Public Preaching and the Establishment of Virginia, ca. 1609
Gregory Vaughn McNamara

Abstract
Numerous sermons were preached and published in the first months of 1609 leading up to the institution of the second charter of England’s Virginia colony on May 23 of that year. This intensive public relations campaign emanated from the court, from the Virginia Company itself, and from the City of London: investment was widespread as was public doubt. Given the dismal reports from Jamestown by then well known to Londoners, there was reason for active proselytizing. This essay examines the Virginia adventure as represented in the 1609 London sermons of William Crashaw, Daniel Price, and William Symonds, considering the historical record of the colony and competing cultural discourses, including but not limited to the popular stage.

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