesh [might] glory in his presence” (I Corinthians 1:29); so that He alone would have all the praise.

So how did God providentially sustain Jamestown? How, for example, did He raise up Captain John Smith, a 27-year-old soldier with no noble pedigree, to make His glory known in our nation’s founding? How did this occur?

To answer this question, we must look past Captain Smith’s life to a previous generation.

Peregrine Bertie: A Son of Persecution

As we leaf through the pages of the 16th Century, we come to the year 1555.^[2] There we find a couple caught in the cross-hairs of Bloody Mary’s fierce persecution — a Richard Bertie by name, and his wife Catherine, the Duchesse of Suffolke.^[3]

We learn of their story from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs — and John Fox describes the couple’s troubled plight in vivid detail. With their one-year-old daughter^[4] and another child on the way, Richard and Catherine fled England in haste rather than take part in popish idolatries.

After several stops, they arrived in Wesel, Germany, utterly destitute.^[5] Catherine was great with child — but like Joseph and Mary in Bethlehem — Richard could find no room and board for his expecting wife.^[6]

But finally — in what Fox describes as “God’s prouidence in time of distresse”^[7] — the Berties came to the door of a Reformed minister. Upon meeting this beleaguered family, he was speechless. He wept bitterly as he observed their wasted condition — and then he welcomed them into his home.^[8]

Once settled at Wesel, Catherine gave birth to a son whom she and Richard named Peregrine — meaning “Pilgrim.”^[9]

Lord Willoughby: The Ferocious Warrior

The Bertie Family would survive Bloody Mary’s persecution, but both Richard and Catherine died as their son reached manhood, after which Peregrine assumed the title — “Lord Willoughby” — by right of noble lineage.^[10]

Steeled through the fires of adversity, Lord Willoughby became a ferocious defender of the Reformed faith^[11] as well as one of England’s most feared swordsmen.^[12]

He fought alongside the French Huguenots with noted success,^[13] but his greatest victory came under England’s banner when he was 30 years of age.

At Flanders with a mere 1,500 men, Lord Willoughby engaged an army of 40,000 Spaniards — a host more than 25 times his size.^[14]

Willoughby had the courage to dare the impossible because he trusted in the same Mighty Providence that had preserved his family in the past. He knew that God was his strength and shield; and he was thus undaunted — and he attacked the enemy with all vigor.

After hours of hard fighting, Lord Willoughby’s troops began to gain the advantage against their foe.

And what was his response? Did he let out a “braveheart” roar? No — not hardly. As the battle yet raged, he gathered his men around him; and kneeling down in prayer, he offered open thanks to God for His providential aid.

Following Lord Willoughby’s prayer, his small band slew 1,000 more Spaniards, decisively defeating their enemy.^[15]

The news of Willoughby’s victory spread like wildfire across England and around the globe.

Only sixteen years before, the world had learned of his parent’s heroism when John Foxe memorialized their story in his Book of Martyrs.^[16] Now the world learned of Peregrine Bertie’s own larger-than-life exploits through a ballad simply titled: “Brave Lord Willoughby.”^[17]

In the ballad’s last stanza, the poet captured Willoughby’s perspective on Providence as he sought to instill hope and inspire courage in his fellow countrymen:

Then courage noble Englishmen,
And never be dismayed;
If that we be but one to ten,
We will not be afraid
To fight with foreign enemies,
And set our country free;
And thus I end this bloody bout
Of brave Lord Willoughby.

John Smith: An Heir to Providence

This ballad would soon grace the ears of a six-year-old boy named John Smith.

Smith’s family greatly esteemed England’s brave warrior. This fact is a matter of public record — for John’s father George was one of Lord Willoughby’s tenants in Lincolnshire, England;^[18] and we know from reading George Smith’s will that he charged his son to honor and love^[19] his famous patron.^[20]

And so he did. As a boy, John spent time in Grimsthorpe Castle, Lord Willoughby’s magnificent estate located on the southern edge of the great Lincolnshire forest.^[21] He grew up with Willoughby’s sons, and they shared adventures together.^[22]

One historian observes that John Smith got “his love of the new, the unknown, the hazardous” in part from Lord Willoughby.^[23]

But, dear friends, John Smith gained more than a “spirit of adventure” from Willoughby. He imbibed from his testimony an unflinching trust in God’s providential faithfulness. And steeled by this deep heritage, he was ready to stand during America’s critical hour.

The rest is history: When Captain John Smith’s fellow council members sought to abandon Jamestown in response to hardships, Smith would have none of it, and he compelled the weak-minded colonists to persevere.^[24]

In short, Smith’s determination ensured that Jamestown survived. Were it not for him, there would have been no permanent settlement, and we would not be here today celebrating America’s 400th birthday.

It’s an unlikely story in the world’s eyes; but for us, it’s a gripping testimony to what God can accomplish through a man whose roots run deeply in the ways of Providence.

John Rolfe and Pocahontas: A Fruitful Union

There are more unlikely stories which we ought remember on this our Quadricentennial. And not all involve the clang of swords in battle; for, you see, some of God’s greatest providential works aren’t filled with musket and cannonball, but are forged on the hearths and homes of faithful families.

We would do well to remember an unlikely courtship and marriage — the coming together of John Rolfe and Princess Pocahontas.

Pocahontas was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head over a league of pagan tribes whose culture was at odds with Christianity.

But, by God’s grace, Pocahontas converted to Christ, and Rolfe saw in her a virtue that was striking — for she hungered for godly discipleship and desired to follow a visionary leader.^[25]

Colonist John Rolfe was just such a man, and he desired to tenderly cultivate the heart of Pocahontas just as he would carefully tend the ground of his Virginia farm.

In Rolfe’s petition to Governor Thomas Dale seeking approval to marry her, he outlined this beautiful vision for discipleship and dominion:

“Why was I created?” asked Rolfe.

His answer:

[T]o labour in the Lords vineyard, there to sow and plant, to nourish and increase the fruites thereof, daily adding witt the good husband in the Gospell.^[26]

Rolfe got to marry his Princess, and their marriage bore great fruit. Not only did they harvest much in the field — as Rolfe became Jamestown’s most distinguished tobacco farmer during his lifetime^[27] — but they produced a progeny which, over generations, would include many of Virginia’s most noted leaders.^[28]

One of those leaders, John Tyler, Jr., would become the 10th President of the United States. Growing up, John’s father would gather him and his siblings under a willow tree and regale them with stories from their family’s illustrious past.^[29]

This family legacy took root in President Tyler’s heart; and in 1857, he gave a three-hour keynote at Jamestown’s 250th jubilee, recounting God’s providential hand in the history of the colony.^[30]

Fifty years later, John’s son, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, would be among the first to call for the Tercentenary Celebration;^[31] and in 1907 — on Jamestown’s 300th anniversary — Lyon published the Narratives of Early Virginia which included John Rolfe’s poignant letter where he sought Pocahontas’ hand.^[32]

A Dedication of Honor: A Legacy We Must Fight for and Defend

John Rolfe lost his Lady Rebecca less than three years into their marriage,^[33] but their providential legacy lives on ‘til this day.

Harrison Ruffin Tyler, President Tyler’s grandson, joins us now as we dedicate this memorial to the memory of the Rolfes and the other unlikely heroes of the Jamestown Settlement.

And what more fitting place on his estate than Ft. Pocahontas — for, dear friends, our forebear’s legacy is one which we must fight for and defend.

Ladies and gentleman, let us rise now and commit our way to this sober task. With humble hearts, let us make these words our prayer:

We, the grateful children of the twenty-first century, in gratitude to the Lord our God for the mercy and kindness bestowed upon the American people through His providential direction and care of our Jamestown forefathers, do hereby erect this monument on the four hundredth anniversary of the Jamestown Settlement.

As we dedicate this memorial, may we cultivate the fruit of the field and the fruit of the womb as John Rolfe and Pocahontas before us.

As we consecrate this landmark, may we have hearts emboldened with resolve in light of God’s providence, even as John Smith had.

And as we honor the faith of our fathers in laying this monument, may the Gospel light kindled by Hakluyt, Hunt, and others burn bright for 1,000 generations.

Standing Firm: May God Make it So

In closing, I would urge us to consider the legacy of another unlikely courtship and marriage that God ordained long before Jamestown.

Many centuries ago in the little town of Bethlehem, a man of vision met a woman of virtue whom he desired to marry. His name was Boaz, and her name was Ruth.

Ruth was from Moab, a pagan tribe; but like Pocahontas, she had given her heart to Jehovah God. And in the due course of time, Boaz, like John Rolfe, got to marry his Princess in what can only be described as a remarkable providence.^[34]

This beautiful story would be close to the heart of their great-grandson,^[35] who — like those of us today — would face an enemy seeking to mock and destroy his nation’s godly heritage.^[36]

But like Lord Willoughby and Captain John Smith, this young boy had noted the stories of Providence. He had marked them well, and he was unfazed.^[37]

And as he faced Goliath of Gath, he told his fellow countrymen, “The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (I Samuel 17:37).

You know the rest: the giant fell, and Israel won the victory.

It’s an unlikely story. But, dear friends: God is in the business of bringing the unlikely to pass.

He’s “chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise...the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty” (I Corinthians 1:27).

He takes boys who’ve heard the ballads of bravery — stripling lads with a sling — and He turns the world upside down.

And on this our Quadricentennial, we must tell our children the stories. We must place these landmarks to Providence before their eyes.

So, when the day comes when they face 40,000 Spaniards or one ugly giant, they will stand firm and engage the enemy.

May God make it so.

Amen.