eir members to the
Assembly." * * * * "and hence it is that our lower house of Assembly was
first called the House of Burgesses," Stith, p. 160. "In May, this year
(1620), there was held another Generall Assembly, which has, through
mistake, and the indolence and negligence of our historians in searching
such ancient records as are still extant in the country, been commonly
reported the first General Assembly," Ib. p. 182. We do not see that
Stith "errs" even "a little in the data." Rolfe says, "The 25 of June
came in the _Triall_ with Corne and Cattell in all safety, which took
from us cleerely all feare of famine, then our gouernor and councell
caused Burgesses to be chosen in all places, and met at a general
Assembly," Smith, p. 128. Stith says, "And about the latter end of June
he called," &c., Stith, p. 160. Neither intimate _when_ the Assembly
_met_, only that the governor called them to the latter part of
June.--ED.

[5] The first published notice of the existence of this paper occurred
in the proceedings of the annual meeting of the Virginia Historical
society, held December 15, 1853. In the report of the Executive
Committee the chairman, Conway Robinson, Esq., states that he had seen
the original report in the State Paper Office in London, on a recent
visit to that city.--See Virginia Historical Reporter, Vol. I., 1854.
Whatever question there may be in regard to priority of discovery, it is
to be regretted that it was left to the Historical Society of another
State to publish a document of so much value to the one to which it
solely relates.--ED.

[6] The Secretary of the Colony and Speaker of the first Assembly was
John Pory. If he had been one of the Burgesses his name would have
appeared with the others. Through the influence of the Earl at Warwick
he was made Secretary to the Virginia Company. Campbell says, "He was
educated at Cambridge, where he took the Master of Arts in April, 1610.
It is supposed he was a member of the House of Commons. He was much of a
traveller, and was at Venice in 1613, at Amsterdam in 1617, and shortly
after at Paris." "Sir George Yeardley appointed him one of his
Council."--Campbell, p. 139. The record shows that he acted as the
presiding officer of the first Assembly, whether _ex officio_ or by
selection is not stated. It will be seen that a typographical error in
Bancroft's pamphlet makes his name Povy. In Smith's General Historie
there is a paper styled "The observations of