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diff --git a/34455-8.txt b/34455-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ea3a6f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/34455-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,13641 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Give Me Liberty, by Thomas J. Wertenbaker + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Give Me Liberty + The Struggle for Self-Government in Virginia + +Author: Thomas J. Wertenbaker + +Release Date: November 27, 2010 [EBook #34455] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GIVE ME LIBERTY *** + + + + +Produced by Mark C. Orton, Patrick Hopkins and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +Transcriber's Note + +1. This text has a Rule 6 copyright clearance. Research has indicated +the copyright on this book was not renewed. + +2. The position of some illustrations has been changed to facilitate +reading flow. + +3. Footnotes are located at the end of each chapter. + +4. In general, geographical references, spelling, hyphenation, and +capitalization have been retained as in the original publication. + +5. Minor typographical errors--usually periods, commas and hyphens--have +been corrected without note. + +6. Significant typographical errors have been corrected. A full list of +these corrections is available in the Transcriber's Corrections section +at the end of the book. + + * * * * * + + + + + GIVE ME LIBERTY + + + + + MEMOIRS OF THE + + AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY + + _held at Philadelphia + for Promoting Useful Knowledge_ + + VOLUME 46 + + + + + [Illustration: Thomas Jefferson. Portrait by Thomas + Sully in the Hall of the American Philosophical + Society.] + + + + + GIVE ME LIBERTY + + _The Struggle for Self-Government + in + Virginia_ + + + THOMAS J. WERTENBAKER + _Edwards Professor Emeritus of American History + Princeton University_ + + + THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY + INDEPENDENCE SQUARE + PHILADELPHIA + 1958 + + + + + COPYRIGHT 1958 BY THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY + + + _Library of Congress Catalog_ + _Card Number: 58-9093_ + + + PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + BY J. H. FURST COMPANY, BALTIMORE, MARYLAND + + + + +_Preface_ + + +None of the American colonies "will ever submit to the loss of those +valuable rights and privileges which are essential to the happiness of +every free state," George Washington wrote in October, 1774. Perhaps the +British officer to whom he made this statement was startled to have him +speak of the colonies as free. Yet at the time the American people were +the freest in the world, freer even than the people of England. It was +to defend this freedom, not to gain new rights, that the colonists +rebelled against Great Britain. For decades they had been governing +themselves, so when the British Ministry tried to govern them from +London, they would not submit. + +To understand what was in the minds and hearts of George Washington, +Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and the other patriots, it is necessary to +know how the colonies became self-governing. One must follow the +political battles and hard-earned victories of their fathers, and +grandfathers, and great-grandfathers in the colonial Assemblies. + +This volume treats of the struggle for self-government in Virginia from +the founding of Jamestown in 1607 to the Declaration of Independence. +The story of the gradual lessening of the King's prerogative, of the +weakening of the power of the Governor, of the emergence of the Assembly +as the ruling body could be paralleled in other colonies. But it is of +especial importance in Virginia, where was held the first representative +Assembly in the New World, and which gave so many leaders to the +American Revolution. + +I wish to express my appreciation to my Alma Mater, the University of +Virginia, for its award of a Thomas Jefferson Research Fellowship, +without which this volume would not have been written. + + THOMAS J. WERTENBAKER. + + Princeton, N. J. + April 1, 1957. + + + + +_Contents_ + + + PAGE + + I. The Cornerstone of Liberty 1 + + II. Self-government 17 + + III. We Prefer Another Governor 36 + + IV. Royalty Overthrown 54 + + V. A Bacon! A Bacon! 76 + + VI. Reconstruction and Despotism 97 + + VII. The Glorious Revolution 122 + + VIII. The Virginia Hitler 133 + + IX. The Virginia House of Lords 151 + + X. Spotswood 160 + + XI. Peace and Prosperity 177 + + XII. At Stake--Liberty and a Continent 194 + + XIII. The Widening Rift 209 + + XIV. Independence 232 + + Essay on Sources 258 + + Index 265 + + + + +Illustrations + + + Thomas Jefferson. Portrait by Thomas Sully in the Hall + of the American Philosophical Society _frontispiece_ + + The Old Capitol at Williamsburg, showing the north + elevation which is a duplicate of the historic Virginia + Capitol originally completed in 1705. Courtesy of + Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. _facing page_ 134 + + The House of Burgesses in the Old Capitol at Williamsburg. + Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. 134 + + Governor Dinwiddie. Portrait in the National Portrait + Gallery of London 196 + + The General Court in the Old Capitol at Williamsburg. + Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc. 196 + + Lord Dunmore. From the copy in the possession of the + Virginia Historical Society of the original portrait by + Sir Joshua Reynolds 238 + + The Governor's Palace, Williamsburg. Courtesy of Colonial + Williamsburg, Inc. 238 + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE CORNERSTONE OF LIBERTY + + +Three little vessels--the _Susan Constant_, the _Godspeed_, and the +_Discovery_--left England in December, 1606, under the command of +Captain Christopher Newport, to found a colony on the distant shores of +Virginia. Two decades earlier Sir Walter Raleigh had sent out a group of +settlers to what is now North Carolina, and they had disappeared +mysteriously. What had happened to them? men asked. Had they been killed +by the Indians? Had they fallen victims to disease? Had they starved? +Those who shared in this new venture must have wondered if a like fate +awaited them in this strange new land. + +But their spirits rose when they entered Chesapeake Bay. Landing parties +were delighted with the "fair meddowes ... full of flowers of divers +kinds and colors," the "goodly tall trees," and the streams of fresh +water. It was a smiling country which seemed to bid them welcome. But +when they entered the mouth of a broad river, which they called the +James in honor of their King, and made their way up into the country, +new doubts must have assailed them. They knew that savages lived in the +dense forests which lined both banks; might not strange wild beasts live +there also? Might there not be fatal diseases unknown in Europe? + +Possibly they wondered what type of government Englishmen would live +under here. In the charter granted the Virginia Company of London in +1606 it was promised that they should "enjoy all the liberties, +franchises, and immunities" of Englishmen, "as if they had been abiding" +in England. Even without this promise they would have taken it for +granted that they were not surrendering the freedom derived from their +ancestors. This was the view taken six decades later by Francis Moryson +and Thomas Ludwell, agents for the colony. If the King planted a colony +of Englishmen, they and their heirs ought by law to enjoy the "same +liberties and privileges as Englishmen in England." After all, the +colony would be but "an extension or dilation of the realm of +England."[1] + +The men who came to Virginia had, in the mother country, participated in +the government through representatives of their own choosing, so they +insisted upon this right in their new home. They claimed, also, the +habeas corpus, jury trial, and freedom from taxation save by their own +consent. In England not even the King could take a man's money legally +until it had been granted by the House of Commons. Upon this recognized +principle English liberty was chiefly based; upon its acceptance in +America depended the future of liberty there. + +Yet when the first band of settlers stepped ashore at Jamestown, liberty +in England still hung in the balance. At the conclusion of the Wars of +the Roses the King was almost absolute. The people were desperately +tired of anarchy; they were tired also of the oppressions of the barons. +So long as the King put an end to both they had no desire to limit his +power. The Commons ate out of his hand. Henry VIII might tear the Church +from the Roman see, Mary might restore it, Edward might once more break +with Rome--in each case the people submitted. Those who dared resist +faced the headsman's block or the pyre. + +But in time the memory of the Wars of the Roses grew dim. And the growth +of the artisan class, the development of trade, the birth of a great +literature, the work of the universities, the expansion of world +horizons fired the imagination and awakened men to their own +potentialities. Self-government is a tender plant which withers in the +soil of poverty and ignorance, and it was the advance of prosperity and +enlightenment under the Tudors which made possible the flowering of +liberty under the Stuarts. + +James I had been on the throne only three years when the little town +which bore his name was founded. James has been called the wisest fool +in Christendom; but he was neither wise nor a fool. His conception of +the King's office was logical and simple. It was his function to rule; +the duty of the people was to obey. If they did not, like bad children +they should be scolded and perhaps punished, since it was not only +illegal but wicked to question the King's authority. "As to dispute what +God may do is blasphemy, so it is sedition in subjects to dispute what a +King may do," he said. Parliament he considered a nuisance. "I am +surprised that my ancestors should have permitted such an institution to +come into existence," he said. "I am a stranger and found it here when +I arrived, so that I am obliged to put up with what I cannot get rid +of."[2] + +The House of Commons were not inclined to accept the King's theory of +the relations between himself and Parliament. When James told them that +they had no privileges save by royal grace, they replied that he had +been misinformed. When in answer to James' demand that they refrain from +meddling in foreign affairs, they entered on their journal a +protestation of their right of free speech, he was so enraged that he +sent for the book and with his own hands tore out the page. + +The Commons considered it a precious privilege to be "governed by +certain rules of law ... and not by uncertain or arbitrary form of +government." There is a general fear among the people, they told James, +that royal proclamations might eventually assume the nature of laws. +Then their ancient freedom would be abridged, "if not quite taken away," +and "a new form of arbitrary government" brought on the realm. + +The conflict between King and Parliament foreshadowed the conflict +between the Governors and the people of the colonies. The provincial +Assemblies were not less determined to resist any infringement on their +rights than was Parliament. And the fortunes of the contending forces in +the mother country affected profoundly those in the colonies. Echoes of +the First Stuart Despotism, the Civil War and Commonwealth, the +Restoration, the Second Stuart Despotism, the Glorious Revolution, the +laissez-faire period, and the reaction under George III reverberated in +the colonies. + +But the development of self-government in America was by no means +entirely dependent upon events in England. There were forces in the New +World which favored democracy. The wide spaces of the frontier made men +self-reliant and resourceful and impatient of control by a distant +monarch, ever ready to defend old rights, quick to demand new ones. +"People remote from the seat of government are always remarkable for +their disobedience," wrote Governor Gooch, in 1732.[3] As the historian +Foote has pointed out, they and "their children were republicans; in +England they would have been styled rebels." + +The creating of a vast middle class in the colonies also tended toward +democracy. The men who turned their backs on the homes of their +ancestors to start life over again in the tobacco fields of Virginia +were, most of them, desperately poor. Many came under terms of +indenture. But they had, prior to the introduction of slaves in large +numbers, every opportunity to rise. As a result there emerged a +vigorous, intelligent, freedom-loving yeomanry, who had a profound +influence in winning self-government. + +But the victory at first seemed to be with the King. When James granted +a charter to the Virginia Company of London, he took care that it should +include no provision for representative government. Instead he kept the +control of the proposed colony in his own hands. There was to be a +Council resident in England appointed by him and responsible to him. +This body was to name another Council which was to reside in Virginia +and administer the "Articles, Instructions, and Orders" which the King +drew up with his own hand. In practice this body assumed administrative, +legislative, and judicial powers, and ruled the infant colony by their +own arbitrary will.[4] + +Not only was this constitution undemocratic, but it proved inefficient. +Had the Council in England made better selections for the Council in +Virginia, the colony would have been saved much disorder and suffering. +But never was there a more quarrelsome set of men. The fleet had been at +sea but a few days when Captain John Smith was accused of plotting to +overthrow the government and murder his associates, and was kept in +prison below decks. Only some weeks after the landing at Jamestown was +he released and permitted to take his seat on the Council.[5] + +On the Council with him were Captain Christopher Newport, Edward +Wingfield, Bartholomew Gosnold, George Kendall, John Ratcliffe, and John +Martin. One would think that this little group, set down in the +wilderness and faced with many perils, would have occupied their time +better than with plotting against each other. They had enough to do to +defend themselves against the Indians, for in a sudden attack four of +them were wounded and another had a narrow escape when an arrow passed +through his beard.[6] + +Kendall was the first to be expelled from the Council. Gosnold died. +Wingfield, who was President of the Council, was accused of being an +atheist, of plotting to desert the colony, and of misappropriating +public funds, and was ousted from his seat. Since Newport had sailed +with the fleet for England, Ratcliffe, Smith, and Martin were now the +only remaining Councillors. But this did not bring harmony. Kendall was +accused of plotting against the other two, tried, and hanged. Smith, +too, was in danger of the gallows, when he was held responsible for the +death of two men who had been killed by the Indians. Were the "whipping, +lawing, beating, and hanging in Virginia known in England, I fear it +would drive many well affected minds from this honorable action," +Wingfield stated after his return to England. With the drowning of two +new Councillors, Captain John Smith alone remained, and for several +months was the sole ruler of the colony.[7] + +When word of what was going on in Virginia reached the London Company it +was obvious to all that the original plan of government had proved a +failure. So they secured a new charter empowering them to change it. But +for a remedy they turned, not to self-government, but to despotism. They +abolished the old Council, and turned the colony over to a Governor who, +within the limits of his instructions, was to "rule and govern by his +own discretion or by such laws" as he should decree. To assist him he +was to choose an advisory Council. + +The danger of this system was at first obscured by the wise choice of a +Governor. Thomas Lord De la Warr was a man of distinction and ability. +He had studied at the Queen's College, Oxford, had served with Essex in +Ireland, and had been a member of the Privy Council under both Elizabeth +and James.[8] + +Upon landing at Jamestown, De la Warr listened to a sermon by the good +minister, Mr. Buck. He then addressed the people, "laying some blames on +them," and promising, if forced to it, to draw the sword of justice. But +there seems to have been no need for this. The people, forgetting former +quarrels, were united in their efforts to serve their Governor and bring +a degree of prosperity to the colony. The sound of hammering and sawing +was heard on all sides as little houses were built, the fort repaired, +the church restored. "Every Sunday, when the Lord Governor went to +church, he was accompanied by all the Councillors, Captains, and other +officers, and all the gentlemen, and with a band of fifty halberdiers in +his Lordships livery, fair red cloaks, on each side and behind him. The +Lord Governor sat in the choir in a green velvet chair, with a velvet +cushion before him on which he knelt."[9] + +But that Lord De la Warr proved to be a mild and just Governor by no +means obscures the evils inherent in absolutism. A good ruler may be +succeeded by a bad one. In ancient Rome the people benefited by the +establishing of law and order under the great Augustus, but they +suffered from the cruelty of the insane Caligula and the dissolute Nero. +So it boded no good for Virginia when De la Warr fell ill. "I was +welcomed by a hot and violent ague," he tells us. This was followed by +an attack of dysentery. "Then the cramp assaulted my weak body with +strong pains, and afterward the gout." Finally scurvy came to add to his +woes, so that he "was upon the point to leave this world." In +desperation he set sail for the West Indies in the hope of recovering +his health.[10] + +A few weeks after De la Warr's departure Sir Thomas Gates assumed +command of the colony. In 1614 he, in turn, was followed by Sir Thomas +Dale, Dale by Captain George Yeardley, and Yeardley by Samuel Argall. +When Gates was in Virginia in 1610 he had brought with him certain laws, +orders, and instructions which he posted in the church at Jamestown. As +the people crowded into the little building to read them they must have +expressed their resentment and horror, for the laws were more suited to +a penal colony than to a community of free Englishmen. In 1611 Dale +brought additional laws, and the whole body was revised in England and +published. Gates and Dale had both served with the English army in the +Netherlands, and these laws were "chiefly extracted out of the laws for +governing the army" there. + +It was ordered that "every man and woman daily twice a day upon the +first tolling of the bell shall upon the working days repair into the +church to hear divine service upon pain of losing his or her day's +allowance for the first omission, for the second to be whipped, for the +third to be condemned to the galleys for six months." Equally severe was +the law that "no man shall give any disgraceful words or commit any act +to the disgrace of any person ... upon pain of being tied head and feet +together upon the guard every night for the space of one month." To kill +any cattle, or horse, goat, or pig, or chicken without leave was +punishable with death. No doubt conducive to health but not to liberty +was the order that no man or woman should wash linen or pots and pans +"within twenty foot of the old well ... upon pain of whipping."[11] + +De la Warr was a humane man, who thought that order could be maintained +without cruelty. Gates, also, seems not to have enforced the severe +laws. But the situation changed when Dale, and after him Argall assumed +power. These two men were guilty of reigns of terror that would have +shamed an Ivan the Terrible or a Hitler. The Virginia Assembly of 1624 +testified that the colony suffered "under most severe and cruel laws +sent over in print," contrary to the King's promise. And these laws were +"mercilessly executed, often times without trial or judgment." Some who +sought relief by fleeing to the Indians were captured and executed, +either by hanging, or shooting, or even by being broken on the wheel. +One man who had stolen some oatmeal had a knife thrust through his +tongue, and then was tied to a tree where he was left to starve. In 1612 +several men tried to steal a barge and a shallop in order to risk their +lives in a desperate attempt to reach England. For this they were "shot +to death, hanged and broken upon the wheel."[12] + +But better things were in store. Many of the leading spirits of the +London Company, who "stood best affected to religion and liberty" were +"distasted with the proceedings of the Court." This group began now to +dream of migrating to Virginia to set up a government there which would +be sympathetic with their views. "Many worthy patriots, lords, knights, +gentlemen, merchants, and others ... laid hold on ... Virginia as a +providence cast before them."[13] Had not the Pilgrim fathers shown the +way to New England a few years later, it might have been in Virginia +rather than in Massachusetts that the Bible commonwealth was +established. + +Prominent among the liberal faction in the Company was Sir Edwin Sandys. +In his youth he had studied at Corpus Christi, Oxford, under Richard +Hooker, the future founder of Connecticut, and this ardent Puritan +influenced profoundly his views and career. It was from Hooker that he +got the theory that the King derived his authority from a contract with +the people, and not by divine right. Later, when as a member of the +Commons he enunciated this theory, he drew down on his head James' +bitter hatred. Sandys, who had long been a member of the Council of the +London Company, was elected to the important post of Treasurer in 1617. +To prevent his re-election three years later, the King sent the names of +four other men to the Company with the demand that they elect one of +them. When the Company sent a delegation to him to protest against this +interference with their affairs, James blurted out: "Choose the devil if +you will, but not Sir Edwin Sandys." + +Sandys seems to have planned to secure successive charters, each +granting the Company greater powers than its predecessor, under the +pretext that this was necessary for the success of the enterprise. The +second charter, granted in 1609, is of especial importance because by it +the King resigned the immediate control of the colony into the hands of +the Company. The charter of 1612 still further strengthened their hands. + +But the Sandys faction met strenuous opposition in the Company itself. +Many of the stockholders thought it a mistake to involve the Company in +the political and religious struggle which was convulsing the nation. At +times the Quarter Courts resounded with the angry debates of the +contending parties. A momentous struggle it was, since upon the outcome +depended the establishing of self-government in America. So there was +rejoicing among the liberal party when Sandys was victorious. + +It is probable that Sandys drew up with his own hand what has been +called the Magna Carta of Virginia in the fall of 1617, granting the +colony the right to representative government. Lord De la Warr, who was +still the Governor, had expected to leave at that time with this famous +document. But his sailing was delayed until April, 1618. Unfortunately +De la Warr, who probably had never fully recovered his health, became +ill during the voyage and died. + +When news of De la Warr's death reached the London Company, they chose +Captain George Yeardley to be his successor. In January, 1619, Yeardley +sailed from England with several documents, probably duplicates of the +Magna Carta, authorizing him to hold an election for a General +Assembly.[14] His instructions have been preserved, but his commission, +or constitution for the colony, has been lost. Yet undoubtedly it was +similar to, if not identical with the Magna Carta of 1617, and with the +"Ordinance and Constitution" of July 24, 1621, given Sir Francis Wyatt. + +This constitution called for a Council to be chosen from time to time by +the Company to assist the Governor in maintaining the "people in justice +and Christian conversation amongst themselves, and in strength and +ability to withstand their enemies." Another body "to be called by the +Governor once yearly and no oftener but for very extraordinary and +important occasions, shall consist for the present of the said Council +of State, and two Burgesses out of every town, hundred, or other +particular plantation, to be respectively chosen by the inhabitants." +This body, which was called the General Assembly, was to "have free +power to treat, consult, and conclude, as well of all emergent occasions +concerning the public weal of the said colony ... as also to make, +ordain, and enact such general laws and orders ... as shall from time to +time appear necessary." To the Governor was reserved a negative voice. + +The Governor and Assembly were directed "to imitate and follow the form +of government, laws, customs, and manner of trial, and other +ministration of justice used in the realm of England." And a limit was +put to the authority of the Assembly by a provision that no law should +"continue in force" unless ratified by the Company. But a degree of +independence was granted in the instruction that "after the government +of the said colony shall once have been framed ... no orders of court +afterwards shall bind the said colony, unless they be ratified in like +manner in the General Assemblies."[15] + +There must have been rejoicing in Virginia when Yeardley arrived with +orders "for the better establishing a commonwealth." Perhaps there were +cheers, perhaps tears of joy in the crowd which assembled in Jamestown +to listen to his proclamation. It promised that those cruel laws by +which they had so long been governed were now abrogated, and that they +were to be governed by those free laws which his Majesty's subjects in +England lived under.[16] + +On August 9, 1619, the first representative assembly in American +history met in the crude little church at Jamestown. When Governor +Yeardley had taken his seat in the choir, the members of the Council sat +beside him, some on one side, some on the other. "But forasmuch as men's +affairs do little prosper when God's service is neglected, all the +Burgesses took their places in the choir till a prayer was said by Mr. +Buck, the minister." Then the Burgesses were called in order by name, +and so every man took the oath of supremacy.[17] + +The Assembly assumed from the first that it was to be the Parliament of +Virginia. But they realized that they must make no laws which +contravened those of England, or the charter, or the instructions of the +London Company. During the first session, acts were passed concerning +the Church, Indian affairs, land patents, morality, prices, trade, etc. +But by far the most important law was one ordering "that every man and +man servant above sixteen years of age shall pay into the hands and +custody of the Burgesses ... one pound of the best tobacco."[18] + +The control of taxation by the representatives of the people was to play +a vital role in the development of self-government in America. It was +based on the fact, universally recognized by Englishmen, that no power +had the right to take a man's property without his own consent. A +century after the first session of the Virginia Assembly the New York +Assembly reminded Governor Robert Hunter that their inherent right "to +dispose of the money of the freemen" did "not proceed from any +commission, letters patent, or other grant from the Crown, but from the +free choice and election of the people, who ought not to be divested of +their property (nor justly can) without their consent." Similarly the +Virginia House of Burgesses declared: "The rights of the subjects are so +secured by law that they cannot be deprived of the least part of their +property but by their own consent." + +The Virginia Assembly of 1619, when they assumed the right to tax the +people, probably did not realize that they were laying the cornerstone +of the structure of American liberty. Yet it was the control of taxation +by the representatives of the people in all the colonies which made it +possible to win victory after victory over the royal Governors. It is an +old saying that one dare not quarrel with one's paymaster. Yet that was +just what most of the Governors had to do. They needed money, money to +cover their own salaries, money with which to pay other government +officials, money to raise and equip men to fight the Indians, or the +Dutch, or the French. The price they had to pay was a part of the royal +prerogative. + +It is to be noted that the money raised by the levy of 1619 in Virginia +was to be paid, not to the Governor or to a Treasurer appointed by the +Governor, but to the Burgesses. The question of who was to receive the +revenues and who to decide upon their use was second in importance only +to who had the right to levy taxes. It was to give rise to many disputes +between Governors and Burgesses. + +The people of Virginia in their happiness in the setting up of +representative government seem to have overlooked the King's hostility. +But they could not have expected him to assent meekly to the duplication +in the infant colony of the Parliament, the body which was causing him +so much trouble and vexation. They might have been warned of what was +coming when James threw Sir Edwin Sandys in the Tower. + +This was followed by a frontal assault on the London Company. John +Ferrar wrote: "The King, notwithstanding his royal word and honor +pledged to the contrary ... was now determined with all his force to ... +give the death blow...."[19] He began by ordering a certain Nathaniel +Butler to write a pamphlet describing conditions in Virginia. In his +_Unmasking of Virginia_, as he called it, Butler drew a vivid picture of +the suffering of the people from disease, hunger, and the Indians. In +reply the Company published _A True Answer_, explaining the misfortunes +which had plagued the colony, and denying responsibility for them.[20] + +The King now appointed a commission to inquire into "all abuses and +grievances" in Virginia. In July, 1623, this body reported that most of +the people sent to the colony were now dead, and that the blame must +rest on the Company. "If his Majesty's first grant of April 10, 1606, +... had been pursued, much better effects had been produced than had +been by the alteration thereof into so popular a course."[21] The King +was elated. He was determined, he said, to "resume the government, and +... reduce that popular form so as to make it agree with the monarchical +form." + +Should the Company agree, he was willing for them to retain their +charter. But he told them that he was resolved "by a new charter to +appoint a Governor and twelve assistants, resident here in England, unto +whom shall be committed the government." These assistants were to +appoint a Governor and twelve assistants to reside in Virginia, "whereby +all matters of importance may be directed by his Majesty."[22] In +essence this was the original plan of 1606. There was "hot debate" in +the Company when they met to consider this proposal. Every man present +knew that the fate of the Company hung in the balance. Yet when the +King's offer was put to the vote, it was rejected by an overwhelming +majority.[23] + +The Company now appealed to the House of Commons. But before the Commons +could act a message came from the King warning them not to meddle in the +affair. "Ourselves will make it our work to settle the quiet and welfare +of the plantations," he said. So, with some "soft mutterings," they +submitted. + +The people of Virginia waited impatiently for the outcome of the +struggle which concerned them so deeply. When in March, 1624, the +_Southampton_ arrived with word that James was determined to change the +government, they were in despair. Was liberty to be overthrown? Were +they to be subjected again to the brutality of a Dale or an Argall? They +wrote the Privy Council praying that future Governors should not have +absolute authority. "But above all we humbly entreat your Lordships that +we may retain the liberty of our General Assembly, than which nothing +can more conduce to our satisfaction or the public utility."[24] + +If this letter ever reached the Privy Council, it did not stay the +King's hand. Attorney General Coventry had already issued a _quo +warranto_ against the Company. Sandys and others fought the case before +the King's Bench, but the outcome was foregone. On June 26, 1624, the +charter was overthrown and Virginia became a royal colony. + +Certain historians have contended that, in destroying the Company, James +was actuated chiefly by economic motives. They point out that the +Company was divided into factions, that the situation in Virginia was +desperate, and that the Company was practically bankrupt. Nothing was +left to show for the £100,000 which had been expended, and unless this +charge was wiped off the books by dissolving the Company, it would +remain for decades as a burden on the colony. No doubt this may have +influenced James in his decision. But he himself said that it had not +been his intention to revoke the charters until the Company drove him to +it by refusing to resign the government into his hands. He had resolved, +he said, "by altering the charters ... as to point of government ... to +settle such a course as might cause the said plantation to flourish, ... +But because the said Treasurer and Company did not submit their charters +to be reformed, our proceedings therein were stayed for a time until ... +the said charters ... were ... avoided." + +The future of the colony was now left in doubt. James declared his +intention of issuing a new charter. But since this would require "much +time and care," he appointed a commission headed by Lord Henry +Mandeville, to manage the colony in the meanwhile. This body's first +step was to reappoint Governor Francis Wyatt and his Council, and to +authorize them to exercise all the powers granted to Yeardley and his +Council. But they made no mention of an Assembly. + +James, in issuing the new charter, no doubt intended to make it conform +to the charter of 1606. Had he done so, he might have delayed the +development of self-government in Virginia by decades. But before he +could complete the draft, death overtook him. This dissolved the +Mandeville commission, and postponed indefinitely a final settlement of +Virginia affairs. + +Charles I was in sympathy with his father's plans for the colony, but he +seems not to have been deeply concerned about carrying them out. His +first step was to place the matter before the Privy Council. The Council +called on Sir Edwin Sandys for his opinion. Sir Edwin replied in a long +document entitled "The Discourse of the Old Company of Virginia," +advising the King to restore the Company. This Charles had no intention +of doing. On May 23, 1625, he issued a proclamation declaring "that his +intention was that the government of Virginia should immediately depend" +upon himself. It might be proper to commit matters of trade and commerce +to a corporation, but not state affairs. He next outlined a plan of +government for the colony which was essentially the same as that under +the charter of 1606. + +In the meanwhile, the people of Virginia awaited anxiously. Would the +King abolish the Assembly? Would another Dale or Argall be sent over for +a new reign of terror? They had opposed the dissolution of the Company +because they feared it might lead to the abolishing of representative +government. Now that the Company no longer existed they pleaded +earnestly to be permitted to keep the Assembly. In June, 1625, the +Governor and Council wrote the Privy Council asking that the "liberty, +of General Assembleys" be continued in order "to avoid the oppressions +of Governors." This letter they entrusted to Sir George Yeardley, who +sailed with it for England and laid it before the Privy Council.[25] + +This body hastened to assure the Virginians that the King "doth take all +the country and people into his royal protection and government," and +that they were to enjoy all their former privileges. Still they made no +promise that the people should have a voice in the government. And the +King, because of "many other urgent occasions," still delayed making a +permanent settlement of Virginia affairs. At last, in March, 1626, he +appointed Yeardley to succeed Wyatt, with orders to "continue the same +means that was formerly thought fit for the maintenance of the said +colony." + +Wyatt and Yeardley were men of a different stamp from Dale and Argall. +Had they chosen to do so, they could have ruled the colony with no +restraint save from the Council. But they preferred to keep alive the +spark of representative government. So they called together unofficial +gatherings of leading citizens to sit with the Governor and the Council +instead of the House of Burgesses. This body they called the "Governor, +Council, and the colony of Virginia assembled together."[26] + +The Assembly of 1624 was automatically dissolved by the death of James +I. So there must have been a new election, since the unofficial House of +Burgesses, had they been appointed by the Governor and Council, would +not have presumed to tax the people for the funds necessary for carrying +on the government. As there was no legal authority for the gatherings +their acts were translated into proclamations.[27] + +Legal authority came in an unexpected way. With the demonstration by +John Rolfe, the man who married Pocahontas, that tobacco could be raised +in Virginia, the Indian weed had become more and more the staple of the +colony. Had it been assured of a monopoly of the English market by the +exclusion of foreign tobacco and the prohibition of tobacco planting in +England, and not hampered by high custom duties, it would have brought +prosperity and rapid growth.[28] But both James and Charles were +constantly in need of money, and the revenue from the duty on Spanish +tobacco had been important to them. So in excluding all foreign leaf +they sought to make good their losses from Virginia tobacco. + +In 1627 Charles decided to buy the entire colonial crop in the hope of +selling it at a profit. But this he did not venture to do without +securing the consent of the planters. That would have violated the +principle that a man's property must not be taken without his consent, +either directly or through his representative. So he directed the +Governor to hold a general election of Burgesses, summon an Assembly, +and place his proposition before them. Thus he gave official recognition +to the House of Burgesses, and it was upon this recognition that its +authority rested.[29] The Virginians rejected the King's proposal, but +they kept their Assembly. From this date it became habitual for the +Kings to insert in the instructions to a new Governor that he hold an +election of Burgesses. + +The setting up of representative government in the first English colony +in America has a double significance. It may be viewed as a part of the +struggle for supremacy between King and Parliament. Sir Edwin Sandys, +the champion of liberty in Virginia, was also a champion of liberty in +the mother country. Had absolutism won in England, its victory in the +colony would have been certain. And had the King succeeded in ruling the +colony unrestrained by any representative body there, it would have +strengthened his hand in England, would have been a defeat for the +liberal group in Parliament. + +When the first Assembly met in Jamestown, the year before the Pilgrims +landed on Cape Cod, they established a precedent which was followed in +future English settlements. Had absolutism been firmly rooted in +Virginia, the Stuart Kings might have tried to set it up in all the +colonies. The Massachusetts Bay charter might have been voided, the +charters of Connecticut and Rhode Island might have had no provision for +representative government. + +On the other hand, as it was the need for money which forced the hand of +Charles I and gave legality to the House of Burgesses, so the needs of +all the colonial governments made necessary the calling of legislatures +which had the right to levy taxes. It is this which forced the Duke of +York to call an Assembly in New York in 1684. When the American patriots +of 1775 took up arms because Parliament insisted on taxing them, they +were not defending some new principle. The principle that one's property +could be taken only with one's consent antedated the founding of +Jamestown. And upon it American liberty was based from the first. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Bath papers_ II, p. 44. + +[2] R. W. K. Hinton, Government and liberty under James I, _Cambridge +Historical Journal_ 11 (I). + +[3] Gooch to the Lords of Trade, March 30, 1732. + +[4] A. Brown, _Genesis of the United States_ 1: 55, 56. + +[5] Edward Arber, _Works of Captain John Smith_, 91. + +[6] _Ibid._, lii. + +[7] _Ibid._, lxxxiv. + +[8] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 84. + +[9] _Ibid._, 130. + +[10] A. Brown, _Genesis of the United States_ 1: 479. + +[11] Peter Force, _Tracts_ 3(2). + +[12] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 148, 172. + +[13] _Ibid._, 85. + +[14] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 293. + +[15] _Bath papers_ I. + +[16] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 312. + +[17] L. G. Tyler, _Narratives of early Virginia_, 257. + +[18] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1619-1659, 16. + +[19] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 531, 532. + +[20] _Ibid._, 524. + +[21] _Ibid._, 541. + +[22] _Ibid._, 542. + +[23] _Ibid._, 554. + +[24] William Stith, _History of Virginia_, 313, 315. + +[25] A. Brown, _The first republic_, 573. + +[26] CO1-3, p. 5. This and similar notations all refer to documents in +the British Public Record Office. + +[27] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 129, 130. + +[28] CO1-4. + +[29] CO1-20. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SELF-GOVERNMENT + + +With the calling of the Assembly of 1627 Virginia entered a new epoch. +The people no longer looked to a commercial company for instructions and +the appointment of the Governor and other officials, but to the King. + +On the whole this was a fortunate change. The Company could not finance +the enterprise, and it might have bled the colony to make good its own +losses. The reactionary group in the Company might in time have won +control, and have gone back to the original form of government. + +It was this which made the people of Virginia resist all attempts to +re-establish the Company. They were greatly alarmed in 1631 when word +reached them that some of the former members had "continually importuned +his Majesty to renew the charter," and that the King had actually given +orders that a new one be drawn up. Someone, no doubt an agent for the +colony, protested vigorously. The Governor and Council had "oftentimes +petitioned ... against the renewing of any such corporation," he said, +and he pleaded that nothing be done until they were heard from. + +But though the Virginians wished to remain under the jurisdiction of the +King, and not be "subjects to their fellow subjects," they wanted to +place their government upon a firmer basis as a guarantee that there +would be no renewal of the "illegal proceedings and barbarous tortures" +of former years. On three separate occasions they tried to secure a +charter guaranteeing their liberties. In 1639, George Sandys, whom they +appointed agent to petition for a charter, seems to have misunderstood +his instructions, for instead of doing so he attempted to revive the +Company. When this news reached Virginia, the Assembly hastened to +disavow his action, and to beg the King to let them remain a royal +colony. Their yearly Assemblies, authorized in his instructions, insured +their present happiness, they said. So they were much relieved when +Charles told them that he had not the least intention of placing any +corporation over them. + +This satisfied the Virginians for the moment, but during the Restoration +period, on learning that the King had made a series of grants in the +colony to favorites, they once more petitioned for a charter. And +though, after prolonged negotiations, a charter was passed under the +Great Seal,[1] it was so unsatisfactory that in 1691 they made still +another attempt. When this failed, the colony was forced to remain under +its unwritten constitution, based on precedents, royal letters, +proclamations, and instructions. + +This constitution provided that the Governor be appointed by the King. +Consequently he represented the authority of the Crown, and through the +Crown the interests of England. If he failed to uphold the royal +prerogative against the assaults of the Burgesses and the Council he was +sure to incur the frowns of his royal master. If the King were bent on +ruling the colony with as little interference from the Assembly as +possible, it was the Governor who tried to carry out his orders. In +other words, in the century long battle between the King and the +representatives of the people, it was the Governor who bore the royal +banner. + +The Governors varied widely in character and ability. Sir John Harvey +and Francis Nicholson were egocentric men, who tried to lash all who +surrounded them into obedience to their will. Alexander Spotswood and +Robert Dinwiddie, though not friends of representative government, were +able administrators. Hugh Drysdale, William Gooch, and Lord Botetourt, +because of their amiable dispositions, won lasting popularity. Culpeper +and Effingham were hated as instruments in the hands of Charles II and +James II in imposing the Second Stuart Despotism on the colony. Dunmore +was detested for his role in the opening years of the Revolutionary War. + +It is strange that Nicholson, who was in many respects one of the worst +of the Governors, should have given an excellent description of the +ideal colonial executive. "It is absolutely necessary ... that the +Governor ... may be esteemed by the people, ... to be a lover of them +and their country ... and above all distributes equal justice."[2] Had +he followed his own advice his second administration would not have +ended in failure. + +The powers of the Governor were great, so great that even the British +government at times thought they should be used with caution. "All +things are made so entirely dependent on the Governor's single will and +pleasure, that whenever there may happen an ill man in that post, it +cannot reasonably be expected any person ... should either oppose such +an one in whatever he may attempt or so much as give any advice," wrote +the Lords of Trade in 1698.[3] + +The Governor's powers differed from time to time, depending upon the +situation in England, upon developments in the colony, and upon the +character of the Governor. Sir William Berkeley based his power chiefly +on the use of the patronage; Effingham's authority was but a reflection +of the despotism of the late Stuart Kings. On the whole, the Governors +of the seventeenth century exercised more power than those of the +eighteenth century. + +At all times the Governor was respected because back of him was the +awe-inspiring figure of the monarch. If the Councillors or the Burgesses +defied him, he might report their "disobedience" to the King with +serious consequences. On more than one occasion the King ordered the +Governor to rebuke the Burgesses for their "presumption" in disregarding +his wishes. + +The Burgesses seem not to have hung their heads at these reprimands, and +it was only when the King tried to abridge their privileges that they +were deeply concerned. But the greatest danger lay, not in overriding +the House, but in undermining it by political bribery. The Governor had +in his hands many lucrative offices with which to reward those who voted +as he wished. "Don't you know there is a sheriff and a clerk in every +county, besides other offices of profit in the country?" Benjamin +Harrison wrote Philip Ludwell, in 1703. "Is it not the wise man's phrase +that a gift will blind the eyes of the wise?... Places are now shifted +as often as the occasion requires, to put out or in, as men will or will +not serve a turn. Sheriffs are turned out in the middle of their +collection. Clerks are turned out without ever knowing why and so are +other officers.... I need not tell you what men too many of our House of +Burgesses are, how greedy they are to catch at any little place of +profit, without considering the ill consequence that attends it; like +the poor harmless fish that eagerly catches at the bait without +considering the hook of destruction is under it.... Add a sheriff, a +clerk, or a naval officer's place, and pray who would consider the +Queen's service, the interest of the country, or the discharging a +Burgess's oath!"[4] + +The most tempting plum was a seat in the Council. Though this was in the +gift of the King, he almost invariably named the man recommended by the +Governor. So the Burgess who aspired to it was a patriot indeed if he +set the welfare of the country above his own ambition by opposing the +Governor in the House. + +It was not necessary for the Governor to make a direct promise; every +man of prominence and wealth knew that he was being watched. But in one +case at least a bargain was struck. In 1683 Governor Culpeper wrote the +Privy Council that Isaac Allerton had assured him "of his utmost +services in whatsoever the King should command him by his Governor," and +he had promised in return "that he should be of the Council ... though +not to be declared till after the session of the next Assembly."[5] One +wonders whether Allerton's conscience hurt him when, several years +later, he took the seat which he had gained by betraying the interests +of those who had elected him. + +In February, 1691, Governor Nicholson wrote the Lords of Trade +explaining why he had deferred sending a list of recommendations for +appointment to the Council until after a meeting of the Assembly. "I +think it a proper time to try men in, especially considering how many of +his Majesty's affairs are to be transacted there."[6] + +Even when a Carter, or a Byrd, or a Ludwell had taken his seat in the +Council, he had to watch his step. If he opposed the Governor too +vigorously he might be suspended. In 1677 Deputy Governor Herbert +Jeffreys reported that "one Ballard of the Council" was "a fellow of a +turbulent, mutinous spirit," and that he had "found very just cause of +suspending him at present both from the Council and collectorship ... +and advancing others more loyal, fit, and honest in his place."[7] + +The Governor could crack the whip over the head of any Councillor who +defied him by threatening to kick him out of certain places of profit +and honor. The Councillors "have all along held the places of profit in +Virginia by the Governor's gift and during his pleasure," Henry +Hartwell reported to the Lords of Trade, "which I have always observed +has restrained them from due freedom of ... debate."[8] It was taken for +granted that as soon as a man became a Councillor he was to have the +next vacancy as colonel of militia, or collector of the export duty, or +naval officer. In the Council of 1692 all save three were colonels. And +if a Councillor were in high favor with the Governor, he might be in +line as Secretary or Auditor.[9] + +It was the Governor who appointed sheriffs, justices of the peace, and +other local officers. Since the county court had legislative and +administrative as well as judicial powers it was the ruling body in the +county. It even had the right to tax. That the justices were not elected +by the people not only made local government undemocratic, but added +greatly to the Governor's power. He could always appoint men who were +favorable to his policies or turn out those who opposed him. + +Although the Governor was directed by his instructions to secure the +advice of the Council before making appointments, he claimed that he did +not have to accept it, and he often ignored it. Nicholson was bitterly +assailed for appointing sheriffs "without the advice of the Council," +and for putting in and turning out "colonels, lieutenant colonels, +majors, captains, and other officers of the militia." + +On the other hand, as the decades passed it became more and more the +custom for the Governor to accept the recommendations of the Councillors +in making appointments, until it assumed almost the character of an +unwritten law that he must do so. In fact it was a colonial precedent +for Senatorial courtesy in the government of the United States.[10] + +The Governor had the right to summon, to prorogue, and to dissolve the +Assembly. But he was usually instructed to hold an Assembly at least +once a year. On the arrival of a new Governor, or the accession of a +King or Queen, the Assembly was automatically dissolved. The power of +prorogation made it possible for a Governor, when he had a House of +Burgesses to his liking, to continue them indefinitely. That Sir William +Berkeley refused for at least fourteen years to hold a general election +prior to Bacon's Rebellion was bitterly resented by the people. + +The Governor's veto over legislation, though absolute, was not +frequently used. If he objected to a bill which came up from the House, +he could, except on rare occasions, influence the Council to kill it. If +the Council insisted on passing it, he might affix his signature but +advise the King to disallow it. + +The handing out of fat jobs gave the Governor a strangle hold on the +courts, if we may believe the testimony of Philip Ludwell and Stephen +Fouace. "The influence of a Governor will be great both on judges and +witnesses, particularly by the multitude of places and other favors he +has to promise in case they favor him in the trial.... There is little +possibility of having a fair examination."[11] Robert Beverley testified +to the bribing of a grand jury by Governor Nicholson. "The foreman was +favored with a naval officer's place, ... others had sheriff's places, +etc."[12] + +Nicholson was accused, also, of bullying witnesses, lawyers, and juries. +"I have heard him at trials, when judges have asked a question or argued +or voted contrary to his humor, snap them up and revile them in a very +contemptible manner," reported Robert Beverley. In the case of Swan +versus Wilson "he did so grosely abuse Mr. Benjamin Harrison, who was +counsel for Swan, that everybody cried out shame on it." Finally, James +Blair, who was a member of the court, could stand it no longer. So, +taking off his hat, he rose and said: + + "If Mr. Harrison has done any ill thing ... I hope your Excellency + will find another time to call him to an account for it.... I am + sorry to see so much of the court's time taken up ... by reason of + your Excellency's prejudice against him." + + "Sir, I deny the prejudice, put it down in writing," shouted + Nicholson. + + "I hope I have liberty to speak my opinion," replied Blair. + + "Who hinders you?" + + "I am ashamed to sit here and see people so used," retorted Blair. + + "Get you gone then. It had been good for the country if they had + never seen your face."[13] + +The Governor was the legal head of the Church, though his authority was +disputed after the appointment of a Commissary for the Bishop of London. +And both Governor and Commissary exercised very limited powers because +of the resistance of the vestries. The Governor had the right to induct +ministers after they had been presented by the vestries, but in most +cases they refused to do so. The Governor's power of collation to vacant +parishes remained throughout the colonial period practically a dead +letter. + +The Council of State exercised administrative, legislative, and judicial +powers. Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton, in their _The Present State of +Virginia_, thus describe their functions: "They are the Council of State +under the Governor, who always presides; and in the vacancy of a +Governor and Lieutenant Governor, the eldest of the Council is +President. They are the Upper House of Assembly, answering to the House +of Peers in England. They are by custom, but without commission, the +supreme judges (together with the Governor who presides) in all causes +... and there lies no appeal from them but to the King in Council."[14] + +As the advisory body to the Governor, the Council wielded great +influence. A Governor who had just taken office and was ignorant of +conditions in the colony had to turn to them for information and advice. +Later, when he was better informed, he still relied upon them for +support in upholding the King's authority. If he were confronted with a +mutiny, or an invasion by a hostile fleet, or an Indian war, or a +decline in the price of tobacco, he was glad to get their views on what +he should do. + +The members of the Council originally sat with the Burgesses during +sessions of the Assembly, and did not constitute a separate house. +Though this denied them an equal voice with the Burgesses, since they +could always be outvoted, it permitted them to enter into debates with +the Burgesses and serve on committees. It was at the suggestion of +Governor Culpeper that the King, in 1680, gave orders that the Council +should sit as a separate house. + +No doubt Culpeper did this so that he could preside at their legislative +sessions as he did when they sat as a Privy Council or as a court. In +this way he could keep an eye on them, could argue with them, and bring +pressure on them to vote as he wished. It also created a buffer between +him and the Burgesses, behind which he could take refuge against popular +criticism. The position of the Councillors was not an easy one since as +appointees of the King they were supposed to defend the royal authority, +and as natives of Virginia they wished to defend her interests. Often +they found a way out of this difficulty by voting one way and privately +urging the Burgesses to vote the other. + +The members of the Council all sat on the General Court. Hartwell, +Blair, and Chilton thus describe this body: "It is strange that they +never had a commission for holding of this court, nor never took the +oath of judges, perhaps it was not designed by the Crown that they +should hold it, since besides that they are unskilful in law, it is +thought an inconvenient thing in all governments that the justice and +policy of the government should be lodged in the same persons, who ought +indeed to be a check upon one another."[15] It was as though the United +States Senate were also the Supreme Court. In other words, in colonial +Virginia the same men who, as members of the Upper House of Assembly, +had voted on a law were called upon to interpret it. Prior to 1680 if a +man thought himself injured in point of law or equity by a decision of +this court he could appeal his case to the Assembly. But after that +date, when the judicial powers of the Assembly were voided, his only +appeal was to the King and Privy Council, a step seldom taken because of +the difficulty "of either prosecuting or defending matters at such a +distance." + +The judicial function of the Councillors added greatly to their power +and prestige. "They are the sole judges of law and property, which makes +all depend on them," reported Colonel Quary.[16] The Councillors were +well aware of the power and prestige which their judicial position gave +them. This is shown by the bitterness with which they resisted when +Governor Spotswood tried to weaken it by setting up a court of oyer and +terminer with others than Councillors on the bench. + +The members of the Council were invariably selected from the wealthiest +men in the colony. In their own counties they were respected and feared. +To insult a Byrd, or a Custis, or a Carter would land one in jail. But +if we may believe Governor Nicholson, the poor man would not cringe +before them. "The ordinary sort of planters that have land of their own, +though not much, look upon themselves to be as good as the best of +them, for they know, at least have heard, from whence these mighty dons +derive their originals." They know that they or their "ancestors were +their equals if not their superiors, and that their getting such estates +and places of honor was more by accident than any extraordinary honesty +or ability in them."[17] + +The Council reached the height of its power during the first thirty or +thirty-five years after the Glorious Revolution. Then it was that they +defied the Governors, and in three cases were largely responsible for +their removal. Nicholson complained that they "set up to have the power +and interest of turning out and putting in Governors, and affect the +title that the great Earl of Warwick had." Quary said they "had vanity +enough to think themselves almost upon equal terms with the House of +Lords." "They have by degrees endeavored to lessen the prerogative and +render the Governor little better than a cypher, and in truth they have +in effect gained their point."[18] + +The Burgesses were the representatives of the people. They were expected +by all, wealthy landholders and owners of but a few acres, carpenters, +coopers, clergymen, to uphold the liberties of all against the assaults +of the King or the Governor. The poor turned to them for protection +against the rich. Any attempt by the Governor to rule despotically or +illegally was sure to arouse their stubborn resistance. They were in +effect the House of Commons of Virginia, claimed the same privileges, +and observed the same form in their proceedings. Since each county +normally sent two Burgesses to the Assembly, the House grew in numbers +as new counties were organized. + +The Assembly, during its century and a half of existence, was often +forced to meet in private houses or taverns because of the burning of +the statehouses, now at Green Spring, the residence of Sir William +Berkeley, now at William Sherwood's house; now at the ordinary of Thomas +Woodhouse. The first statehouse, which occupied a double row of little +buildings, went up in flames in 1656, the second, which was also the +Governor's residence, burned in 1660. The third statehouse was more +pretentious than its predecessors, being two stories high, with a +medieval porch in front, the tile-covered roof dominated by chimney +stacks probably in the Tudor style. It was burned by Bacon's rebels in +1676. The fourth statehouse, which seems to have been built on the +foundations of the third, was destroyed by fire in 1698. It was after +this last disaster that the seat of government was moved to +Williamsburg, where a lovely Capitol, which has been accurately restored +by Colonial Williamsburg Inc. in recent years, was completed in 1704. + +The sessions of the Burgesses in the hall provided for them in this +building presented a picturesque scene. The Speaker, in his gown, sat in +a high chair on a raised platform at the semicircular end of the room. +Before him, in the center of the hall, was a table covered with green +cloth, resting on it the mace, the emblem of the authority of the House. +Here sat the clerk, pen in hand, jotting down notes for the journal. +Along either side of the room were two rows of benches covered with +green serge, where sat the Burgesses. All wore their hats. A strange +medley they were, with the "handsome, well dressed, complete" gentlemen +from the tidewater contrasting with the roughly clad frontiersmen. + +The House was quick to resent any disrespect to themselves as +individuals or as a body. It was in October, 1693, that Mr. Matthew Kemp +rose to complain of insults offered him and the House by a certain +Thomas Rooke. We do not know whether he displayed a bloody nose or a +black eye, but he accused Rooke of striking him. Thereupon a committee +was appointed to look into the matter, Rooke was arrested and forced on +his bended knees to apologize. "Having now a deep sense and abhorrence, +and out of a true and unfeigned sorrow and repentence," he repeated, he +asked forgiveness.[19] After they had released him he may have cursed +them all under his breath, but for the future he kept his resentment to +himself. + +The qualifications for the right to vote changed from time to time. On +the whole they were liberal, for throughout the colonial period most +freemen could voice their choice when the candidates for the House of +Burgesses were presented. The constitution of 1621 stated that Burgesses +were to be chosen by the "inhabitants." If this was interpreted to mean +that all men, including indentured workers, enjoyed the franchise, it +was later modified by a law restricting the right to vote to those who +paid taxes. It is revealing of the high value placed on representative +government even by the humblest, that when Governor Berkeley suggested +that taxes be assessed, not by the poll, but only on landholders, the +Burgesses protested that this would disfranchise great numbers of +freemen who owned no land at all. "We are so well acquainted with the +temper of the people that we have reason to believe they had rather pay +their tax than lose their privilege." + +Seven years later another attempt to restrict the suffrage was more +successful. Probably at Berkeley's suggestion the Assembly passed a law +that no man should vote unless he were a landholder or housekeeper. At +this time poor men who were apt to "make tumults at the elections" were +pouring in, and the Governor thought it the part of wisdom to deny them +any participation in the government. In England only property owners +could vote, he argued, why have a different practice in Virginia? + +Unfortunately this happened at a time when the people were "ripe for +rebellion," and it merely added to their resentment against the Governor +and his puppet Assembly. It was in an effort to appease them that +Berkeley called for a new election, in 1676, and, ignoring the law, took +it on himself to extend the franchise to "every free born man." When +this Assembly met, and when Bacon's army was marching on Jamestown, they +confirmed this ruling by passing a law to give the right to vote to all +freemen. But with the repeal of Bacon's Laws in 1677, the franchise was +once more restricted to landowners and housekeepers. + +When Culpeper was appointed Governor in 1679, he was ordered to make a +vigorous assault upon liberty in the colony. Among other repressive +measures he was instructed to deprive mere housekeepers of the suffrage +and limit it to freeholders. Although this measure was unjust to the +large and intelligent artisan class--carpenters, masons, coopers, house +painters, shipwrights, saddlers, gunsmiths, etc., it seems to have +remained in force throughout the remainder of the colonial period. + +The wages of the Burgesses changed from time to time. At one time the +pay was ten shillings a day, at another thirteen shillings, at still +another 130 pounds of tobacco. In 1718 it was thirty shillings, a sum +which Governor Spotswood thought far too much. His criticisms of the +politicians of his day show that the species has not changed greatly in +the past two and a half centuries. The salary "makes needy men try for +the place who are not qualified for a Senate house," he said. "Those +upon an approaching election set themselves to inventing most false and +malicious stories.... The country to be sure is ever represented as if +it was to be undone, and none can be judged capable of saving it but +some of their own mobbish politicians, who engage to pursue the wild +schemes of the electors."[20] But when he tried to cut the ground from +under these false patriots by urging a law requiring the Burgesses to +serve without salary, and restricting further the qualifications for +voters and for candidates for office, it was overwhelmingly voted down. + +It was customary for each county to pay the salaries of its two +Burgesses. This was unjust, for it made the burden fall much more +heavily upon the taxpayer in a small county than one in a large county. +It was harmful, also, as implying that the Burgess was concerned with +the interests of his county rather than those of the colony as a whole. +So the people of the thinly settled counties rejoiced when, in the +mid-eighteenth century the Burgesses were paid from the revenue from the +duty on the imports of liquors whenever there was a surplus in this +fund. + +The Burgesses elected their own Speaker. This officer presided over the +deliberations of the House, voiced their determinations, and issued +warrants to execute their orders. In case of a tie he cast the deciding +vote. The office was eagerly sought after, for it carried great +influence. In 1699, when Robert Carter was elected, he said in his +address of acceptance: "The House of Burgesses, consisting of the better +sort of gentlemen from all parts of the country, to be in this fashion +the object of their choice I take to be of no small reputation to +me."[21] + +The prestige of the office grew with the increasing power of the House, +until the Speaker became, next to the Governor, the most influential man +in the colony. It became a fixed custom for the Burgesses to enhance his +pay by making him Treasurer. In 1758, when Governor Fauquier was +instructed to separate the two offices, he was greatly perplexed. The +Speaker, Mr. John Robinson, is "the most popular man in the country," he +wrote the Lords of Trade, "beloved by the gentlemen and the idol of the +people." Any slight to him would put a stop to all legislative +business.[22] + +With the growth of the House of Burgesses its business more and more was +transacted by committees. The most important were the committees on +Propositions and Grievances, Elections and Privileges, and on +Proportioning the Levy. To the first of these came all manner of +complaints. One county asks that ship captains be forbidden to throw +ballast into the rivers, another wants a ceiling put on doctors' bills, +still another objects to having taverns extend credit to sailors. + +The House kept a close watch on elections, and the Committee on +Elections and Privileges always went over the writs in search of +irregularities. If a sheriff should fail to make a return or should make +an imperfect return, the messenger was sent to bring him before the +House to explain why. Should he take it upon himself to judge who was +eligible or not eligible for election, he was certain to receive a stern +reprimand. In 1692 a resolution "that the House of Burgesses are the +sole and only judges of the capacity or incapacity of their own members" +passed unanimously.[23] + +The Committee on Private Causes prior to 1680 was in effect the supreme +court of Virginia, to which appeals were made, for the House invariably +accepted its findings. But it ceased to function when the Assembly was +deprived of its judicial power. + +The Burgesses were wary of bills of attainder, the weapon used with such +great effect by Parliament. They realized the danger in condemning +persons without trial, especially when the colony had so much at stake +in preserving liberty and justice. But the Assembly of February, 1677, +which had been "hand picked" by Governor Berkeley, did attaint Bacon and +fifteen of his followers in defiance of the King's pardon.[24] Since all +of the victims were dead, the attaint affected only their property. When +Charles II heard what had been done, he promptly nullified the law.[25] + +The Burgesses were well aware from the first that the universally +accepted principle that no Englishman could be legally taxed without his +own consent was the basis of liberty. They alone, as the representatives +of the people, could take their property. If a Governor, as the +substitute for the King, so far stretched his authority as to attempt to +lay a levy, they were quick to call him to order. As early as 1624 the +Assembly passed a law "that the Governor shall not lay any taxes or +impositions upon the colony, their lands or commodities, other way than +by the authority of the General Assembly, to be levied and imployed as +the said Assembly shall appoint."[26] Similar laws were passed in 1631, +1632, 1642, and 1645. + +Several times the Governor and Council requested the Burgesses to +authorize them to lay taxes not to exceed a specified sum and for a +limited period. In 1661 the House did grant such a power, but +thereafter, despite several attempts, the Governor and Council met with +emphatic refusals. In 1680, when Charles II was aiming deadly blows at +liberty in the colonies, the Burgesses yielded to threats, and +surrendered a part of the people's birthright by voting a perpetual +revenue to the King. + +When the Parliamentary fleet came into the James in 1652 to force the +Virginians to recognize the Commonwealth, the Assembly insisted on +inserting in the articles of surrender the promise "that Virginia shall +be free from all taxes, customs, and impositions whatsoever, and none to +be imposed on them without the consent of the General Assembly."[27] + +In 1675, when the Virginia Assembly sent agents to England to petition +for a charter, they took pains to point out that "neither his Majesty +nor any of his ancestors or predecessors had ever offered to impose any +tax upon this plantation without the consent of his subjects here."[28] +It was so universally accepted that only the Assembly could tax the +people, that the agents thought it necessary to explain why they +considered it wise to insert an article confirming this right. "Not +being taxed but by the General Assembly, as it hath been ever the +practice there and the other plantations, so it is a power given them by +royal instructions, which we conceive ought to be confirmed under the +Great Seal, for though it might be taken for granted that as they never +have been, so they never should be otherwise taxed, and that as of right +they ought to be; yet the power of the Assembly being only in +instructions, we ordered this further confirmation of it."[29] + +Certain historians have assumed that the Americans a century later +annunciated a new principle in claiming that taxation without +representation is tyranny. The fact is that the principle was older than +the colonies themselves. All the Revolutionary patriots did was to give +it a new and more striking wording. When Parliament passed the Stamp Act +they were taking an unprecedented step, a step which violated the +age-old rights of Englishmen. And in so doing, they struck a deadly blow +at liberty in America. + +The most common and the most hated source of income in Virginia was the +poll tax. It was not entirely unequal since it was imposed on all male +whites over sixteen, all white women over sixteen who worked in the +fields, and all slaves old enough to work. Thus the poor man paid only +for himself and members of his family, while the rich man paid for his +servants and slaves as well. The poll tax provided revenue, not only for +the general government, but for the counties and parishes. + +Though the poll tax usually was not excessive, it was a source of +constant irritation. The poor planter who had worked hard to raise a +crop of tobacco just large enough to buy necessities for his family, +thought it hard indeed when the sheriff took the government's share. + +The quit rents paid to the King for all land were an even greater source +of trouble. It was impossible to make men of large estates pay in full, +there were frauds in disposing of the tobacco in which the rents were +paid, at times the people were so far behind that to enforce payment of +arrears would ruin them. The quit rent fund was drawn upon for war +purposes, building of forts, paying salaries, etc. In 1693 Commissary +Blair received a grant of £1985.14.10 from the quit rent fund to found +the College of William and Mary. When Attorney General Seymour objected +to paying the money, Blair explained that it was the chief purpose of +the college to train young men for the ministry, and begged him to +consider that they in Virginia had souls to be saved as well as those in +England. "Souls! Damn your souls! Make tobacco," snapped Seymour.[30] + +Local government was administered by the county courts. Hartwell, Blair, +and Chilton wrote: "There is a county court in every county, which +consists of eight or ten gentlemen ... to whom the Governor gives a +commission during pleasure to be justices of the peace for that county. +He renews that commission commonly every year, for that ... gives him +an opportunity to admit into it new favorites and exclude others that +have not been so zealous in his service.... They have court once a +month, ... and have a power of deciding all sorts of causes."[31] But +they did not have jurisdiction in cases involving loss of life or limb. + +That the people had no voice in selecting the justices was greatly +resented, especially since the courts had the power of levying taxes. +The people of Charles City County complained in 1677 that the justices +had "illegally ... taken upon them without our consent from time to time +to impose, raise, assess, and levy what taxes, levies, and impositions +upon us ... they liked, great part of which they have converted to their +own use."[32] The people of Surry County made a similar complaint: "It +has been the custom of the county courts at the laying of the levy to +withdraw into a private room by which the poor people not knowing for +what they paid their levy did always admire how their taxes could be so +high."[33] + +In each county was one or more parishes, presided over by a vestry of +twelve men each. Since the vestry had the right to lay the parish levy, +it was of great importance that they should be elected by the people. +This was the practice until Berkeley's second administration, when it +became the custom for a vestry, when once chosen at the establishing of +a new parish, themselves to fill vacancies in their ranks, and thus to +become self-perpetuating. + +Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton thought it deplorable that the vestries +habitually refused to present their ministers for induction, so that +they could "keep them in more subjection." This was such a hardship on +the clergy that none who "were informed of it would come into the +country." When one did come, he would have to be wary of preaching +against any vices "that any great man of his vestry was guilty of," for +fear of losing his place.[34] Yet the vestries themselves were supposed +to be the guardians of the morals of the parishioners. In 1648 a vestry +in Northampton found the wife of a prominent citizen guilty of adultery, +and ordered the minister and church warden to present her to the county +court for punishment. + +The most eagerly sought after offices in the colony were those of +President of the Council, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Auditor, +and Treasurer. It was the custom for the senior member of the Council in +point of service to become President when the office of the Governor was +temporarily vacant.[35] This was an unsatisfactory arrangement since it +might happen that the senior Councillor was too old to take on important +and arduous duties. In 1749, when Governor Gooch was about to leave for +England, it was decided by the Council that Colonel John Custis, the +senior member, was "utterly incapable of managing the business of the +government."[36] At their request the Governor suspended him from the +Council, so that Thomas Lee, next in order of seniority, could become +President. + +The Secretary of State was appointed by the King. Until 1723 he held +office only "during the pleasure" of the Governor, but thereafter for +life. The Secretary claimed the right to appoint the clerks of the +county courts, who acted as his deputies, and paid him a percentage of +the income from fees arising from lawsuits and other court proceedings. +But he seldom made an appointment "without the Governor's knowledge and +good liking." + +Contemporary writers agree that the Secretary's office was a jungle of +court records, surveys, commissions, deeds for land, probates of wills, +writs of elections, marriage certificates, etc. If we may believe +Benjamin Harrison it was usually in wild confusion. "Nothing hath been +more common of late years than to hear people complain that they could +not find the records of their patents or other deeds for their +lands."[37] Apparently all kinds of documents were piled up together +instead of being sorted and filed separately. "It is almost impossible +to give a full and perfect account of the Secretary's office, there is +such a medley in it that its scarce credible," wrote Hartwell, Blair, +and Chilton. + +The Auditor for Virginia was appointed by the Auditor of the +Plantations, usually upon the recommendation of the Governor. This +officer audited the accounts of the quit rents, the export duty, +escheats, etc., certified their accuracy, and reported to England. He +received 7-1/2 per cent of all the monies passing through his hands. +There seems to have been great laxness at times in the handling of +funds. When Auditor William Byrd died in December, 1704, it was found +that the account was overdrawn by £7,698.9.10.[38] It is not surprising +that Governor Nicholson, while waiting for William Blathwait, the +Auditor of the Plantations, to appoint Byrd's successor, decided to +"take that trouble" on himself.[39] + +Philip Ludwell, who was made Auditor in 1712, seems to have been just as +careless as Byrd. In December, 1715, Governor Spotswood called the +attention of the Council to the confusion in his office. "Only gross +sums are entered in one general account," he said, "and the particular +accounts of the receivers ... only kept in loose papers."[40] When he +recommended several reforms, Ludwell told him in effect to mind his own +business, and that he would take orders only from the Auditor General. +Thereupon Spotswood suspended him from his office. Ludwell came back +with a letter "stuffed with virulent invectives," denying the legality +of this action. + +Prior to 1691 the Treasurer was appointed by the Governor, but that year +the Burgesses claimed the right of naming him, and despite the +opposition of the Governors, eventually had their way. The Treasurer +received the funds from various taxes and made up the accounts. He +received six per cent of the money collected. + +Outwardly the government of Virginia changed little during the century +and a half from the fall of the London Company to the Declaration of +Independence. Actually throughout the colonial period vital developments +were taking place. Both the Council and the House of Burgesses were +tireless in whittling away at the King's prerogative; the Council +gradually took out of the Governor's hands the right of naming local +officials; the control of the purse by the Burgesses was used to such +good effect that by the middle of the eighteenth century their influence +was greater than that of either Governor or Council. + +We gain glimpses of the changes which were taking place, not by changes +in the laws, but by seemingly unimportant incidents, and by the spirit +of the times. What would Charles II have thought had Sir William +Berkeley written him, boasting of his influence with the Speaker of the +House of Burgesses? Yet that is just what Governor Fauquier did in +1758. + +It was the determined, unflagging, bitter battle for self-government +which brought victory to the people. We see them putting Governor John +Harvey aboard a vessel and sending him back to England, when he tried to +play the despot; we see them rising in wild rebellion against the +misgovernment of Sir William Berkeley; we see them defending their +liberty against the assaults of Charles II and James II. + +The English government was warned repeatedly of what was going on. "I +may truly say that now or never is the only time to maintain the Queen's +just prerogative and put a stop to these wrong, pernicious notions which +are improving daily, not only in Virginia, but in all her Majesty's +other governments," wrote Colonel Robert Quary, in 1705. "A frown now +from her Majesty will do more than perhaps an army hereafter."[41] In +another report he said that the Assembly "conclude themselves entitled +to all the rights and privileges of an English Parliament." Nicholson +said that the Virginians wished to set up a commonwealth. + +But Nicholson was wrong. The Virginians of his day, and their sons and +grandsons after them were loyal to the British Kings, wished to remain +in the British Empire. But they were determined to govern themselves in +all except imperial matters. What they wanted was liberty, not +independence. And liberty they attained decades before the Stamp Act, +decades before Patrick Henry said: "Give me liberty or give me death." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 531-533. + +[2] CO5-1359, p. 344. + +[3] CO5-1359, p. 255. + +[4] CO5-1314, Doc. 15G. + +[5] CO5-1356, pp. 125, 126. + +[6] CO5-1359, p. 320. + +[7] CO1-40, p. 104. + +[8] CO5-1359, pp. 95, 96. + +[9] _Ibid._, 97, 98. + +[10] H. J. Ford, _Rise and growth of American politics_, 267. + +[11] CO5-1314, Doc. 17. + +[12] _Ibid._, Doc. 10. + +[13] CO5-1314, Doc. 23. + +[14] P. 34. + +[15] P. 46. + +[16] CO5-1315, Sept. 1, 1706. + +[17] CO5-1314, Doc. 43. + +[18] CO5-1315, Sept. 1, 1706. + +[19] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 477. + +[20] CO5-1318. + +[21] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1695-1702: 133. + +[22] June 28, 1758. + +[23] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693, 381. + +[24] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 363, 369. + +[25] CO1-41, p. 118. + +[26] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1. + +[27] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 363-365. + +[28] _Bath papers_, IIa, 44. + +[29] _Ibid._, 142. + +[30] _The complete works of Benjamin Franklin_, J. Bigelow, ed., 10: +369. + +[31] _The present state of Virginia_, 44, 45. + +[32] _Virginia Magazine_, 3: 142. + +[33] _Ibid._ 2: 172. + +[34] _The present state of Virginia_, 66, 67. + +[35] CO5-1359, 344. + +[36] _Executive journals of the Council_ 5: 299. + +[37] CO5-1361, p. 426. + +[38] _Executive journals of the Council_ 2: 406. + +[39] _Ibid._, 407. + +[40] _Ibid._ 3: 421. + +[41] CO5-1314, Doc. 63I. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WE PREFER ANOTHER GOVERNOR + + +The people of Jamestown in the years from 1626 to 1640, when they saw a +vessel coming up the river, must have crowded around the landing place +to ask sailors and passengers for the latest news from England. Was King +Charles still raising funds with which to run the government by means of +forced loans? Was he still billeting his soldiers on the people? Was +martial law in force? They must have been thrilled to hear of the +Petition of Rights in which the House of Commons protested against +Charles' arbitrary rule. + +When the Burgesses came to town for a session of the Assembly, the +struggle between King and Parliament must have been the chief topic of +conversation around the table in each crude little tavern. Now it was +the jailing of nine members of the House of Commons; now the granting of +monopolies; now the collecting of ship money; now the suppression of +free speech; now the proceedings of the Star Chamber; now the efforts of +Archbishop Laud to enforce religious conformity. + +The Virginians were fully aware that these events affected them +profoundly. They had just won a degree of self-government. If the King +succeeded in his efforts to make himself absolute in England, all their +gains might be lost. Might he not overthrow their Assembly? If he could +imprison men arbitrarily in England, he would not hesitate to do so in +Virginia. If he could tax the people of England under the thin veil of +loans, or the revival of ancient laws, would he hesitate to tax the +colonists without their own consent? Might he not place over them +another Dale or Argall to hang men or break them on the wheel? + +So when Sir George Yeardley, their liberal Governor, died in November, +1627, they were filled with grief. They remembered that it was he who +had brought over the Virginia Magna Carta, and had called the first +Assembly. We have lost "a main pillar of this our building and thereby a +support to the whole body," wrote the Council.[1] + +Their concern must have been all the greater because Yeardley's +commission of March 14, 1626, named John Harvey as his successor. The +Virginians knew this man well. He had been one of the King's +commissioners who came to the colony in 1624 to draw up a report on +conditions there to be used in overthrowing the charter of the Company. +Just why it was thought that he was the right man to act as Governor is +not apparent, for he was a mariner by vocation and had served as captain +of a ship which went to the East Indies in 1617. In November, 1625, we +find him in command of a ship in the expedition against Cadiz. He may +have owed his appointment as Governor to Viscount Dorchester, the +Secretary of State, whom he thanked for his "wonted nobleness" to him. + +But Virginia was to have a breathing space before Harvey's arrival. +Yeardley's commission had specified that in the absence of Harvey the +Council should elect one of their number to act in his place. They chose +Captain Francis West, brother of Lord De la Warr.[2] West was a seasoned +Virginian, for he had come to the colony in 1608 with Captain Newport. +He had been commander of Jamestown many years, and a member of the +Council since 1619. It was during his brief administration that the +first legal Assembly since the dissolution of the London Company was +called together, the Assembly which rejected the King's proposal for a +tobacco contract. + +In March, 1629, West was appointed agent for the colony and sent to +England. To serve as Governor until his return or the arrival of Harvey, +the Council chose Dr. John Pott. This man had been in Virginia since +1621, when he came over as "Physician to the Company" and member of the +Council. He was described as "a Master of Arts ... well practiced in +chirurgery and physic, and expert in distilling of waters, besides many +other ingenious devices."[3] He seems to have consumed a goodly quantity +of "distilled waters" himself, for he was fond of his cups and jovial +company. George Sandys wrote of him that "he kept company too much with +his inferiors, who hung upon him while his good liquor lasted."[4] + +The most notable of Pott's "ingenious devices" was the poisoning of a +large number of Indians after the massacre of 1622. In justification of +this act, his friends explained that the barbarous and perfidious +savages knew nothing about the rules of war, so it was fair play to +resort to anything that tended to their ruin. But this did not save Pott +from criticism in England. The Earl of Warwick was so shocked that at +his request Pott was left out of the Council because "he was the +poisoner of the savages there." But he seems to have been forgiven, for +in 1626 we find him once more in his seat. + +It was during Pott's administration that Lord Baltimore visited +Virginia. In 1623 he had received a grant of land in Newfoundland, and +had planted a colony of English Catholics there. But when four years +later he visited the place, he found "the air so intolerable cold as it +is hardly to be endured." He wrote King Charles that he had decided to +move with some forty persons to Virginia, and petitioned for "a precinct +of land there." + +On October 1, 1629, he, with his wife and children, arrived at +Jamestown. Here he met with a cool reception. A certain Thomas Tindall +got into an altercation with him, called him a liar, and threatened to +knock him down. The Virginians did not want in their midst a group of +Catholics who were trying to lop off one of the most fertile parts of +their territory. So to get rid of them the Governor and Council tendered +my Lord the oath of supremacy, knowing that as a Catholic he could not +take it, for to do so was to acknowledge the King as the supreme +authority in ecclesiastical matters. When he refused they asked him to +leave. This he did, but since he left his family in Virginia, it was +obvious that he intended to return. So William Claiborne was sent after +him as agent for the colony to oppose his designs. + +To add to the troubles of the people, in the early spring of 1630 Harvey +arrived and took his seat as Governor. He had lingered in England to +make sure that the office would yield a good return. Only after the King +had promised him the fines imposed by any of the courts did he set sail. +His voyage was far from being pleasant, for his ship was leaky, he was +delayed at the Cape Verde Islands by a Dutch fleet, and he was laid low +by "a great sickness" that attacked him at sea.[5] + +After landing it was several weeks before he was able to take over his +duties. But after he had done so, his intentions at once became +apparent. The man was by nature a despot. The despotism of Sir Edmund +Andros in New England and of Lord Howard of Effingham in Virginia in the +years just preceding the Glorious Revolution stemmed, not so much from +the character of these men, as from the deliberate policy of Charles II. +There is no evidence that Charles I ordered Harvey to make himself +absolute. He had too many troubles at home to give much thought to +Virginia. + +It may have been Harvey's training as a sea captain which made him +impatient of restraint. In Virginia he acted as though he were still on +the deck of his ship thundering out commands which no one must question. +If the King were in Virginia, would not his orders be obeyed? Then why +not the orders of his Governor? He never tired of reminding the members +of the Council and others that he was the King's substitute. When to his +passion for power are added his rudeness and violence, his avarice and +disregard for the rights of others, we have the picture of one utterly +unsuited to be the chief executive of a liberty loving people. + +Harvey was accused of diverting public funds to his own pocket, but of +this we have no direct proof. It is probable that he tried to levy taxes +without the consent of the Assembly. Otherwise one wonders why the +Assembly should have thought it necessary to order "that the Governor +and Council shall not lay any taxes or impositions upon the colony ... +otherwise than by the authority of the Grand Assembly."[6] + +But it was chiefly through the courts that he carried out his designs. +He himself presided over the quarter court, and it was he who appointed +the commissioners or justices who sat on the local courts. Thus it was +not difficult for him to secure any verdict he wished. So he had at hand +an instrument to satisfy his lust for power by crushing those who +resisted him, and his lust for money by imposing heavy fines. It should +have been obvious to Charles I when he agreed to give Harvey all fines +and amercements, that it was a dangerous thing to permit a judge, or one +who appointed judges, to profit from his or their decisions. + +The most notorious abuse of the judicial power by Harvey was his +prosecution of Dr. Pott. Charging the pleasure-loving physician with +pardoning murder and marking other men's cattle for his own, he +suspended him from the Council, and confined him to his plantation +pending the day of his trial. When Pott defied the Governor's order and +came to Elizabeth City, Harvey put him in prison and set a guard around +it. In July, 1630, he was put on trial. + +We have only one detail of the proceedings, but that like a flash is +revealing of Pott's character and of the farcical character of the +prosecution. When a certain Richard Kingswell testified against him, +Pott declared that he was as great a liar and hypocrite as Gusman of +Alfrach. He was referring to the book by Mateo Alemán, of Seville, in +which Gusman is shown first as a scullion, then as an errand boy, then +as a thief, then as a pretended gentleman who cheated his creditors.[7] +But this thrust did not save him. He was convicted, and his entire +estate confiscated.[8] + +It would seem that in this case Harvey was actuated more by a desire to +show his power than by avarice. If he could humble so prominent a man as +Pott, one who had been acting Governor, others would stand in awe of +him. "It will be a means to bring people to ... hold a better respect to +the Governor than hitherto they have done," he wrote.[9] But having +shown his power to ruin, he now sought to show that he could also +restore. So he wrote the King suggesting clemency. "For as much as he is +the only physician in the colony, and skilled in the epidemical diseases +of the planters ... I am bound to entreat" your Majesty to pardon +him.[10] + +A more sincere plea came from the doctor's wife, Elizabeth. Getting up +from a sick bed, she made the long and dangerous voyage to England to +complain to the King "touching the wrong" done her husband. Charles +referred the case to the Virginia Commissioners, who listened +sympathetically as she poured out the story of injustice and +persecution.[11] They concluded that there had been "some hard usage +against" Pott, and recommended that the King pardon him. Accordingly, +Charles forgave his "offences" and restored his property.[12] But the +jovial doctor never regained his seat in the Council. + +The prosecution of Pott set the example for others. "The Governor +usurped the whole power in all causes without any respect to the votes +of the Council," reported Samuel Mathews, "whereby justice was done but +so far as suited his will to the great loss of many men's estates and a +general fear in all." If other members of the court opposed him, he +would revile them and tell them they were there merely to advise him. He +could accept or reject their opinions as he liked, since "the power lay +in himself to dispose of all matters as his Majesty's substitute."[13] + +With the General Court dominated by the overbearing and avaricious +Governor no man was safe. At any moment one might be hauled before the +bar, charged with some petty offence, found guilty, and given a ruinous +fine. Mathews said that there were an "infinite number of particular +men's grievances."[14] William Claiborne thought it strange that Harvey +"should so demean himself," for "all men were wronged, and even good and +bad had forsaken him."[15] It was in every man's mouth that "no justice +was done." When a report of these things reached England, Sir John +Wolstenholm, one of the Virginia Commissioners, said that "Sir John +Harvey stunk in Court and city."[16] + +Harvey's attempts to make himself absolute, his disregard of other men's +rights, his perversion of justice did not go unchallenged. Soon the +meetings of the Council became stormy. The Governor insisted that he, as +the King's substitute, had a right to determine all things. The +Councillors were merely his assistants, whose duty it was to advise him, +but not to oppose him. But the Councillors dissented vigorously. Look at +your commission, they told him, and you will see that it directs that +all matters must be determined by the majority of voices. Does it not +say that the King grants to the Governor and Council "and the greater +number of you respectively full power and authority to execute" the +duties of the executive body? + +Soon Harvey was filling his letters with complaints of the opposition of +the Council. "For instead of giving me assistance, they stand contesting +and disputing my authority, averring that I can do nothing but what they +shall advise me, and that my power extendeth no further than a bare +casting voice."[17] He had shown them a letter from the King +strengthening his commission, but they refused to budge from their +position. He would be grateful if his Majesty would be so explicit "that +the place of Governor and the duty of Councillors may be known and +distinguished."[18] + +The Privy Council answered by warning both sides to put an end to their +disputes and cooperate with each other in advancing the good of the +colony. So they drew up and signed a formal reconciliation. They +promised "to swallow up and bury" all complaints, and to turn their +"alienated and distempered" minds to thoughts of love and peace. The +Councillors vowed to give the Governor "all the service, honor, and due +respect which belongs to him as his Majesty's substitute."[19] + +The reconciliation proved a sham. Harvey continued to be overbearing and +arbitrary; the Councillors were as bitter as ever. When one of them, +Thomas Hinton, in an outburst of anger gave Harvey some "ill words," he +ousted him from his seat. Love and peace were far indeed from the +Governor's mind when he responded to some "ill language" from Captain +Richard Stevens by landing a blow in his face with a cudgel and knocking +out some of his teeth.[20] + +In 1634 a certain Captain Thomas Young arrived in Virginia with a +commission from the King authorizing him to discover and search the +unexplored parts of the colony. Needing two shallops, and hearing that +one of the planters had an indentured worker who was a skilled +shipwright, he seized him and put him to work. In this violation of +property rights he was supported by the Governor. But it aroused the +anger of the Council, and several of them came to Harvey to demand an +explanation. + +Harvey may have had in mind the Forced Loans as a precedent for taking +the property of the subject, when he replied that his Majesty had given +Young "authority to make use of any persons he found there." Young +needed the shipwright "to prosecute with speed the King's service," he +said. Speaking for the others, Samuel Mathews retorted angrily that if +things were done in that fashion it would breed ill blood in Virginia. +Turning his back he whirled a truncheon he carried in his hand, and +lashed off the heads of some high weeds.[21] The Governor, ignoring +this, said: "Come, gentlemen, let us go to supper, and for the night +leave this discourse." But they were in no humor to be appeased. With +one accord they turned their backs and left "in a very irreverent +manner." + +The Virginians were further embittered against Harvey for the aid he +gave to Lord Baltimore's settlers. It was on February 27, 1634, that the +_Ark_ and the _Dove_, with Leonard and George Calvert, twenty "gentlemen +adventurers," and three-hundred laborers, arrived at Point Comfort. They +bore a letter to the Governor from the King requiring him to treat them +with courtesy and respect, permit them to buy cattle and other +commodities, and do all he could to advance their settlement. + +Harvey did his best to comply. He sent them some of his own cows and +promised to procure more. But this was not easy. The planters were so +outraged at having a part of their territory torn away for a colony of +Catholics that they swore they would knock their cattle on the head +rather than sell them to the Marylanders. Some of the members of the +Council had been informed by letters from England of Lord Baltimore's +plans. When Samuel Mathews opened one of them, he threw his hat on the +ground in a fury, stamped, and cried: "A pox upon Maryland!"[22] He, +with William Claiborne and other members of the Council, held many +secret meetings to decide upon a course of action. But they were +powerless to prevent the _Ark_ and the _Dove_ from moving up the +Chesapeake Bay with the newcomers, and the founding of a little town +near the mouth of the Potomac. + +Three years before their arrival Claiborne had made a settlement on Kent +Island in the Chesapeake near the site of Annapolis. So now he found +himself torn from Virginia and handed over to another government. The +result was open warfare. It was prophetic of the battle between the +Merrimac and the Monitor in Chesapeake waters more than two centuries +later, when two pinnaces full of armed men captured an armed vessel sent +out by the Kent Islanders. + +When this news reached Jamestown there was great indignation. Harvey +tried to justify the Marylanders, but this merely intensified the +people's hatred of him. So he not only aids in the dismemberment of +Virginia, it was said, but upholds the intruders in murdering our +people. Is it right that one who is Governor of the colony should side +with her enemies? + +The crisis came in 1635. King Charles, ever pressed for money, tried +once more to secure a tobacco contract. So he wrote Harvey directing him +to call an Assembly and to ask for "the sole pre-emption of all +tobacco," at a lower price and a reduced quantity. The members of the +Council, especially Samuel Mathews, John Utie, and William Pierce, +opposed the contract "very saucily."[23] As for the Burgesses, they +hated all contracts. So they drew up an answer which was in effect a +refusal. In order to give the paper the character of a petition they all +signed it. This they gave to Harvey to send to the King. + +But instead of forwarding it, the Governor detained it. In excuse of +this arbitrary action he said he feared the King "would not take well +the matter thereof, and that they should make it a popular business by +subscribing a multitude of hands thereto, as thinking thereby to give it +countenance."[24] The people were outraged. So our Governor takes it on +himself to decide what or what not we shall say to our King. Is it not +the right of all Englishmen to address their sovereign? "The wrong done +by the Governor to the whole colony in detaining the foresaid letters to +his Majesty did exceedingly perplex them, whereby they were made +sensible of the condition of the present government," wrote Samuel +Mathews.[25] + +Things had now come to a head. A petition demanding a redress of +grievances was drawn up, which Francis Pott, brother of Dr. John Pott, +took about the country. Everywhere he found the people tired of Harvey's +arbitrary conduct, tired of his injustice to individual persons. So they +pressed forward eagerly to sign the petition. Harvey says that only in +Accomac did they refuse.[26] + +It was in April, 1635, that Pott, Captain Nicholas Martian, and William +English, the sheriff of York County, addressed a gathering at the house +of William Warren. This meeting has a special significance in the long +struggle for American liberty, for Warren's house was on or near the +site of the Moore House, at Yorktown, where the British army under Lord +Cornwallis surrendered a century and a half later. The speakers were +denouncing Harvey's despotic government when some friends of the +Governor tried to enter. A servant kept them out, but they hung around +outside and "bended themselves to hearken to the discourse among +them."[27] When the speeches were concluded those present gathered +around the petition and affixed their signatures. + +When this was reported to Harvey, he flew into a rage. Calling the +Council, he issued warrants for the arrest of Francis Pott, English, and +Martian. They were brought up in irons. Pott handed over the petition +and declared that if he had offended he appealed to the King. "He was +sure of no justice from Sir John Harvey." When the prisoners asked why +they were arrested, the Governor told them that they would be told at +the gallows. So they were hustled off to prison.[28] + +Harvey then called the Council together again and told them that it was +necessary to try the prisoners by martial law. But the Councillors +insisted on a legal trial. In the dispute which followed Harvey became +violently angry. Finally, he sat down and ordered the others to sit. +Looking around with a frown, he said: "I am to propound a question to +you.... What do you think they deserve that have gone about to persuade +the people from their obedience to his Majesty's substitute?" + +Turning to George Menefie, he said, "I begin with you." Menefie answered +that since he was but a young lawyer he did not dare give an opinion +"upon the sudden." Here Nicholas Farrar interposed to protest against +this method of proceeding. But Harvey cut him short with the command to +hold his tongue until he was spoken to. Thereupon Samuel Mathews spoke +up to enter his protest. But instantly, in the King's name, he was told +to be silent. Mathews insisted there was no precedent for this attempt +to make men incriminate themselves unless it was that by a tyrant. Here +he was alluding to the passage in Shakespeare's _King Richard_ III in +which Richard asked Lord Hastings what should be done to the women who +had bewitched him. Hastings replied that if they had done so they ought +to die. "Talk'st thou to me of ifs," replied Richard, "thou art a +traitor. Off with his head." Harvey evidently did not relish being +compared to Richard, and so retorted with many "bitter languages."[29] + +The Councillors were now determined to bring their dispute with the +Governor to an issue. The next time he summoned them to meet, they +brought with them fifty musketeers and concealed them near the house. +Harvey asked them with a stern look what they thought was the reason for +the petition against him. "The chief cause was the detaining of the +letters to his Majesty," replied Mr. Menefie. This infuriated Harvey. +Rising from his chair, he struck Menefie a resounding blow on the +shoulder, saying: "I arrest you on suspicion of treason to his Majesty." +But now he had gone too far. Utie and Mathews seized him, exclaiming: +"And we you upon suspicion of treason to his Majesty."[30] + +At this juncture Dr. Pott, who was standing near the door, held up his +hand as a signal, and the musketeers came running up "with their pieces +presented." "Stay here until there be use of you," Pott commanded. In +the meanwhile, Mathews had forced Harvey down into a chair. "Sir, there +is no harm intended against you only to acquaint you with the grievances +of the inhabitants," he told him. So he poured out the recital of the +wrongs done the colony and demanded that they be redressed. But the +Governor, who was in no mood for making concessions, denied that any +wrong had been done. After an ominous pause Mathews said: "Sir, the +people's fury is up against you and to appease it is beyond our power, +unless you please to go for England." Harvey replied that the King had +sent him to Virginia to be Governor, and he would not leave until he +ordered him to do so. + +But he soon changed his mind. That night a courier came riding up with a +letter to Harvey from Thomas Purifie, who seems to have been one of his +few friends in the Council, giving an alarming report of the threatening +attitude of the people. At first the Governor said he would defy them to +do their worst. Would it not be better to remain, though he be cut in a +thousand pieces, than to desert his charge? he asked Secretary Richard +Kemp. Kemp replied that for him to remain might "hazard the King's +service" by provoking the infuriated people to further acts of violence. +So at last he yielded and promised to leave.[31] + +The rebellious Councillors now took over the government. They released +English, Martian, and Francis Pott, forced Harvey to deliver his +commission and instructions to Secretary Kemp, set an armed guard around +him ostensibly to protect him from violence, posted armed men in "all +ways and passages," called a General Assembly, and sent out a +proclamation inviting the people to lay their grievances before it, and +appointed their senior member, John West, a brother of Lord De la Warr, +acting Governor.[32] + +In the meanwhile, Harvey had left Jamestown to seek refuge in the house +of Mr. William Brocas, "whose wife was generally suspected to have more +familiarity with him than befitted a modest woman." Here he thought +himself secure enough to dismiss his guard. And from here he wrote a +threatening letter to the members of the Assembly, commanding them in +the King's name to disperse. He also wrote Secretary Kemp demanding the +return of his commission and instructions. The Councillors seized the +first letter, refused to read it to the Burgesses, and the Assembly went +on with the consideration of the grievances, "which were innumerable." +As for the commission and the instructions, they had taken them from +Kemp and turned them over to Menefie for safe keeping.[33] + +The Assembly now passed resolutions accusing Harvey of misgovernment and +injustice, and explaining why the people had been driven to the extreme +expedient of sending him back to England. As their agent to deliver +these papers to the King they appointed one of the Burgesses, Thomas +Harwood. With him went Francis Pott to plead his case before the King. +Since it would be several months before the tobacco ships sailed for +England, there seems to have been only one vessel leaving at the time. +So Harvey, as well as Pott and Harwood, had to embark on it. + +As events turned out this was unfortunate. Not that Harvey's frowns and +threats frightened Pott and Harwood, but that it gave him a chance to +frustrate their plans when they landed at Plymouth. Hardly had the ship +touched dock when he hastened to see the mayor of the city to tell him +of the "late mutiny and rebellion" in Virginia. So the mayor put Pott +under arrest "as a principal author and agent thereof," and seized the +trunk containing the papers entrusted to Harwood. Pott was dragged off +to London and locked up in the old debtors' prison called the Fleet.[34] + +In the meanwhile, Harwood had set off post haste to get to London ahead +of Harvey so as to make friends and tell of his misgovernment. He got a +ride with the postman who was carrying the mail. At Exeter he stopped at +the Sign of the Valiant Soldier, and drank a pint of wine with the +proprietor. This seems to have loosened his tongue, for he poured out +the story of Harvey's misdeeds to this stranger, told him of his +mission, and added that if Harvey ever returned to Virginia "he would be +pistolled or shot."[35] + +We do not know whether Harwood or Harvey won the race to London. But it +was the Governor who succeeded in gaining the support of the King and +the Privy Council. It is possible that his accusation that Harwood "was +one of the chief of the mutineer Burgesses that opposed his Majesty's +service in the tobacco contract and in stirring up the country to this +mutiny," may have landed him in prison. At all events, when the Privy +Council met, the Governor had things his own way. + +The King was greatly surprised that the Virginians had dared defy him by +ousting their duly appointed Governor. He was determined to send Harvey +back if but for one day, he said. And should he clear himself of the +charges against him, he would keep him there longer than he had +intended. As a further vindication of his authority, he gave orders that +West, Mathews, Utie, and Pierce, the leaders of the mutiny, be brought +to England "to answer their misdemeanors." He also directed the Attorney +General to draw up a new commission for Harvey with an enlargement of +his powers.[36] + +Though Harvey may have been a bit nervous over the threat of +"pistoling," he was too anxious to regain his confiscated property and +get revenge on his enemies to hesitate to return to Virginia. He made no +secret of his intention to confiscate the property of those who had so +humiliated him. As for Samuel Mathews, whose estate consisted largely of +cattle, he vowed he would leave him not worth a cow's tail.[37] Yet he +thought it prudent to ask for one of the King's ships, explaining that +this would "much abate the boldness of the offenders." So on October 2, +1636, he set forth proudly in the _Black George_. But he did not get +very far. The _Black George_ proved so leaky that for a while it seemed +that it might prove a Godsend to Virginia by taking Sir John to the +bottom. But it turned back and succeeded in reaching port. The Governor +set sail again, this time on a merchant vessel. + +When he reached Virginia, in January, 1637, Harvey could not wait for +the ship to wend its way up to Jamestown before asserting his authority, +but landed at Point Comfort and established a temporary capital at +Elizabeth City. Here he began immediately to turn sheriffs and justices +out of office and replace them with men more to his liking.[38] +Messengers were sent to summon the Council to meet in the Elizabeth City +church. It must have been with an air of triumph that he greeted the +Councillors, for now the day of retribution had come. + +One would think that Harvey's expulsion would have taught him a lesson. +Instead, his desire for revenge drove him into new excesses. With the +enlarged powers of his new commission, with the Council submissive to +his will, with the courts manned by his favorites, with the prestige of +the King's backing, he went to great extremes. The Reverend Anthony +Panton accused him of "many arbitrary and illegal proceedings in +judgment, tyranny, extortion." The "unjust whippings, cutting of ears, +fining and confiscation of honest men's goods," must have brought back +memories of Dale and Argall. The converting of fines to his "own profit +and use," or to reward his henchmen, convinced the people that men were +accused and sentenced, not because they were guilty of any crime, but +merely to have an excuse for taking their property.[39] + +In the meanwhile, West, Mathews, Utie, and Pierce had been sent as +prisoners to England to answer the charge of mutiny, where a bill was +exhibited against them in the Star Chamber. But here the matter hung +fire. George Donne, Muster General of Virginia and a member of the +Council, who had come to England to prosecute them, became ill. Harvey +neglected to put up the money for necessary fees. The great cost of the +voyage across the Atlantic prevented the sending over of witnesses. + +But in the absence of the accused men, Sir John took ample revenge on +them. They were informed by letters from Virginia that "divers of their +goods, cattle, and servants" had been confiscated. So they complained to +the Privy Council. Mathews assured them that Harvey was bent on ruining +him, and that he had been heard to say that if one "stood, tother should +fall, and if he swum, the other should sink." He seems to have convinced +the Privy Council, for on May 25, 1637, they wrote Harvey ordering him +to restore Mathews' property.[40] + +But so reluctant was Harvey to be cheated out of his revenge that he +postponed compliance in the hope that something might occur to give him +an excuse for not obeying. This excuse he found in a letter from the +Privy Council expressing satisfaction with his administration. It was +his excuse, also, for further severities against Mathews. Kemp and +others entered his house, broke open the doors of several rooms, +ransacked his trunks, examined his papers, and carried off a part of his +goods and eight of his servants.[41] + +When word of this reached the Privy Council, the sub-committee to whom +the case was referred gave it as their opinion that Mathews had been +"very hardly dealt with." "We cannot but clearly discern somewhat of +passion in the said proceedings," they reported. So the Privy Council +wrote again to Harvey, commanding him once more to restore Mathews' +property. This time the Governor complied, writing the Privy Council a +long, but lame excuse for what he had done.[42] + +Another victim of Harvey's malice was the Reverend Anthony Panton, +minister of the parishes of York and Chiskiack. Panton had quarreled +with the Governor's warm friend, Secretary Kemp, and had incurred his +lasting enmity by calling him a "jackanapes," who was "unfit for the +place of secretary," adding that "his hair-lock was tied up with ribbon +as old as St. Paul's." So he was now brought to trial, charged with +mutinous speeches and disobedience to the Governor, and with disrespect +to the Archbishop of Canterbury. The farcical character of justice as +administered by Harvey is shown by the fact that in the trial Kemp acted +not only as prosecutor but as one of the judges. Panton's conviction was +a matter of course. He was fined £500, forced to make public +submission, and was banished from Virginia and forbidden ever to return +on pain of death, and authority was given "to any man whatsoever to +execute him."[43] + +Throughout Virginia colonial history the parties to any dispute who were +in London to urge their side had a great advantage. So Mathews, Utie, +Pierce, and Francis Pott, after they secured their liberty under bail, +devoted their time to undermining Sir John at Court. The Governor +charged that they planted spies in all parts of the city to invite +persons who had just arrived from Virginia into taverns, treated them to +wine to make them talkative, and got them to state their grievances. So +they poured out the stories of Harvey's confiscations, extortions, +whippings, and pressure on the courts of justice.[44] + +As the evidence against Harvey piled up the exiles gained the support of +the sub-committee of the Privy Council to whom colonial affairs were +usually referred. Sir John wrote at length to refute what he called "the +malicious untruths of such who by all means do go about and study to +traduce us." But in vain, for the Privy Council decided to remove +him.[45] + +The shoe was now on the other foot. On January 11, 1639, Sir Francis +Wyatt received a commission as Governor of Virginia. When this news +reached the colony there was rejoicing, for Wyatt had shown himself a +staunch defender of liberty during his previous administration. The +people could be sure that he would redress their wrongs and see to it +that justice was done all men. Nor were they disappointed. No sooner had +Wyatt arrived than he summoned the General Court and brought Harvey +before it to answer for his misdeeds.[46] + +Kemp, who was retained as Secretary and Councillor by order of the Privy +Council, was helpless to prevent his fellow judges from passing sentence +on the deposed Governor. "They of the old commission have been +persecuted with much malice," he wrote in March, 1640, "the weight +whereof hath hitherto principally fallen on Sir John Harvey, whose +estate is wholly sequestered at present, and at the next court now +approaching will assuredly be swept away."[47] Harvey wrote that he +groaned under the oppression of his enemies, and that he was so closely +watched that he hardly had privacy enough to write a letter. His enemies +had now been advanced to be his judges, and were tearing his estate from +him by inviting his creditors to clamor against him. Both Harvey and +Kemp asked permission to go to England, but this was refused. Not only +were they held to answer charges, but because the new administration had +no desire to have them clamoring against them at Court. + +"Sir John being ... laid flat," Wyatt next took up the case of Anthony +Panton against Kemp.[48] This matter had been sifted out by the Privy +Council, who reported that they could find no proof of the charges +against the minister. It seemed strange to them that he should be +accused of mutinous behavior throughout six or seven years, in view of +the fact that ten months previously Harvey had presented him to a +benefice. So they suspended the harsh sentence, and referred the matter +to Governor Wyatt. The Virginia court promptly reversed the previous +action, declared Panton guiltless, and restored his estate. So he +returned in triumph and resumed his duties in his two parishes. To Kemp +this was the crowning humiliation. "I am exceedingly injured, and shall +suffer without guilt unless my friends now assist me," he wrote. "The +Governor and Council aim at my ruin."[49] + +The men employed to watch Harvey and Kemp must have relaxed their +vigilance, for both escaped and made their way back to England. Thomas +Stegg, who aided Kemp in getting away, had to pay dearly, for the +Governor and Council fined him £50 and imprisoned him. In London, Harvey +and Kemp sought influential friends, poured out their complaints to +them, and tried to undermine Wyatt at Court. Kemp later returned to +Virginia, where he resumed his place as Secretary, and his seat in the +Council. Harvey seems to have given up politics as a bad business and +returned to the sea as what he probably considered a less dangerous +vocation. He died in 1650. + +The thrusting out of Sir John Harvey is a landmark in the long struggle +for self-government in Virginia. It showed that there was a point beyond +which no Governor dared go in trampling upon the rights of the people. +It was a daring thing for the Virginians to defy the King by deposing +the man he had sent as their Governor, and notifying him in effect that +they wanted him to make a better selection. That Charles sent Harvey +back and that he was as tyrannical after his return as he had been +before, does not obscure the meaning of this uprising as a clash between +the royal assertion of despotic right and the American devotion to +liberty. + +Harvey based his claims to supreme power on the theory that he was the +King's substitute, and as such should have the unquestioning obedience +of the people. The Virginians contended that his power was limited by +law. Even had his rule been marked by justice and moderation, they would +have denied his pretensions. But when he made them the basis for an +odious tyranny, they took a step unique in American colonial history, by +laying violent hands on him, and sending him back to his royal master. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] CO1-4, p. 18. + +[2] _Virginia Magazine_ 13: 301. + +[3] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Company of London_, 221. + +[4] _Ibid._, 79. + +[5] _Virginia Magazine_ 7: 375-376. + +[6] W. W. Hening, _Virginia statutes at large_ 1: 171. + +[7] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Carolorum_, 79. + +[8] CO1-5, p. 32. + +[9] _Ibid._ + +[10] _Ibid._, 33. + +[11] CO1-5, p. 33. + +[12] _Ibid._ + +[13] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 416. + +[14] _Ibid._, 417. + +[15] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Carolorum_, 122. + +[16] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 430. + +[17] CO1-6, p. 34. + +[18] _Ibid._, 37. + +[19] _Ibid._ + +[20] _Virginia Magazine_ 8: 405. + +[21] CO1-8. + +[22] CO1-6, p. 46. + +[23] CO1-8. + +[24] CO1-8. + +[25] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 416. + +[26] _Ibid._, 427. + +[27] _Ibid._, 303. + +[28] CO1-8, p. 48. + +[29] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 418, 419. + +[30] _Virginia Magazine_ 8: 304. + +[31] _Ibid._ + +[32] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 421. + +[33] _Ibid._, 422; CO1-8. + +[34] CO1-8, p. 61. + +[35] _Ibid._, 403. + +[36] CO1-8, p. 61. + +[37] CO1-10, p. 64. + +[38] _Virginia Magazine_ 10: 265. + +[39] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Carolorum_, 150; _Report of Commission on +Historical Manuscripts_, 3. + +[40] _Virginia Magazine_ 9: 179, 180. + +[41] CO1-9, p. 121. + +[42] CO1-10, p. 14. + +[43] CO1-10, p. 32. + +[44] _Ibid._, 15. + +[45] _Ibid._, 3. + +[46] CO1-10, p. 61. + +[47] _Ibid._ + +[48] _Ibid._, 64, I. + +[49] CO1-10, 64. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +ROYALTY OVERTHROWN + + +It was in August, 1641, that Charles I appointed Sir William Berkeley +Governor of Virginia to succeed Sir Francis Wyatt. The King knew this +young man well, for he had been a gentleman usher of the Privy Chamber +under the Lord Chamberlain, and as such had attended various ceremonies +at Court. He was the fourth son of Maurice Berkeley, of the ancient +Berkeley family of Bruton, Somerset, had studied at Oxford and the +Middle Temple, and in 1630 had made the "grand tour" on the continent. +He seems to have had thoughts of following in the footsteps of the great +Shakespeare, for in 1638 he published a tragedy which he named _The Lost +Lady_. He was knighted in 1639. + +No doubt Charles thought he was doing the Virginians a great favor in +sending them this accomplished young man. But he probably was actuated +also by less unselfish motives. Berkeley was warmly attached to him, +considered his person sacred, defended his claim to rule by divine +right, and considered the Parliamentary leaders who were defying him +enemies of their country. It would be good policy to place such a man in +a post of authority in Virginia, to hold the colony in line for the +royal cause. Sir William too must have had this in mind when he +consented to lay aside his pen and the pleasures of the Court, to face +the difficulties and perils of life in the forests of America. + +But even as he was preparing to leave, the clouds were gathering for the +storm which broke over England. The long quarrel of King and Parliament +was nearing a crisis; high churchmen and Puritans were locked in bitter +battle. In December, 1640, a petition signed by 15,000 persons for the +abolition of Episcopacy "with all its roots and branches" was presented +to the Commons. A few months later a bill of attainder against the Earl +of Stafford was passed, and this able statesman and friend of the King +was led to the block. The Puritans demanded that the Book of Common +Prayer be cast aside. Charles threatened his foes in London by bringing +in soldiers, and men went about their daily tasks under the shadow of +an English Saint Bartholomew's Day massacre. In January, 1642, the King +fled from London and both sides made ready for war. + +Berkeley arrived in Virginia early in 1642. When the Councillors +assembled and took the oath of allegiance and supremacy, they must have +viewed their polished and courtly new Governor with keen interest mixed +with apprehension. Would he follow the example of Harvey in trying to +rule like an Eastern despot? Would he try to set himself above the law? +Would he take sides in the quarrels which had divided the colony and +resume the persecution of one group or the other? + +Berkeley soon made it evident that he wished to do justice to all men. +It mattered not whether they had been friends of Harvey or his enemies +so long as they were loyal to the King. So Kemp, Mathews, Menefie, West, +Pierce, and others who sat around him at the Council table, had to +stifle old resentments and unite in support of the new administration. + +Harvey had assumed that since the King was absolute and so could do no +wrong, he, as his substitute, could trample on the rights of the people +at will. Berkeley, in contrast, acted on the theory that at a time when +the Throne itself was in peril, it was his duty to show that under the +royal authority there could be justice, security, and even freedom. +Virginia had had ten years of experience of his policies when he asked +what they could expect from a change of government. "Is it liberty? The +sun looks not on a people more free than we are from oppression. Is it +wealth? Hundreds of examples show us that industry and thrift in a short +time may bring us to as high of it as the country and our conditions are +capable of. Is it security to enjoy this wealth when gotten? Without +blushing I will speak it, I am confident there lives not that person can +accuse me of attempting the least act against any man's property."[1] + +There is every reason to believe that this boast was justified. The +first Assembly that sat after Berkeley's arrival spoke of the "good and +wholesome laws" that they had passed under his leadership. They were +especially proud of "the near approach we have made to the laws and +customs of England in proceedings of the court and trials of causes."[2] +So we hear no more of the prosecution of men on trivial charges, of the +overawing of judges, and of ruinous confiscations. Thomas Ludwell, +after the surrender of the colony to the Commonwealth, when Berkeley's +enemies might easily have hounded him in the courts, declared that there +was not one man that either publicly or privately charged him with +injustice.[3] + +It must have produced a general sense of security when Sir William +affixed his signature to a bill giving either the plaintiff or the +defendant in any court the right to demand trial by jury. No more could +a body of justices, appointed by the Governor, and perhaps looking to +him for further favors, deprive a man of his property without the +judgment of his peers.[4] And should one be brought before the General +Court to plead for life or limb, one need not submit to their decision +if unjust, for now, apparently for the first time, appeals were +permitted to the Assembly.[5] + +One of the chief grievances of former times had been the conscripting of +men for public service or the service of the Governor. So now when +Berkeley "in preferring the public freedom before his particular profit" +gave up any claim to forced labor, he won the gratitude of the people. +He has restored to us the birthright of our mother nation, men said. No +longer need the poor planter fear that the sheriff would lead him off to +work in the Governor's garden while his tobacco field went to weeds, or +the carpenter curse the day when he was forced to give his time for the +construction of a fort.[6] + +The Assembly admitted that before the arrival of the new Governor they +had not done their full duty in passing wholesome laws and redressing +grievances. But they now proudly submitted to the public judgment the +many benefits to the colony from "their late consultations." Among these +was the relief given the poor by the revising of the tax law, so as to +make the levy "in some measure" proportionate to "men's abilities and +estates." + +The Assembly thought it wise to assert once more that the Governor and +Council had no authority to lay taxes.[7] There would seem to have been +no need for this since, though Harvey may have tried to levy taxes on +his own responsibility, there is no evidence that Berkeley made such an +attempt. It seems likely that the Assembly had no more in mind in +re-enacting this law than the emphasizing of a vital principle. + +Berkeley's liberal policies won something more tangible than the +gratitude of the people, for the Assembly made him a present of two +houses and an orchard.[8] When the Civil War in England cut off the +Governor's pension and the allowance granted him by the King, they +levied a tax of two shillings a tithable to raise a fund for his +support. It is true that they did this with grave misgivings. To excuse +themselves to the people they pointed out that such a thing had never +occurred before from the infancy of the colony, and they prayed God it +would never happen again. The Assembly promised that when the present +crisis had passed they would never again consent to place the burden of +maintaining the Governor upon the people. + +They seem not to have considered that to do so would be well worth the +cost, since it would make him less dependent on the King and more +amenable to their wishes. In the struggle for self-government in the +American colonies nothing tended more to bring victory than the fact the +Assemblies usually were paymasters for the Governors. + +But now Berkeley had to decide whether it was his duty to remain at his +post in Virginia or whether he should hasten back to England to offer +his sword to his King. Every vessel which came in brought news of the +bitter conflict which was convulsing the mother country--the battle of +Edgehill, the victory of the Londoners at Turnham Green, the murderous +struggle in the lanes and ditches of Newbury. Though it seemed that +final victory for the royal forces was certain, Berkeley decided that he +was needed more in England than in Virginia. Turning the government over +to Richard Kemp, he set sail for England early in 1644. We next hear of +him in the following summer in Cornwall with the King when he was +bearing down on the Parliamentary forces under Essex. + +It is eloquent of the work done by Berkeley in reconciling the bitter +factions left by Harvey, that Mathews, Pierce, Menefie, and West seem to +have accepted Kemp's appointment in good grace. But one wonders whether +Kemp, with this dignity, got a new ribbon for his hair lock, and whether +he patched up his quarrel with the Reverend Anthony Panton. But he was +left little time for personal matters, for a few weeks after Berkeley's +departure the Indians, under the leadership of the aged Opechancanough, +fell on the outer settlements and massacred no less than five hundred +persons.[9] + +Even when this terrible news reached Berkeley he seems to have delayed +his return, for it was only on June 7, 1645, over a year after the +massacre, that he arrived at Jamestown.[10] In the meanwhile, the whites +had taken ample revenge on their treacherous enemies. Expeditions had +gone out to bring fire and destruction to the Indian villages, and to +cut down the ripening corn. No sooner had the Governor set foot on +Virginia soil than he took personal charge of the war, leading out the +forces, exposing himself to danger "night and day on the water and on +the land," "visiting the remoter parts and with his presence encouraging +the people." So indefatigable was he that "he scarce ate or slept to the +hazard of his health."[11] At last, when he had captured Opechancanough, +the disheartened savages sued for peace.[12] + +Having removed the Indian menace, Sir William was faced with the task of +saving Virginia for the King. The news from England was +alarming--Parliament was everywhere victorious; the use of the Book of +Common Prayer was forbidden; hundreds of Anglican clergymen had been +expelled from their livings; the King had fled to the Isle of Wight. + +The Governor knew that there was a powerful faction in the colony, +composed chiefly of merchants and Puritans, who favored Parliament. Some +of the merchants had bought plantations in Virginia, entered actively +into public life, and perhaps held high offices. Thomas Stegg, one of +the most prominent of them, in 1643 had been Speaker of the House of +Burgesses. Richard Lee, who traded to London, was "faithful and useful +to the interest of the Commonwealth." Richard Bennett adhered to +Parliament not only because of his mercantile interests, but because he +was an ardent Puritan. + +But the people as a whole were linked by self-interest to whatever +government was in power in England. Virginia's prosperity depended upon +trade. It was vital to the planters to ship their tobacco abroad and to +get manufactured goods in exchange--cloth, clothing, household +utensils, tools, farm implements, etc. London, the great trading center +of England, was held by the enemies of the King. Even though the Dutch +took off part of the tobacco crop, if Parliament should prohibit trade +with the colony the effect might be disastrous. This helps to explain +why such a prominent man as Samuel Mathews, who made a good income by +selling beef to victual the English ships, became "a most deserving +Commonwealth man." + +Fortunately, Parliament realized that an embargo was a sword that cut +both ways. At first they tried to bring pressure on the colony by +freezing their goods in England, but, no doubt at the solicitation of +the London merchants, in October, 1644, the Commons wrote the Virginia +Assembly that this action had been reversed. Traders hesitated even then +to load their vessels and sail for Virginia, fearing that Berkeley, in +his rage against Parliament, might have persuaded the Assembly to +exclude them. But they were soon reassured. In February, 1645, the +Assembly passed an act declaring that since "the great wants and +extremities of the colony" made it necessary to encourage commerce, free +trade would be allowed "to all his Majesty's subjects of England."[13] +They went still further the next year when they thanked the House of +Commons "for all its favors" to them.[14] + +Yet the planters, not knowing what would come out of the clash of +religions, political forces, and armies which was convulsing England, +did all they could to encourage trade with the Dutch. The merchants of +Amsterdam paid well for their tobacco, and sold their wares at figures +well below those charged by the English. In January, 1649, whereas there +were only seven vessels from London and two from Bristol trading in the +James River, there were twelve from the Netherlands. + +Though Berkeley had to yield to the Virginia merchants in their demand +that trade be kept open with the mother country, he was determined to +stamp out Puritanism in the colony. Most Virginians were attached to the +Church of England; the use of the Book of Common Prayer was almost +universal; the ministers adhered to Anglican canonical law. But here and +there, especially where there were many new arrivals who had been under +the influence of Calvinist ministers in England, there were pockets of +Puritans. + +Most of the nonconformists were concentrated in southeastern Virginia in +the counties bordering on Hampton Roads. In May, 1640, the people of the +Lower Norfolk County parish elected the Reverend Thomas Harrison their +minister, "to instruct them concerning their souls' health." Apparently +Mr. Harrison did not think that the use of the Book of Common Prayer or +catechising on Sunday afternoons was necessary for the health of their +souls, for he neglected both.[15] + +Two years later a group in Upper Norfolk, headed by Richard Bennett, +John Hill, and Daniel Gookin, wrote letters to the Elders of Boston, +Massachusetts, bewailing "their sad condition for the want of the means +of salvation." They would be grateful if the Elders would send them +several ministers to instruct them in the truth as it is in Jesus. These +letters they intrusted to Mr. Philip Bennett, brother of Richard +Bennett, and sent him in a small pinnace on the dangerous voyage to +Boston.[16] + +The Elders listened with sympathy to this appeal, for they regarded it +as an opportunity "for enlarging the Kingdom of Christ." After much +deliberation, they selected John Knowles, of Watertown; William +Thompson, of Braintree; and Thomas James, of New Haven, and sent them +off. But they had a rough time even before they reached Virginia. No +doubt they thought it was Satan's effort to thwart them that threw their +pinnace on the rocks at the appropriately named Hell Gate. But the +ministers, accustomed as they were to getting the better of the Evil +One, secured another vessel and proceeded on their way.[17] + +Upon their arrival in Virginia they were welcomed by the Puritans. Going +from house to house they preached "openly to the people," and "the +harvest they had was plentiful for the little space of time they were +there." "It fared with them as it had done before with the Apostles in +the primitive times that the people magnified them, and their hearts +seemed to be much inflamed with an earnest desire after the Gospel."[18] + +But when Governor Berkeley heard of this invasion of New England +divines to woo the people from the established Church, his heart too was +inflamed. At the Assembly of March, 1643, he secured a law against +heresy prohibiting ministers to teach or preach publicly or privately +unless they conformed to the orders and constitutions of the Anglican +Church, and directing the Governor and Council to expel nonconformist +clergymen.[19] + +The Puritan missionaries to Virginia were less determined than were the +Quakers who sought to convert the people of Massachusetts to their way +of belief and after being expelled returned to face whippings, +mutilation, and the gallows. Upon hearing the order of banishment, they +left Virginia and did not return. + +But both Governor Winthrop and Edward Johnson were certain that the +Indian massacre of 1644 was God's punishment of the Virginians for +expelling his servants. "Oh! poor Virginia, dost thou send away the +ministers of Christ with threatening speeches?" wrote Johnson in his +_Wonder Working Providence_. "No sooner is this done but the barbarous, +inhuman, insolent, and bloody Indians are let loose upon them." +Certainly a terrible and indiscriminate revenge for a loving Heavenly +Father. + +Though the New Englanders left, Harrison for the time being defied the +law by remaining in his parish. Knowing that Cromwell was winning +victories, he looked to Parliament to protect him. He was elated when he +received word that the Commissioners for Plantations had issued a +proclamation in November, 1645, granting freedom of worship in all the +colonies. "That golden apple, the ordinance of toleration is now fairly +fallen into the lap of the saints," he wrote Winthrop. "We have received +letters full of life and love from the Earl of Warwick."[20] + +This seems to have given pause to Berkeley, and for two more years +Harrison continued to preach. But by the autumn of 1647 the Governor +seems to have decided to root out Puritanism in defiance of Parliament, +and at his urging the Assembly again ordered all ministers to conform to +the canons of the Church of England.[21] Under this act Harrison was +banished. After leaving Virginia he went to Massachusetts, where he +remained two years before going to England. + +His congregation, which had now grown to 118 persons, appealed to the +Commons, and on October 11, 1649, the Commissioners wrote Governor +Berkeley, ordering him to permit Harrison to return. They had heard that +he had been banished because he would not use the Book of Common Prayer. +"You cannot be ignorant that the use of the Common Prayer book is +prohibited by the Parliament." By this time Berkeley was so embittered +against the Commons that if this letter ever reached him he treated it +with scorn. After the surrender of the colony to the Commonwealth in +1652, Harrison could have returned had he so desired, but he chose to +remain in England. + +In the meanwhile Berkeley prosecuted the remaining Puritans. A certain +William Durand who took it upon himself to preach in the Elizabeth River +chapel was arrested, imprisoned, and fined, and severe action was taken +against the members of his congregation. Thereupon Durand, Richard +Bennett, and many others left the colony and settled in Anne Arundel +County, Maryland.[22] + +When the news reached Virginia that King Charles had been tried before a +Commission of the Commons, that he had been condemned to death, and that +the sentence had been carried out at Whitehall and the bleeding head +held up for the awe-stricken crowds to view, Berkeley was horrified. He +at once proclaimed Charles II King, and so won for Virginia the title of +the Old Dominion. There was no thought on the Governor's part of +submitting to Parliament. The Assembly passed a law making it treason to +question the "undoubted and inherent right of his Majesty ... to the +Colony of Virginia." To defend the proceedings against the late King was +to become accessory after the act; to asperse his memory was punishable +at the discretion of the Governor and Council; to propose a change of +government was high treason.[23] You should be thankful above all else, +Berkeley said, "that God has separated you from the guilt of the crying +blood of our pious sovereign of ever blessed memory. But mistake not, +gentlemen, part of it will yet stain your garments if you willingly +submit to those murderers' hands that shed it."[24] + +Parliament countered by declaring the Virginians rebels and by trying +to bring them to terms by economic pressure. In October, 1650, they +passed an act prohibiting all persons "foreigners and others" from +having commerce or traffic with them. English warships were to be used +to enforce the act, and all commanders were ordered to seize any foreign +vessels found trading with the colony. English ships were not to sail +for Virginia without a special license from the Council of State.[25] + +The planters realized fully that if they were cut off from all overseas +commerce it meant ruin. Their loyalty to the monarchy would be dearly +purchased if their tobacco were left on their hands, and all supplies of +cloth, clothing, and other manufactured goods denied them. Yet under the +passionate urging of Governor Berkeley they remained firm. + +Calling an Assembly for March, 1651, Sir William delivered an address +ringing with defiance. You see by the declaration of the men of +Westminster how they mean to deal with you, he said. Surely they could +have proposed something which might have strengthened us to bear the +heavy chains they are making ready for us, though it were no more than +the assurance that we shall eat the bread for which our own oxen plow, +and which we reap with our own sweat. "Surely, gentlemen, we are more +slaves by nature than their power can make us if we suffer ourselves to +be shaken with these paper bullets.... Gentlemen, by the grace of God we +will not so tamely part with our King and all those blessings we enjoy +under him; and if they oppose us do but follow me, I will either lead +you to victory or lose a life which I cannot more gloriously sacrifice +than for my loyalty and your security."[26] + +We do not know to what extent the act of 1650 was effective in stopping +trade to Virginia. It is probable that Dutch merchants continued to come +in, eluding English warships, and taking off a part of the tobacco crop. +Had it not been for this it is probable that the colony would have been +forced to surrender, and it would have been unnecessary for Parliament +to send a force to subdue it. + +During the turmoil of the early months of the Commonwealth there was +little opportunity for the Council of State to consider what should be +done about Virginia. But in October, 1649, they directed the Committee +of the Admiralty to recommend steps "to reduce them to the interest" of +Parliament. This committee called in several merchants interested in the +tobacco trade--Maurice Thompson, Benjamin Worsley, and others--to ask +their advice. These men were deeply concerned lest the defection of the +colonies might ruin them by diverting trade to the Dutch. After long +debate, it was decided that Parliament should be asked to name +commissioners "in whom the government be immediately placed, with power +to settle the same under the government of the Commonwealth."[27] + +But this plan could not be put into effect so long as the Governor and +Assembly were holding out for the King. So when news reached England +that the blockade had not been successful in bringing them to terms, it +was decided to send over a naval and military expedition. Thomas Stegg, +who was in London, no doubt told the Council of State that there were +many in Virginia who favored the Commonwealth, and that by cooperating +with them they might take over the colony without firing a shot. So in +naming a commission to offer terms they included not only Stegg himself, +but Richard Bennett and William Claiborne, both of whom were in +Virginia. The commission was headed by Captain Robert Dennis. In the +event of his death, his place was to be filled by Captain Edmund Curtis. + +They were ordered to "use their best endeavors" to bring the Virginians +"to their due obedience," and were authorized to grant pardon to all who +would submit. In case this did not prove effective they were to use "all +acts of hostility ... to enforce them." They were directed, also, to +augment their force by making recruits in the colony, appointing +captains and other officers, and promising freedom to all indentured +workers who would take up arms for the Commonwealth.[28] + +So now a fleet of two warships, the _John_ and the _Guinea Frigate_, and +a number of armed merchant vessels was assembled, a force of six hundred +men embarked, and arms and stores brought aboard. Captain Dennis sailed +in the _John_, Captain Curtis in the _Guinea Frigate_. Arriving at +Barbados, and finding a large royalist force ready to resist them, they +landed their soldiers, and defeated them in a pitched battle. This +caused a delay of several weeks before they could proceed on their way +to the Chesapeake Bay. But now disaster struck, for off the coast of +Carolina they ran into a storm which sent the _John_ to the bottom, +taking Captain Dennis and Stegg with her. Unaware of this, the rest of +the fleet proceeded on their way and arrived safely in Hampton Roads. + +Even without the _John_ the fleet must have seemed formidable to the +planters who paused in their work to view it. It must have seemed +formidable, also, to Governor Berkeley. But he was determined to resist +to the end. For months he had done all in his power to create hatred of +the Commonwealth leaders, calling them bloody tyrants, and accusing them +of planning to restore the old London Company. The Anglican ministers, +hurling invectives from the pulpit, "stirred up the people in all +places." At the gatherings for the sessions of the county courts, in +taverns, in churchyards after services, everywhere when two or more men +came together "little else was spoken of."[29] + +With the enemy in Virginia waters and with messengers riding through the +counties to summon men to the colors, the planter dropped the hoe to +fasten on the helmet and the breastplate, and take up the fusil, the +sword, the halberd, and the pistol. Embarking on shallops, or trudging +through the woods and fields the trained bands converged on Jamestown +until there were between a thousand and twelve hundred men there ready +to defend the little capital.[30] + +But there was no battle. With the loss of Dennis and Stegg, Curtis, +Bennett, and Claiborne alone were left of the Parliamentary +commissioners. Since Curtis could be outvoted by the other two, the +final settlement was left to all intents and purposes in the hands of +the two Virginians. We do not know how Curtis got in touch with them, +but they seem to have come aboard the _Guinea Frigate_ to receive their +instructions. When they opened them and realized how great was their +responsibility, they made up their minds to use every effort to spare +the colony the horrors of civil war.[31] + +Their first step was to distribute papers among the people refuting +Berkeley's charges that Parliament meant to enslave them, which they +substantiated by copies of private letters. Then, hearing that a +council of war was in session at Jamestown, they sent up a summons to +the Governor and Council to surrender. At the same time, although they +thought their force inadequate to defeat the Virginians, they set sail +up the James River. + +In the meanwhile the Governor and Council had been considering their +summons. One wishes a record had been kept of that stormy debate, with +Berkeley pleading for resistance to the end, and others pointing out +that this meant ruin. In the end they sent a reply which reached the +fleet on its way up the river, promising to yield if the government were +left in their hands for one more year. The commissioners replied with a +conciliatory message, which though refusing this compromise, "produced +the calling of an Assembly."[32] + +The Burgesses fully realized the folly of defying the might of England. +Should they succeed in driving off the forces facing them, other and +more powerful armies would follow. So they sat "in contemplation of the +great miseries and certain destruction which were so nearly hovering +over this whole country." When they heard the remarkably liberal terms +offered by the commissioners, they yielded. + +It was agreed that Virginia should "be in due obedience and subjection +to the Commonwealth of England." But following this one vital provision +came a series of concessions to the colony. The surrender was to be +considered voluntary and not forced by conquest, the Assembly was to be +continued, pardon was granted for words and writings denouncing +Parliament, Virginia was to be "free from all taxes, customs, and +impositions whatsoever," a provision which Parliament might with profit +have remembered over a century later when they were debating the Stamp +Act. The recognized principle that within the colony the Assembly alone +had the right to tax was now for the first time guaranteed.[33] + +Then followed two provisions in which the commissioners stretched their +instructions to the limit. There can be no doubt that it was Claiborne +who was largely responsible for the promise that "Virginia shall have +and enjoy the ancient bounds and limits granted by the charters of the +former Kings," for this meant that Maryland would once more become a +part of Virginia. But it remained to be seen whether Parliament would +ratify so drastic a measure. And when it was stipulated that the colony +should have "free trade as the people of England do to all places and +with all nations according to the laws of that Commonwealth," it was +obvious that there would be strenuous opposition from the merchants of +London and Bristol. + +Having affixed their signatures to these articles, the commissioners +hastened on to Maryland to demand the surrender of that colony. But +before sailing they called for election for a new House of Burgesses. +With Berkeley no longer in power to urge the return of staunch +loyalists, and with Virginia submissive to the Commonwealth, the +personnel of the House was greatly changed. When they met at Jamestown +on April 30, 1652, one recognized only six familiar faces.[34] In the +meanwhile, Bennett and Claiborne, who had returned from Maryland, sat +with them in what was in reality a constitutional convention. + +Their first act was to elect Bennett Governor for one year. Thus, by one +of those strange turns of the wheel of fortune, this ardent Puritan who +a few years before had been driven into exile because of his religious +beliefs, was placed at the head of the government. Had he been a man of +Sir John Harvey's disposition, he might now have taken his revenge. But +there is no evidence that he bore malice against Berkeley and the former +members of the Council. + +The Burgesses next elected Claiborne Secretary of State "to be next in +place to the Governor." Then followed the election of a new Council. It +is proof of the spirit of reconciliation which prevailed that most of +the former members were chosen. But the Burgesses made it clear that the +Assembly was to be the ruling power in the colony. They were to appoint +the Governor and Council, who were to exercise only such powers as the +Assembly delegated to them. And they immediately took from them the +control of local government by themselves selecting the county +justices.[35] + +Thus was self-government established in the colony. In England the clash +of arms and the struggle of class and religious groups resulted, not in +establishing a republic, but only in exchanging one despot for another. +But though Virginia had played but an insignificant role in the great +drama, she reaped a full reward. For the next eight years it was the +people who ruled through their representatives in the House of +Burgesses. + +And the people, most of them at heart still loyal to the monarchy, would +tolerate no persecution of the King's friends. Berkeley and some of the +Councillors, thinking that life under the new government would be +unendurable, had stipulated in the articles that they be permitted to +leave the colony and take their property with them. In July, 1653, +Berkeley was still planning to leave. Yet neither he nor any of the +others seem to have done so, contenting themselves with sending Colonel +Francis Lovelace to Europe to attest to the exiled Prince Charles their +continued loyalty. Only when some ardent royalist could not bridle his +tongue were severe penalties inflicted. We have an example of this in +Northumberland County when a Mr. Calvert had to pay one thousand pounds +of tobacco to save his wife from thirty lashes on her shoulders for +stigmatizing "the keepers of the liberty of England as rogues, traitors, +and rebels."[36] + +Nor was there any persecution of Church of England men in retaliation +for the expulsion of Puritans under Berkeley. There seems to have been +no thought of prohibiting the use of the Book of Common Prayer, no +thought of turning Anglican ministers out of their cures. In fact the +Burgesses were so deeply concerned at the many complaints of vacant +pulpits that they offered a reward of £20 to anyone bringing over a +clergyman.[37] + +Though Puritans and Anglicans, Commonwealth men and royalists lived +together in peace, there was friction between the English merchants and +the planters. The former argued that the act of 1650, which prohibited +foreign ships from trading with the colonies, was still in force. The +latter claimed that the law had been temporary in character and was now +invalid. And they pointed out that the articles of surrender had +promised them free trade with all nations. So when a Dutch merchant +vessel came into the James or the York, they gladly loaded her with +tobacco and accepted the cheap goods of Amsterdam in exchange. + +But the situation changed when England became involved in war with the +Netherlands. In the summer of 1653, when the _Leopolus_, a merchantman +of Dunkirk, came into the Elizabeth River, the captains of two English +ships came on board to demand her special license. Apparently the master +had no license, for the vessel was seized by the Virginia authorities +and sold for £400.[38] + +After this there seem to have been no further seizures by the +Virginians. But the English masters took it upon themselves to try to +break up the Dutch trade, and the planters looked on helplessly as they +intercepted sloops taking their tobacco to the Dutch vessels, or seized +the vessels themselves and took them off as prizes. In 1660 the Assembly +plucked up courage to declare that "the Dutch and all strangers of what +Christian nation soever in amity with the people of England shall have +free liberty to trade with us." And they required the masters of all +incoming English ships to give bond not to molest any vessels whatsoever +in Virginia waters.[39] + +It is obvious that during the entire Commonwealth period the trade with +Holland was kept open. In 1655 certain English shipowners complained +that "there are usually found intruding upon the plantation divers +ships, surreptitiously carrying away the growth thereof to foreign +parts."[40] It was this which widened the market for tobacco, kept up +the price, and brought a degree of prosperity to the colony. + +With the articles of surrender stipulating that Virginia should have its +original bounds, it seemed a golden opportunity for the colony to regain +the territory granted to Lord Baltimore. Surely the Puritan government +of England would be eager to root out the group of Roman Catholics in +Maryland. So when the Assembly sent Samuel Mathews to have the articles +ratified they instructed him to plead for the annulling of Baltimore's +patent. But Baltimore had cut the ground from under their feet by +recognizing the Commonwealth as early as 1648, appointing a Puritan +Governor of Maryland, and proclaiming religious freedom. Though Richard +Bennett came over to join Mathews in defending Virginia's claim, the +final settlement left Maryland a separate colony.[41] + +The people of Virginia watched with intense interest the dramatic events +in England in the years from 1652 to the restoration of the monarchy in +1660--the dissolution of the Rump Parliament, the election of the +Praise-God Barebone Parliament, the naming of Cromwell Protector, the +foreign wars, the death of Cromwell, the brief rule of Richard Cromwell. +But they were less affected by them than by happenings in the mother +country at any other time during the colonial period. Virginia was left +to her own devices because the men in power in London were too greatly +occupied with other matters to bother with her. One wonders whether they +knew what was going on, for the correspondence with persons in the +colony dwindled to a trickle. + +On August 31, 1658, a group of merchants trading to Virginia wrote the +Council of State complaining of "the loose and distracted condition of +that colony." It seems that Cromwell had already been considering +certain proposals "for supplying that defect," but before he could come +to any decision he died. + +Thus the people of Virginia were left to make a most interesting +experiment in self-government. The House of Burgesses were elected on a +broad franchise. Under the law of 1655 all housekeepers were given the +right to vote.[42] Since it would seem that everyone must have a place +in which to live, this was a near approach to manhood suffrage. Yet +three years later these liberty loving people made certain that no one +should be excluded, when the Assembly enacted that "all persons +inhabiting in this colony that are freemen" were "to have their votes in +the election of Burgesses."[43] One wonders whether Edmund Pendleton, +George Mason, Patrick Henry, James Madison, and other members of the +Virginia Convention of 1776, who voted that only freeholders should +vote, realized that they were less advanced on the road to democracy +than their ancestors over a century before. + +The convention of 1652 gave the right to elect "all the officers of this +colony" to "the Burgesses, the representatives of the people." However, +it seems to have been Cromwell's intention to assume the power of +appointing the Governor, for in December, 1653, his Highness "thought +fit to continue Colonel Bennett" in that office until he should "further +signify his pleasure."[44] But when he did nothing more about it, in +March, 1655, the Burgesses elected Edward Digges Governor. Three years +later, they chose Samuel Mathews, who continued in office until his +death in January, 1660. + +The Governor and Council for some years accepted with good grace the +subordinate position accorded them. But in 1658 they made an effort to +regain some of the powers they had held prior to the surrender to the +Commonwealth. When the Assembly of that year were concluding their +proceedings, they voted not to be dissolved, but merely to adjourn. But +the Governor and Council "for many important causes" took it on +themselves to override this decision and declare the Assembly dissolved. + +When this message was received by the House, some of the members started +for the door. But they probably sat down hastily when a resolution was +passed that if any Burgess showed his acceptance of the dissolution by +leaving, he was to be censured "as a person betraying the trust reposed +in him by the country." They then sent a message to the Governor and +Council declaring their action illegal and demanding that they revoke +the dissolution. To this the Governor and Council replied that they were +willing for the Assembly to continue provided they bring their work to a +speedy conclusion. As for the "dispute of the power of dissolving and +the legality thereof" they suggested that it be referred to the Lord +Protector.[45] + +But the House was now thoroughly aroused, and was determined to bring +the matter to an issue. So they appointed a committee to draw up a +report for the "manifestation and vindication of the Assembly's power." +This committee proposed resolutions declaring the "power of government +to reside in such persons as shall be impowered by the Burgesses (the +representatives of the people) who are not dissolvable by any power now +extant in Virginia but the House of Burgesses." They also recommended +the immediate dismissal of the Councillors. Accordingly the House +preceded to recall both Governor and Council. Apparently the Burgesses +did not blame Governor Mathews for the crisis for they at once +re-elected him, and then asked him to make recommendations for the new +Council. It is probable that they thought Nathaniel Bacon and Francis +Willis responsible for the attempted dissolution, for they were the +only Councillors who had signed the offensive order who were not +re-elected.[46] + +When the Assembly met again, in March, 1659, a letter was laid before +them from Henry Lawrence, President of the Council of State in England, +announcing the death of Cromwell and the accession of Richard Cromwell +as Lord Protector. The government of Virginia was being studied by the +Council, he reported, and they soon would have some positive orders. In +the meanwhile, they directed the Governor and Council to apply +themselves to the "management of the affairs of that colony."[47] + +When this letter was read to the Burgesses, they must have looked at +each other in dismay. Did this mean that the Governor and Council +thereafter were to derive their powers, not from the House, but from +England? They at once acknowledged the new Lord Protector, but they +requested the Governor to join with them in petitioning him to confirm +their privileges. + +While waiting to hear from England they decided to make important +concessions. Mathews was to be Governor for two years, at the expiration +of which time the Assembly would choose one of the Councillors to +succeed him. Members of the Council were to serve for life, "except in +case of high misdemeanors." The Governor was to nominate Councillors, +but the Burgesses were to have the privilege of confirming or rejecting. +The Council at first assented to these changes until further directions +from England, but later "they expressly declined the said act," and +declared the Assembly dissolved.[48] It would seem that from March, +1659, to March, 1660, the Governor and Council claimed that they derived +their authority, not from the Burgesses, but from the Council of State. + +In the meanwhile, the people waited anxiously for news from England. +Would the weak Richard Cromwell, Thumbledown Dick as he was called in +contempt, gain a firm grasp on the reins of state? Or would there be +anarchy? Or would Prince Charles be summoned from exile and placed on +the throne of his fathers? When the tobacco fleet drifted in, the word +they brought was alarming. Richard Cromwell had been forced to resign; +England was subjected to the weak but violent rule of soldiers; a new +civil war threatened. "Swordsmen bear the rule of the nation," a London +merchant wrote his father in Virginia in December, 1659. "The soldiers +they are divided one against another, and the people they are divided, +some for one government some for another, and how long thus a kingdom +divided against itself can stand, I know not."[49] + +To make matters still more uncertain for the Virginians, in January, +1660, Governor Mathews died. When the summons was sent out for the +Assembly to meet, the Burgesses straggled in to the little capital, some +on horseback, some by boat. Little knots must have gathered on the green +to discuss the distractions in the mother country, and their meaning for +the future of Virginia. + +When they had crowded into the house where they were to meet, and had +taken seats, their first step was to reassert their authority "as the +supreme power in this country."[50] Then they took a step which for +three centuries has puzzled historians--they elected Sir William +Berkeley Governor. That this decision was made at the opening of the +session would lead us to believe that it reflected the general sentiment +of the people. They had had experience of Berkeley's energy, concern for +the welfare of the colony, refusal to use the courts for personal gain. +Certainly this is the view he himself took of his election. "In +consideration of the service I had done the country in defending them +and destroying great numbers of Indians ... and in view of the equal +justice I had distributed to all men, not only the Assembly but the +unanimous votes of all the country made me Governor."[51] + +It is possible, also, that the Assembly had in mind the possibility that +the monarchy might be restored. Their action came just nine weeks before +Charles II set foot on English soil at Dover amid the cheers of the +crowds on the beach. The word may have gone from plantation to +plantation that it would please Charles and recommend the colony to his +favor to know that they had made choice of the former royal Governor, a +man noted for his devotion to his father and himself. + +Yet the Assembly made it clear that Sir William would hold office from +them as the supreme power in the colony. They stipulated that he must +call an Assembly at least once in every two years, that he should not +dissolve the Assembly without permission from the House, and that in +appointing members of the Council he must have their approbation. + +Berkeley hesitated. Appearing before the Assembly he expressed his +gratitude for the honor done him, and protested that there were many +among them who were "more sufficient for it" than he. When he first came +to Virginia, he said, he had a commission from his "most gracious master +King Charles of ever blessed memory." When the King was put to death, +his son sent him another commission to govern Virginia, but Parliament +sent a force against him, and finding him defenceless, took over the +colony. But Parliament continued not long, and now his intelligence was +not enough to tell him who or what ruled England. "But, Mr. Speaker, it +is one duty to live obedient to a government, and another of a very +different nature to command under it." Yet when he had asked the Council +for their advice, and they had concurred unanimously in his election, he +consented.[52] + +Thus this professed enemy of republican principles became the head of a +semi-independent little republic. To Governor Stuyvesant, of New +Netherlands, he wrote: "I am but a servant of the Assembly, neither do +they arrogate any power to themselves further than the miserable +distractions of England force them to. For when God shall be pleased in +his mercy to take away and dissipate the unnatural division of their +native country, they will immediately return to their own professed +obedience."[53] + +Though Charles was proclaimed King in England on May 8, 1660, it was +only in September that the slow moving vessels of the day brought the +news to Virginia. It was with elation that Berkeley wrote to the +sheriffs in every county that God had invested "our most gracious +sovereign, Charles II," with the "just rights of his royal father," and +charged them to proclaim him King forthwith. In Jamestown there was +rejoicing, marked by the firing of cannon, and the blare of trumpets. +The country people for miles around must have flocked in to aid in +making way with six cases of drams and a hundred and seventy-six gallons +of cider.[54] + +Berkeley's joy was tempered with the fear that the King might be angry +with him for having accepted office from the "rebel" Assembly. But +Charles reassured him, and sent him a new commission. Overjoyed, +Berkeley replied: "I ... do most humbly throw myself at your Majesty's +feet ... that you yet think me worthy of your royal commands. It is true +... I did something, which if misrepresented to your Majesty, may cause +your Majesty to think me guilty of a weakness I should ever abhor myself +for. But it was no more ... than to leap over the fold to save your +Majesty's flock, when your Majesty's enemies of that fold had barred up +the lawful entrance to it, and enclosed the wolves of schism and +rebellion ready to devour all within."[55] + +Thus the Commonwealth period in Virginia came to an end. No longer was +the Assembly to be the supreme power, selecting the Governor and +Council, and controlling local government. The old struggle for +self-government had to be resumed; the representatives of the people +again had to steel themselves against the encroachments of arbitrary +Kings and arbitrary Governors. More than a century was to elapse before +the rights surrendered when Charles II was proclaimed were regained. + +But the training in self-government received during the eight years that +the people were their own masters stood them in good stead in the +conflicts ahead. Having tasted the sweets of freedom, they were ready to +resist when Governors vetoed their bills, or corrupted the Burgesses, or +swayed the courts, or bullied the Council. The Commonwealth period +foreshadowed Bacon's Rebellion and the American Revolution; the +constitutional Assembly of 1652 foreshadowed Bacon's Assembly of June, +1676, and the Virginia Convention of 1776. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 77. + +[2] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 237. + +[3] CO1-20. + +[4] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 273. + +[5] _Ibid._, 272. + +[6] _Ibid._, 237. + +[7] _Ibid._, 244. + +[8] _Ibid._, 267. + +[9] Robert Beverley, _History and present state of Virginia_, ed. L. B. +Wright, 60. + +[10] _Virginia Magazine_ 8: 73. + +[11] CO1-30, p. 71. + +[12] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 323. + +[13] _Ibid._, 296. + +[14] Report of Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts, Part 1: 158. + +[15] _Lower Norfolk County Antiquary_ 1: 83, 84. + +[16] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Carolorum_, 166. + +[17] _Ibid._, 167. + +[18] _Ibid._, 172. + +[19] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 277. + +[20] E. D. Neill, _Virginia Carolorum_, 200. + +[21] _Ibid._, 206. + +[22] _Lower Norfolk County Antiquary_ 2: 14, 61. + +[23] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 361. + +[24] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 77. + +[25] Scobell, _Collection of acts_ 2: 132. + +[26] _Virginia Magazine_ 1: 77. + +[27] _Calendar of state papers, Colonial_ 1: 332. + +[28] CO1-11. + +[29] _Virginia Magazine_ 11: 33. + +[30] _Virginia Magazine_ 11: 24. + +[31] _Ibid._, 33. + +[32] _Ibid._, 23. + +[33] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 363-365. + +[34] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1619-1659, xx. + +[35] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 371, 372. + +[36] _William and Mary Quarterly_ 1: 154. + +[37] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 418. + +[38] _Virginia Magazine_ 3: 310, 311; W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ +1: 382. + +[39] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 535, 536. + +[40] G. L. Beer, _Origins of the British colonial system_, 396. + +[41] N. C. Hale, _Virginia venturer_, 282-285. + +[42] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 412. + +[43] _Ibid._, 475. + +[44] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 408. + +[45] _Ibid._, 499. + +[46] _Ibid._, 499, 505. + +[47] _Ibid._, 509, 510. + +[48] _Ibid._, 537. + +[49] _Tyler's Magazine_ 1: 244, 245. + +[50] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 1: 530. + +[51] _Bath papers_ I, "The Declaration and Remonstrance of William +Berkeley." + +[52] _Southern Literary Messenger_, Jan. 1845. + +[53] Charles Campbell, _History of Virginia_, 246. + +[54] _William and Mary Quarterly_ 1: 158. + +[55] _Southern Literary Messenger_, Jan. 1845. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +A BACON! A BACON! + + +Sir William Berkeley was one of the best Governors in the history of +colonial Virginia during his first administration; during his second he +was one of the worst. The man who had won the gratitude of the people by +his respect for their rights, his refusal to use the courts to further +his own interests, his efforts to bring prosperity, was followed by +their bitter curses when he left Virginia in 1677. The courtly young +gentleman who had exchanged the Court of Charles I for the forests and +tobacco fields of the colony, had become the crabbed, dictatorial old +man. In 1672 the Quaker preacher, William Edmundson, visited him to +intercede for the Society of Friends. The next day Richard Bennett asked +Edmundson whether the Governor had called him dog, rogue, etc. "No," he +replied. "Then you took him in his best humor."[1] + +One of Sir William's worst traits, his greed, grew on him with the +years. "Though ambition commonly leaves old age, covetousness does not," +he wrote Lord Arlington. It may have been this which made him marry +Frances Culpeper, the widow of Captain Samuel Stephens, who brought him +a large estate. Though there was nothing wrong in this, it was whispered +through the colony that it was the marrying of a young wife which was +responsible for Berkeley's "old follyage." Frances seems to have been +loyal to him amid the troubles which soon followed, even though she may +have cast tender eyes on Philip Ludwell, whom she married after Sir +William's death. + +Whatever is the explanation of the change in Berkeley's character, it +obviously was the Civil War in England, the execution of Charles I, and +the turmoil of the Commonwealth period which intensified his distrust of +republican institutions. They had been tried and the experiment had +ended in disastrous failure. True, he had been a witness of the success +of self-government in Virginia, but this did not change his views. +Monarchy was the form of government ordained by God. In Virginia it was +he, as the King's representative, who should rule. So he was determined +that there should be no more republicanism in the colony than his +instructions required. + +Berkeley did not attempt the barefaced disregard of law practiced by +Harvey. His methods were more subtile. He sought to make men obedient to +his will by holding out to them offices of profit or honor. The people +of Charles City County complained that Sir William, "aspiring to a sole +and absolute power over us ... greatly neglecting the Council ... did +take upon him the sole naming and appointing of other persons in their +room and place such as himself best liked and thought fittest for his +purposes."[2] The men who sat around the Council table with him might +perhaps venture an opinion now and then, but they dared not arouse his +brittle temper by opposing him when once he had made up his mind. To do +so might lose one a collector's place, or a colonelship in the militia, +or even one's seat on the Council. + +The situation in the House of Burgesses was similar. Berkeley was +shameless in corrupting the representatives of the people by handing out +jobs. It was testified that he took on himself the sole appointment of +all officers, military as well as civil. Offices were created merely "to +increase the number of his party ... all which offices he bestowed on +such persons, how unfit or unskilful soever, he conceived would be most +for his designs." Thus, by a skilful use of the patronage, he so gained +upon and obliged all or the greatest number of men of parts and estates +"as to ... do whatsoever he pleased."[3] + +If a Burgess voted as Sir William wished, he could count on perhaps a +sheriff's place, perhaps a collector's place, almost certainly a +commission in the militia. If the Burgesses of 1666 wore their uniforms +when they took their seats, the session must have assumed a military +aspect, for, of the thirty who attended, six were colonels, two +lieutenant colonels, one major, and fourteen captains. + +Having in this way made a majority of the Burgesses subservient to his +will, Berkeley used his right of prorogation to retain them +indefinitely. In this bit of political strategy he could justify himself +with the thought that he had the example of his royal master. The Long +Assembly of Virginia was the counterpart of the Long Parliament of +England. For sixteen years he refused to hold a general election, and +he probably congratulated himself that in the colony there was but a +mockery of self-government. The Burgesses might betray the interests of +the people with impunity; they could not be made to answer at the polls. +So it was with bitterness that the people paid their taxes for the +salaries of men over whom they had no control. The people of Charles +City County complained that their representatives had been "overswayed +by the power and prevalency" of Berkeley and his Council, and had +neglected their grievances.[4] + +As Sir William was supreme in the Assembly, so he was supreme in local +government. The justices of the county courts were his appointees. The +well-paid sheriffs' office, which he made the stepping stone to the +House of Burgesses, was his to fill. So the county courts, in exercising +their judicial, legislative, and executive powers, dared not act +contrary to his will. + +Berkeley had prided himself on having won the affection of the people in +his first administration. One wonders whether he realized that this +affection was turning to hatred. Nathaniel Bacon accused him of +enriching a few favorites at the expense of the people, and of glaring +injustice to individual men. "All the power and sway is got into the +hands of the rich, who by extortious advantages ... have curbed and +oppressed them in all manner of ways," Bacon wrote in a fiery +manifesto.[5] The constant breach of laws, unjust prosecutions, excuses, +and evasions, showed that the men in power were running the government +"as if it were but to play a booty, game, or divide a spoil." Nor was +there any hope of redress, for to lay the people's grievances before the +House of Burgesses was to appeal "to the very persons our complaints do +accuse."[6] + +Some of the Burgesses, as well as the members of the Council, could +expect large grants of land if they were in the Governor's good graces. +"Some take up 2,000 acres, some 3,000, and others 10,000, and many more +have taken up 30,000," it was said. Unable to cultivate such vast +tracts, they merely built little shacks, or perhaps "hog houses" on them +so as not to forfeit the deed. When the soil of the little farms of the +poor began to wear out, or when new settlers arrived, the only +available land was on the frontier. Here they made a precarious living +on "barren lands" where they were in constant danger from the +Indians.[7] + +But the most urgent complaint was of the heavy load of taxes. When the +sheriff came to the poor planter to demand a part of his little crop of +tobacco, he wanted to know to what use it would be put. He knew that a +goodly share went to Governor Berkeley, some to the Councillors, some to +pay the salaries of the Burgesses, but much was not accounted for. When +the members of the county courts retired into a private room to lay the +local levy, there were angry murmurs of fraud. Of course they will not +tell us what the taxes are for, because part of the money they put in +their own pockets, it was said. + +Bacon echoed these charges. "See what sponges have sucked up the public +wealth, and whether it hath not been privately contrived away by +unworthy favorites, by vile juggling parasites whose tottering fortunes +have been repaired and supported."[8] And the small farmer cursed as +Lady Berkeley drove by in her coach, or when they viewed the Governor's +wide acres, his six houses, his four hundred cattle, his great flock of +sheep, his sixty horses, his well-filled barns. Few had ever seen his +costly plate, but its fame must have been spread abroad.[9] + +Berkeley was accused of using the courts to punish his enemies and +reward his favorites. A manifesto entitled "Declaration of the People," +said that he had "rendered contemptible the magistrates of justice by +advancing to places of judicature scandalous and ignorant favorites." +Colonel Henry Norwood wrote Secretary Williamson in 1667 that great +injury had been done in the courts "by the insinuation of some that make +advantages of the Governor's passion, age, and weakness." It was a +grievance, he said, that in the Assembly the chairman of the committee +to consider appeals from the county courts was usually a member of the +Council.[10] + +Berkeley vowed that he knew of nothing in which he had not distributed +equal justice to all men, but there is reason to think that he did use +the courts to further his own interests. Thomas Mathew states that he +cheated Thomas Lawrence out of "a considerable estate on behalf of a +corrupt favorite," and we know that Lawrence never forgave him. William +Drummond was another who had a personal grievance and it was his efforts +to gain revenge which drove the Governor to such acts of savage cruelty +when he had him in his power. + +Though Berkeley may have been indifferent to the rights of others, he +was quick to complain when his own interests were concerned. He had been +eloquent in denouncing the restrictions on the trade of Virginia under +the Commonwealth, and now he was greatly concerned when his adored +Charles II gave his assent to even more stringent acts. All goods sent +to the colonies, even though of foreign growth or manufacture, must come +by way of England; all tobacco, sugar, wool, etc., produced in the +colonies must be shipped to England or her dominions.[11] + +The results for Virginia were disastrous. The Dutch traders had paid +three pence a pound for tobacco; the English merchants now offered a +half penny or in some cases only a farthing. The mass of the people were +reduced to poverty and rags. Secretary Ludwell reported that when the +small planter had paid his taxes, very little remained for him for the +support of his family. "So much too little that I can attribute it to +nothing but the mercy of God that he has not fallen into mutiny and +confusion."[12] Nine years later Ludwell had occasion to remember these +words when the poor did fall into mutiny and confusion. + +Berkeley sailed for England in May, 1661, where no doubt he talked with +his brother Lord John Berkeley in an effort to have the Navigation Acts +repealed. But he had no success. The fault is your own, he was told. +Stop planting so much tobacco and produce the more useful commodities +needed by England. Send us masts for our ships, flax for our linen, hemp +for our ropewalks, potash for our woolens.[13] + +Berkeley made a sincere effort to turn the colony to the production of +commodities other than tobacco, but all his experiments ended in +failure. Ten years later, when the Lords of Trade asked him what +impediments there existed to trade, he blurted out: "Mighty and +destructive by that severe act of Parliament which excludes us from +having any commerce with any nation in Europe but our own.... If this +were for his Majesty's service or the good of his subjects we should +not repine, whatever our sufferings are for it. But on my soul it is +contrary to both."[14] + +Not only did the Navigation Acts impoverish Virginia, but they brought +additional disaster to the people by provoking the Dutch to war. In 1667 +a fleet of five Dutch warships entered the Chesapeake Bay. The crew of +the English frigate _Elizabeth_, not suspecting danger, had careened her +to clean her bottom. So they had to stand by helpless as the enemy moved +up and captured her. The Dutch then turned on the tobacco fleet and took +twenty vessels.[15] In a second Dutch war a desperate engagement was +fought off Lynhaven Bay. Nine or ten of the tobacco ships, in their +haste to get away, ran aground and were taken.[16] + +Had Edward Johnson been in Virginia in the year 1667, he would have been +sure that the series of misfortunes which befell the colony came as a +sign of God's anger. "This poor, poor country ... is now reduced to a +very miserable condition," Thomas Ludwell wrote Lord John Berkeley. "In +April ... we had a most prodigious storm of hail, many of them as big as +turkey eggs, which destroyed most of our young mast and cattle.... But +on the 27th of August followed the most dreadful hurricane that ever the +colony groaned under.... The night of it was the most dismal time that +ever I knew or heard of, for the wind and rain raised so confused a +noise, mixed with the continual cracks of falling houses.... But when +the morning came and the sun risen it would have comforted us after such +a night, had it not lighted us to the ruins of our plantations, of which +I think not one escaped. The nearest computation is at least 10,000 +houses blown down, all the Indian grain laid flat on the ground, all the +tobacco in the fields torn to pieces and most of that which was in the +houses perished with them."[17] Even then the misfortunes of the +planters were not ended, for in 1673 an epidemic occurred among their +cattle, which carried off fifty thousand animals.[18] + +In the midst of their suffering the people looked back on the +Commonwealth period as a golden era. Then they had enjoyed +self-government; now their representatives had betrayed them. Then the +trade with the Dutch had brought prosperity; now the Navigation Acts had +made their tobacco almost worthless and reduced them to rags. Then men +were advanced to places of trust and honor because of their ability; now +the chief offices were reserved for those who toadied to the Governor. +Then taxes had been moderate; now they were crushing. + +The legend built up by Berkeley that Charles I had been the loving +father of the people received a crushing blow when it became known that +he had granted all the vast region between the Potomac and the +Rappahannock to Lord Hopton and several other noblemen. Charles II so +far responded to the plea of the Virginians for relief as to recall the +patent and issue another in its place containing promises to protect +their rights and property. But when they noted that the new patent +required them to duplicate the quit rents of the past eleven years to +pay off the patentees, they were in despair. This would amount to so +vast a sum that it would wipe out many estates.[19] So they appointed +Major General Robert Smith, Colonel Francis Moryson, and Thomas Ludwell +to plead their cause in England. + +In the meanwhile, the patent had been assigned to the Earl of St. Albans +and three others. The agents began negotiations with these men and +apparently purchased it for a large sum to be raised in the colony. +Several years later Berkeley wrote that the two great taxes of sixty +pounds of tobacco per poll to buy in the Northern patent had so aroused +the people that many were "ripe for mutiny." + +Negotiations with St. Albans were still under way when the agents were +amazed to find that the King had issued a patent to the Earl of +Arlington and Lord Culpeper to all Virginia, with such rights and powers +as to make them practically masters of the colony. To them were to go +all escheats, quit rents, and duties formerly belonging to the Crown; +they could create new counties and parishes, issue patents to land, +appoint civil officers. + +This not only revokes former grants and privileges, but leaves us at the +mercy of these lords who may look after their own interests "without +regard to the liberty of the people," complained the Assembly. The +common people were so wrought up "by being left to the oppression of +their fellow subjects" that they might mutiny or desert the colony.[20] +Fortunately, Arlington and Culpeper agreed to give up their patent in +exchange for a grant of the Northern Neck, with the quit rents and +escheats. + +To protect the colony from such grants in the future, the agents now +pleaded for a charter guaranteeing that the people should have their +immediate dependence upon the Crown. They sought a promise, also, that +they should be taxed only by the Assembly. Had it not been for the +outbreak of Bacon's Rebellion the charter might have gone through, for +twice it reached the great seal. As it was, when it was granted it +contained little more than the promise that Virginia should be directly +dependent on the Crown. + +Never in American history were a people more greatly wronged than the +Virginians in the Restoration period. With Charles II repaying their +loyalty by sacrificing them to the greed of favorites, with the Governor +they had trusted making a mockery of self-government by corrupting the +Burgesses, with their economic interests ignored to build up English +commerce and shipping, they reflected bitterly that they had been +betrayed. It was Berkeley himself who thought that if they saw an +opportunity, the poor planters might go over to the Dutch in "hopes of +bettering their condition by sharing the plunder of the country with +them."[21] They "speak openly there that they are in the nature of +slaves, so that the hearts of the greatest part of them are taken away +from his Majesty," reported a certain John Knight.[22] + +In 1674, when the sheriffs began to collect the heavy taxes, there was a +wild burst of anger. The money is not to be used for the benefit of the +colony, it was whispered, but merely "the enriching of some few +people."[23] In two separate places the people rushed to arms, +determined to resist. Berkeley at once issued a proclamation, requiring +them to disperse. But had they had a leader, some "person of quality," +they would probably have anticipated Bacon's Rebellion by flying in the +face of the government. As it was, by "the advice of some discreet +persons that have an influence upon them," they refrained from +violence.[24] But in many an humble cottage there were prayers that God +would send a leader to direct them in righting their many wrongs. + +This leader they found two years later in Nathaniel Bacon. The son of a +wealthy English squire, Thomas Bacon of Friston Hall, Suffolk; +fellow-commoner in St. Catherine's Hall, Cambridge; a pupil of the great +scientist John Ray and his companion in his celebrated tour of the +continent, he seemed as much out of place in the forests of Virginia as +Berkeley had been when he arrived three decades earlier. Bacon had been +in Virginia but a few months when the Governor made him a member of the +Council. "Gentlemen of your quality come very rarely into this country, +and therefore when they do come are used by me with all respect,"[25] he +explained. + +It was with Sir William's friendly approbation that Bacon purchased a +plantation at Curles Neck, on the James, forty miles above Jamestown. He +bought also, a "quarter," or farm to be managed by an overseer, on the +frontier at the site of Richmond. "I chose to seat myself so remote, I +having always delighted in solitude," he said.[26] + +Bacon soon found himself at odds with the dictatorial Governor. It seems +probable that prowling Indians made off with some of his livestock and +that he, without consulting Berkeley, had retaliated. When Sir William +reproved him, he lost his temper and was guilty of "unbecoming +deportment."[27] At the meetings of the Council he obviously did not +like the way things were conducted, for he absented himself as much as +possible. + +When he was in Jamestown it is certain that he knew both Lawrence and +Drummond. In fact it is probable that he boarded with Mrs. Lawrence, who +took in paying guests, and no doubt was one of several persons accused +of keeping ordinaries "at extraordinary prices." When the Assembly or +the General Court was in session, her house was crowded. To her clients +Lawrence, in so subtle a manner as not to cause suspicion, suggested the +possibility of curbing "the forwardness, avarice, and French despotic +methods of the Governor."[28] That he poured out the story of his own +and the people's wrongs in Bacon's ears, and that Bacon proved a +sympathetic listener, hardly admits of a doubt. Otherwise he would not +have risked his neck to seek him and Drummond out for a midnight +conference after Berkeley had proclaimed him a rebel. + +With Virginia a mass of explosives, the match which set them off was an +Indian war. The Susquehannocks, a tribe friendly with the whites, had +been attacked by the Senecas and driven from their towns at the head of +the Chesapeake Bay to the north bank of the Potomac near the site of +Fort Washington. Here they began a series of raids on the plantations on +both sides of the river in search of food. When a band of Indians of +another tribe crossed over to Virginia, killed several people, and +escaped into Maryland, an enraged party of whites pursued them. +Unfortunately, they made the mistake of attacking the Susquehannocks and +killing fourteen of them. The Susquehannocks retaliated with a series of +murders, and the Indian war was on.[29] + +While the Virginians and Marylanders were gathering their forces, the +Indians busied themselves building a fort with high embankments, moat, +and corner bastions. It presented so formidable an appearance that +before attacking it the white commanders summoned the Indian "great men" +to a parley. But when they came out, Major Trueman, of the Maryland +forces, charging them with the recent murders, had them knocked on the +head. Infuriated at this breach of faith, the Indians in the fort made a +successful resistance, and at last broke through the besieging forces, +made their way up the left bank of the river, and crossed over to +Virginia.[30] + +Falling upon the frontier plantations, they took ample revenge for the +murder of their "great men." In a few days they had wiped out a number +of families. Dragging off their miserable captives to secluded spots in +the forest, they staged scenes of horror that would have staggered the +imagination of a Dante. Some they roasted alive and cut off pieces of +their flesh, which they offered to their other victims. Others they +bound to stakes, pulled their nails off, stuck feathers in their flesh, +ripped them open and wound their entrails around the trunks of +trees.[31] + +Memories of the days when he led his men to victory over Opechancanoe +must have come to Sir William, but he was now too old to take the +field. But he collected a strong force to go out against the Indians, +and gave the command to Sir Henry Chicheley. Then, to everyone's +amazement, he changed his mind and disbanded the soldiers.[32] This he +seems to have done for fear Chicheley might not be able to discriminate +between friendly and unfriendly Indians. He stated that he planned to +use the Pamunkeys and Appomatox to be his "spies and intelligence to +find out the more bloody enemies." + +Unfortunately, these tribes were no longer friendly. The gradual +encroaching on their lands by the frontier families had forced them to +"live remote in the woods," and caused them to harbor a deep sense of +injustice. But even after Berkeley finally came to realize this, and +admitted that the neighboring tribes were aiding the Susquehannocks, he +kept reverting to this policy. + +So, when the savages renewed their raids, he called the Assembly +together and pushed through legislation for a defensive war. It called +for the erection of forts on the frontier, the enlistment of five +hundred men, and the use of friendly Indians.[33] + +To the exposed families this seemed mere folly. Is it not easy for the +Indians to sneak in between forts to fall upon us and commit their +devilish murders? they asked. We are already burdened enough with taxes +without having more piled on for works which give us no protection. What +is needed is a large mobile force to seek out the enemy and destroy +them. When petition after petition reached Berkeley, asking him to send +a leader, it merely aroused his brittle temper. As one group stood +humbly before him, they spoke of themselves as "Your Honor's subjects." +"Why you are a set of fools and loggerheads. You are the King's +subjects, and so am I. A pox take you."[34] + +In this Berkeley made his greatest mistake. Since he would not send the +frontiersmen a leader of his own selection, they picked a leader for +themselves. When the dread news spread in Charles City County that large +bodies of Indians were on the upper James ready to descend on them, +hundreds of angry men assembled in arms to resist them. Bacon, whose +outer plantation had been plundered by the Indians and his overseer +murdered, was easily persuaded to join them. When he appeared a shout +went up, "A Bacon! A Bacon! A Bacon! A Bacon!" From that moment they +were ready to follow wherever he would lead. + +From the first Bacon made it clear that he would try to redress the +people's grievances as well as save them from the Indians. As the +frontiersmen gathered around him he addressed them, denouncing "the +government as negligent and wicked," calling the ruling clique +"treacherous and incapable," the "laws and taxes unjust and oppressive," +and dwelling on "the absolute necessity of redress."[35] Amid the shouts +of approval he made them sign a large paper, "writing their names +circular-wise that the ringleaders might not be found out." He then sent +out "emissaries" to all parts of the colony to denounce the Governor, +complain of the restrictions on the franchise, and demand the dismissal +of the Long Assembly and a new election of Burgesses.[36] Instantly he +became the hero of the people, "the only patron of the country and the +preserver of their lives and fortunes." + +He hoped to gain his ends by peaceful means, and wrote the Governor +asking for a commission to fight the Indians. When Berkeley, enraged at +the accusations of misgovernment, proclaimed him a rebel, he wrote that +he had taken up arms only to defend the country against the Indians. He +then marched into New Kent, a county "ripe for rebellion" to attack the +Pamunkeys, whom he had reason to believe had participated in some of the +murderous raids. But when they fled, he turned south in pursuit of a +band of Susquehannocks. When he arrived at the Roanoke River, the +Occaneechees, a friendly tribe living on an island in the river, +volunteered to go out and give battle to the Susquehannocks. But after +they had defeated them and returned to the island they became involved +in a quarrel with Bacon. A desperate battle ensued in which the Indians +were defeated and forced to flee. After gathering up the spoils, Bacon +turned his face homeward. + +In the meanwhile, Berkeley had raised a force of three hundred men to +intercept Bacon at the falls of the James. But he hastened back when he +received word that the people everywhere were rising against him. +Astonished, he asked the Council what the people wanted. They replied +that they were crying out against his refusal to hold an election for so +many years, and the denial to many of the right to vote. Since +Berkeley's whole structure of political control was based on these two +points, to waive them must have seemed to him like complete surrender. +But he yielded, and called for an election of Burgesses in which all +freemen had the right to vote. + +Berkeley watched anxiously as the returns came in, and his henchmen, one +after the other, were defeated. When on June 5, 1676, the Burgesses +assembled in the little statehouse in Jamestown, all but eight were of +"Bacon's faction." Bacon, himself was elected as one of the +representatives of Henrico County. Had he been permitted to take his +seat, with an overwhelming majority behind him, he undoubtedly would +have dominated the proceedings and pushed through the reforms he had +demanded. + +But he was not destined to take his seat. Instead of coming to Jamestown +on horse with a strong force, and posting the men in or near the town, +he set out in his sloop with only forty armed men. When they attempted +to land they were fired on. That night Bacon slipped into town and held +a long conference with Lawrence and Drummond.[37] We can only surmise +what passed between these two embittered men and the daring young +leader. But it is safe to say that they discussed, not only Berkeley's +"French despotism," but what reforms Bacon should propose in the +Assembly. It is probable that Lawrence and Drummond had already talked +with some of the pro-Bacon leaders, for the Governor warned the +Burgesses not to be misled by these "two rogues." + +As Bacon was returning to his sloop he was discovered and captured and +brought before the Governor. + +"Now I behold the greatest rebel that ever was in Virginia," Sir William +said. + +Then, after a pause, he asked: "Mr. Bacon, have you forgot to be a +gentleman?" + +"No, may it please your honor." + +"Then, I'll take your parole." + +A few days later, when the Council and Burgesses were assembled in the +Statehouse, Berkeley rose and said: + +"If there be joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner that +repenteth, there is joy now, for we have a penitent sinner come before +us. Call Mr. Bacon." + +Bacon then stepped forward and handed in his written submission. The +Governor resumed: + +"God forgive you! I forgive you!" + +"And all that were with him?" asked one of the Councillors. + +"Yea, and all that were with him. Mr. Bacon, if you will live civilly +but till next quarter court I will promise to restore you again to your +place there," resumed the Governor, pointing to Bacon's vacant seat.[38] +In fact it was the very next day that he reappointed him to the Council. + +Philip Ludwell explained this great leniency by pointing out that there +were hundreds of armed men within a day's march of Jamestown ready to +revenge any harm done to their leader. But Berkeley had an additional +motive. Bacon in the Council was far less dangerous than Bacon in the +House of Burgesses. In the Council he would be under his watchful eye; +in the House he would put himself at the head of the majority in pushing +through reform measures. + +So Bacon had to sit as a helpless and dissatisfied spectator, as +Berkeley once more dominated the Assembly. Thomas Mathew, who was +present, tells us that "some gentlemen took this opportunity to endeavor +the redressing several grievances the country then labored under," when +they were interrupted by pressing messages from the Governor to meddle +with nothing until the Indian business was dispatched. + +With the matter of reform sidetracked, there followed a debate as to +whether two Councillors should be asked to sit on the committee on +Indian affairs. "The great sway that those of the Council bear over the +rest of the Assembly in matters of laws and also in orders upon appeals, +being commonly appointed chairman in all committees,"[39] had been a +long-standing grievance. So now one member rose and pointed out that if +they had bad customs they had come together to correct them. In the end +the matter "was huddled off without coming to a vote, and so the +committee must submit to be overawed, and have every carped at +expression carried straight to the Governor."[40] + +Bacon grew more and more restive as he saw the way things were going. +The Assembly did not prove "answerable to our expectation," for which +they should be censured, he said later. When a motion was presented to +request Berkeley not to resign, he must have looked on with disgust as +enough pro-Bacon men assented for it to pass. + +So under the pretext that his wife was ill, he got permission to leave +town. Then, instead of visiting Curles Neck, he headed for Henrico. Here +his veterans gathered around him. When they heard that he had suffered +humiliation, that he had been denied a commission, and that their +grievances had not been redressed, they "set their throats in one common +key of oaths and curses." We will have a commission or "pull down the +town," they said. "Thus the raging torrent came down to town."[41] + +Berkeley made hasty preparations to resist them. But it was too late. In +Jamestown all was confusion. The cry was: "To arms! To arms! Bacon is +within two miles of the town." When the Governor realized that +resistance would be useless, he ordered the guns to be dismantled, and +returned to the statehouse. So the motley army streamed into the +village--weatherbeaten frontiersmen, demanding to be led out against the +Indians; poor planters, seeking relief from heavy taxes; freedmen made +desperate by hunger and nakedness. The common cry was, "No levies! No +levies!"[42] + +The Burgesses, hearing the hubbub, rushed to the windows of their hall +on the second story of the statehouse to witness the exciting scenes +below. Bacon had asked them to grant him his commission, and now he +called up to them, "You Burgesses, I expect your speedy result." +Whereupon his men cocked their fusils and aimed them at the windows. +"For God's sake hold your hands, forbear a little and you shall have +what you please," cried the Burgesses.[43] + +And have it they did. It was now Berkeley's turn to be humiliated. He +was forced to make Bacon General of all the forces in Virginia. When +this was followed with a demand that he write the King a letter +testifying to Bacon's loyalty and the legality of all he had done, he +could no longer contain himself. Rushing out he threw back his coat and +cried out; "Here, shoot me, fore God fair mark." Bacon replied that he +would not hurt a hair of his head. And in the end he got the letter he +wanted.[44] + +He also got "the redress of the people's grievances," he told Berkeley +he had come for. He mounted the stairs to the long room where the +Burgesses sat and "pressed hard, nigh an hour's harangue," not only on +preserving the colony from the Indians, but on "inspecting the revenues, +the exorbitant taxes, and redressing the grievances of that deplorable +country." Then, to his surprise, he learned that a series of reform laws +had already been put through. + +Bacon's escape from Jamestown had confronted the Assembly with a +completely changed situation. No longer was he a virtual prisoner under +the Governor's eye and his veterans without a leader. Now he was at +their head once more to march on the town and revenge their wrongs with +arms in their hands. "We have all the reason in the world to suspect +that their designs are ruinous," said Philip Ludwell. So the pro-Bacon +majority in the Assembly took advantage of the general alarm to rush +through a remarkable series of reform laws that struck at the very basis +of Berkeley's power. Sir William certainly would not have affixed his +signature had he not considered his situation desperate. Some months +later, after the rebellion had been suppressed, all the laws of this +session were repealed on the ground that they had been secured by +violence. + +These bills may have been outlined by Bacon, Lawrence, and Drummond +during their famous midnight conference and introduced by some friend in +the House. They may have been drawn up by the committee on grievances. +Thomas Blayton was later accused of being "Bacon's great engine" in the +Assembly, and James Minge, the clerk, of being "another Bacon's great +friends in forming the laws." Virginia historians have long called them +Bacon's Laws and rightly, since they struck at the abuses he had +denounced, were passed in an Assembly dominated by his friends, and +under the pressure of his armed forces. + +The very enactment of Bacon's Laws throws a flood of light on the abuses +they were intended to rectify. They broadened the franchise by giving +all freemen the right to vote; they restored a degree of democracy in +local government by giving the people a voice in assessing county taxes +and in naming vestrymen and by barring Councillors from sitting on the +county courts; they fixed fees for sheriffs and other officials; they +struck at the Governor's appointive power by making it illegal for +sheriffs to serve more than one year at a time, or for anyone to hold +more than one of the offices of sheriff, clerk of the court, surveyor, +or escheator at the same time.[45] Far-reaching though they were, +Bacon's Laws did not include an act to prohibit officeholders from +sitting in the Assembly. Such a law, if permitted to stand, would have +put an end forever to the Berkeley system of rule by placemen. + +After Bacon left Jamestown to battle with the Indians the colony might +have enjoyed internal peace had Berkeley remained quiet, contenting +himself with placing the whole matter before the King. But he tried to +raise forces to take the rebels in the rear, and civil war resulted. + +In this war Bacon at first seemed to sweep all before him. As he led his +men back from the frontier he was everywhere hailed as the people's +friend and savior. On the other hand, none but a handful remained loyal +to the Governor, so that he was forced to take refuge across the +Chesapeake Bay on the Eastern Shore. + +When Bacon found himself master of all Virginia except Northampton and +Accomac Counties, he set up his headquarters at Middle Plantation, the +site of Williamsburg. Here he was joined by Lawrence and Drummond, who +seem to have helped him in drawing up a manifesto against Berkeley, and +in holding a conference with a number of leading planters and binding +them by oath to be faithful to him.[46] + +Soon after this Bacon held a conversation with a certain John Goode +which shows that he had thoughts of extending his rebellion to +neighboring colonies and setting up an independent state. + +"There is a report that Sir William Berkeley hath sent to the King for +2,000 redcoats, and I do believe it may be true," said Bacon. "Tell me +your opinion, may not 500 Virginians beat them, we having the same +advantages against them the Indians have against us?" + +"I rather conceive 500 redcoats may either subject or ruin Virginia," +Goode replied. + +"You talk strangely. Are we not acquainted with the country, can lay +ambushes, and take to trees and put them by the use of their discipline, +and are doubtless as good or better shots than they?" + +"But they can accomplish what I have said without hazard ... by ... +landing where there shall be no opposition, firing our houses and +fences, ... preventing all trade." + +Bacon replied that he knew how to prevent this. + +Goode then pointed out that all the principal men in the country would +join the redcoats. + +"Sir," he added, "you speak as though you designed a total defection +from his Majesty and our country." + +"Why, have not many princes lost their dominions so?" asked Bacon. + +Goode replied that his followers did not think themselves engaged +against the King's authority, but against the Indians. + +"But I think otherwise, and I am confident of it that it is the mind of +this country, and of Maryland and Carolina also to cast off their +Governors, ... and if we cannot prevail by arms to make our conditions +for peace, or obtain the privilege to elect our own Governor, we may +retire to Roanoke."[47] + +Whether Bacon could have enlisted the peoples of Carolina and Maryland +in his cause, secured naval and military aid from the Dutch, and +anticipated the American Revolution by a century, must remain in the +realm of speculation. But before he could proceed far with his plans he +suffered an irreparable disaster--he lost command of the water. + +In Bacon's Rebellion, as in the Revolution and the War between the +States, the great Virginia rivers made it possible for the side which +had superior naval forces to penetrate into the heart of the country, +while they proved a barrier to the movement of troops by land. So when +several merchant vessels, which Bacon had seized and armed, fell into +Berkeley's hands, leaving him the undisputed master in Virginia waters, +the rebel cause became almost hopeless.[48] + +Yet it is remarkable that when the Governor had assembled a formidable +force, brought them up the James, and occupied Jamestown, Bacon +succeeded in driving him out. The place seemed impregnable, since the +only approach was over a narrow isthmus, protected by barricades and +guarded by the cannon of the ships in the river. Berkeley himself +supplies the explanation when he reported that his men refused to fight, +but in spite of his urgent pleas, hurried him on shipboard and away.[49] + +So Bacon's men entered the little capital unopposed. But they realized +that they could not hold it, for Berkeley's fleet was still nearby, +while other loyalist forces were threatening from the north. After a +consultation, the leaders decided to burn the town. Lawrence applied the +torch to his own house. Drummond to his, Bacon to the little church, +others to Berkeley's five houses, and the statehouse.[50] As Berkeley +saw the flames rising above the rooftops and reflected on the waters of +the James he cursed the cowardice of the men who had forced him to +desert the place. + +But now the end was at hand for Bacon. While at the house of Major +Thomas Pate, in Gloucester County, he became ill of dysentery. As he lay +on his deathbed, he kept inquiring whether the redcoats had arrived, and +whether there was a strong guard around the house. We do not know +whether his wife was there to comfort him in his last hours, but it is +probable that she was far away at Curles Neck. He died October 26, 1676. +Knowing that Berkeley would want to expose the body on a gibbet, +Lawrence is said to have disposed of it in secret, probably with a night +service somewhere in the Virginia woods, and then to have had a public +funeral with a casket weighted with stones.[51] + +Bacon was mourned in many a humble cottage throughout the colony. Who +now would lead the people in their struggle to gain their rights? One of +his followers wrote in touching verse that death had ended "our hopes of +safety, liberty, our all."[52] There was no one else who had won the +confidence and affection of the people to take his place. + +The struggle continued for three more months, the rebels won more +victories, but something like anarchy ensued. There was no central +government, some of the county courts were closed, crops were rotting in +the fields, servants and slaves left their masters to join the rebel +forces, there was indiscriminate plundering, the masters of the +incoming merchant vessels refused to sell their goods to the rebels or +buy what tobacco they had on hand. + +As soon as Berkeley got his hands on some of Bacon's followers, he began +a series of executions unparalleled in American history. Thomas Hansford +pleaded that he might be shot like a soldier, but Sir William told him +he was condemned, not as a soldier, but as a rebel. As he stood on the +scaffold he addressed the assembled crowd, declaring that he died a +loyal subject and lover of his country.[53] When Major Cheeseman was +brought before the Governor, his wife rushed in to plead that she be +hanged and her husband spared. Berkeley spurned her with a vile insult. +Cheeseman cheated the hangman by dying in prison.[54] But Captain +Wilford, George Farloe, Thomas Young, and others soon followed Hansford +to the gallows. + +The end came before the arrival of the English troops. Group after group +surrendered, and their leaders took the oath of loyalty, kissed the +Governor's hand, and were pardoned. But there was no pardon for Bacon's +two chief advisers. "I so much hate Drummond and Lawrence that though +they could put the country in peace into my hands, I would not accept it +from such villains," Berkeley declared.[55] + +Lawrence escaped. He was last seen with four others on the extreme +frontier, riding through the snow and disappearing into the forest. +Their fate is unknown. Drummond was found hiding in Chickahominy Swamp +and brought before the Governor. He was greeted with a mocking bow. "Mr. +Drummond, you are very welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man +in Virginia. Mr. Drummond, you shall be hanged in half an hour." He was +treated with savage brutality, and then, after the pretence of a trial, +hurried off to the scaffold.[56] + +Bacon and Drummond did not die in vain. Though they and thousands of +others were stigmatized as rebels and traitors, though the cause they +contended for ended in disastrous failure, Bacon's Rebellion had a +lasting influence on American history. It served as a warning that +Americans would not submit to misgovernment and despotism under whatever +form. Had not the British Government under George III forgotten that +warning there might have been no American Revolution. + +To contend, as some have done, that Bacon's Rebellion was no more than a +quarrel between a rash young man and an old fool, is to make the most +shallow interpretation. Men do not rush to arms, and risk their lives +and property in a wild uprising because of a dispute between +individuals. As Professor Charles M. Andrews has pointed out, +revolutions "are the detonations of explosive materials, long +accumulating and often dormant. They are the resultant of a vast complex +of economic, political, social, and legal forces, which taken +collectively are the masters, not the servants, of statesmen and +political agitators. They are never sudden in their origin, but look +back to influences long in the making." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] William Edmundson, _Journal_, 71, 72. + +[2] _Virginia Magazine_ 3: 134. + +[3] _Ibid._, 135. + +[4] _Virginia Magazine_ 3: 141, 142. + +[5] CO5-1371, p. 241. + +[6] _Bath papers_, "Virginia's Deplored Condition." + +[7] _Ibid._ 1: 173. + +[8] _Bath papers_, "Bacon's Manifesto." + +[9] _Ibid._, Berkeley to Right Honorable, Feb. 9, 1677. + +[10] CO1-21, Norwood to Williamson, 17, 1667. + +[11] G. L. Beer, _The old colonial system_. + +[12] CO1-21. + +[13] CO1-16. + +[14] CO1-26, p. 77. + +[15] COl-21, pp. 61, 62. + +[16] CO1-30, pp. 51, 53. + +[17] CO1-21. + +[18] CO1-30, pp. 17, 51. + +[19] _Bath papers_, "The Assembly to the King." Sept., 1674. + +[20] _Ibid._, July 1, 1776. + +[21] CO1-30, p. 51. + +[22] CO1-30, p. 78. + +[23] CO1-36, p. 37. + +[24] CO1-36, p. 55. + +[25] _Bath papers_, Berkeley to Bacon, Sept. 21, 1675. + +[26] _Ibid._, July 18, 1675. + +[27] _Ibid._ + +[28] Thomas Mathew, _Bacon's rebellion_. + +[29] T. J. Wertenbaker, _Virginia under the Stuarts_, 146, 147. + +[30] CO1-36, p. 78. 605-1381, p. 367. + +[31] _Bath papers._ May 23, 1676. + +[32] CO5-1371, pp. 373, 411. + +[33] CO5-1371, pp. 373, 411. + +[34] CO1-40, p. 106. + +[35] _Ibid._ p. 377. + +[36] _Bath papers_, "The Council to Most Honorable." + +[37] CO5-1371, p. 380. + +[38] Thomas Mathew, _Bacon's rebellion_, 12, 13. + +[39] CO1-21. Henry Norwood to Sec. Williamson, July 17, 1667. + +[40] Thomas Mathew, _Bacon's rebellion_. + +[41] CO5-1371, pp. 381, 382. + +[42] CO1-37, p. 17. + +[43] CO5-1371, p. 382. + +[44] It is in the British Public Record Office. + +[45] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 353, 357, 359. + +[46] CO1-37, p. 42. + +[47] CO5-1371, pp. 232-240. + +[48] _Ibid._, p. 394. + +[49] _Bath papers_ 1: 350-355. + +[50] _Ibid._, 355; CO5-1371, p. 405. + +[51] _Virginia Historical Register_ 3: 133, 134. + +[52] T. J. Wertenbaker, _Torchbearer of the revolution_, 179, 180. + +[53] _Ingram's proceedings_, 33. + +[54] _Ibid._, 35. + +[55] _Bath papers_ 3: 170. + +[56] _Virginia Historical Register_ 3: 135; _Ingram's proceedings_, 49. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +RECONSTRUCTION AND DESPOTISM + + +When the news of Bacon's Rebellion reached Charles II he thought it past +belief that "so considerable a body of men, without the least grievance +or oppression, should rise up in arms and overturn the government." He +did not stop to consider that he himself, by giving away huge areas in +the colony to favorites, was in part responsible, or that the passage of +the Navigation Acts and the consequent precipitous break in the price of +tobacco could be called a grievance. As for Berkeley's policy of rule by +placemen, if he knew anything about it, he could but reflect that he +himself had set the example. + +But he realized that something had to be done, not only to restore +order, but to remove at least some of the causes of discontent. So he +appointed Colonel Herbert Jeffreys, Sir John Berry, and Colonel Francis +Moryson a committee to go to Virginia to enquire into all grievances and +report back to him. As for Berkeley, though he was to retain the title +of Governor, he was ordered to return to England "with all possible +speed." During his absence Jeffreys was to be Lieutenant Governor, with +all the powers of Governor.[1] + +The King then drew up a proclamation, which he directed Jeffreys to +publish in the colony, stating that he was willing to extend his royal +compassion to all except Bacon who would return to their duty and +obedience, and authorizing the Governor in his name to pardon all he +thought "fit and convenient for our service."[2] But he mingled force +with leniency by placing a thousand well-equipped men under Jeffrey's +command. For the second time within twenty-five years an English +expedition set sail to bring the Virginians to "obedience." Berry and +Moryson, with part of the army, arrived in the James River in January, +1677, and Jeffreys soon followed with the rest.[3] + +They found the colony in a deplorable condition. With the people bitter +and sullen, with neighbor arrayed against neighbor, with hundreds of +houses and barns in ashes, with trade disrupted, there was need for +unselfish and statesmanlike guidance. There should have been an +immediate restoration of the rule of law, so that no man could be made +to suffer without a trial before his peers. There should have been an +election of Burgesses, in which the people could make their choices +without pressure from the Governor and the Council. There should have +been an honest effort to assuage flaming resentments, to give heed to +the people's grievances, to unite all classes in binding up the wounds +of war and bringing peace and some measure of prosperity to the +distracted colony. + +The situation was not unlike that in the South at the close of the War +between the States. And as the South, after the assassination of +President Lincoln, was left a prey to vultures--the so-called +Carpetbaggers and Scaliwags--Virginia after the collapse of Bacon's +Rebellion, was sacrificed to the vindictiveness and greed of Berkeley +and his supporters. + +"Two wrongs do not make a right." Though a loyalist may have suffered +severely by the plundering of rebel bands, he was not justified in +trying to make good his losses by robbing a neighbor, even though that +neighbor had sided with Bacon. But the Governor, instead of insisting +that his friends seek restitution only through the courts, himself was +foremost in making illegal seizures. When he returned to Green Spring, +the sight of his plundered house and barns, and the empty meadows where +once hundreds of cattle and sheep had grazed drove him to fury. He +showed "a greedy determination thoroughly to heal himself before he +cared to staunch the bleeding gashes of the woefully lacerated country," +by seizing men's "estates, cattle, servants, and carrying off their +tobacco."[4] Some of the wretched men who were dragged before him he +threatened with hanging unless they gave him most or all that they +owned. A certain James Barrow was imprisoned at Green Spring, where "by +reason of the extremity of cold, hunger, loathsomeness of vermin," he +was forced to agree to the payment of a ruinous composition.[5] + +The King's commissioners received a cool reception from Berkeley. He +wanted no investigation of the causes of the rebellion, he wanted no +interference with his hangings and seizures. He pointed out that he had +suppressed the rebellion before the arrival of the troops, and pretended +to be surprised that the King had thought it necessary to send them.[6] +When the commissioners told him that illegal seizures must stop, he flew +into such a rage that they decided that future communication with him +should be by writing. This would avoid the "loud and fierce speaking" +necessitated by his deafness.[7] + +But there must have been "loud and fierce speaking" indeed when the +commissioners went to Green Spring and showed Berkeley the King's +proclamation of pardon, and the order that he return immediately to +England. All his life Berkeley had regarded the King's command as +sacred. To resist his will was as wicked as it was illegal. But now, on +flimsy pretexts, he deliberately disobeyed him. He postponed his +departure for three months, declaring that the word "conveniency" gave +him the right to remain as long as he wished. He did publish the +proclamation, but here again he found an excuse to balk the King's +obvious intent to pardon all save Bacon. Issuing a proclamation of his +own he "saw fit" to exempt from pardon not only a long list by name, but +all persons then in prison charged with rebellion. Since the jails were +overflowing, this left scores of miserable men trembling for their +lives. + +So the trials and executions continued. Gyles Bland, despite the +pleading of influential friends in England, was hastened off to the +gallows. When Robert Jones showed the wounds he had received fighting +for the King in the Civil War, Moryson pleaded with Lady Berkeley to +intercede for him. "I would with more easiness of mind have worn the +canvas linen the rebels said they would make me glad of," replied this +proud lady.[8] Yet she weakened, and the Governor did pardon him. Others +were not so fortunate. Not until the Assembly requested him "to hold his +hand from all other sanguinary punishment," after a score or more had +paid the extreme penalty, did he put an end to the executions.[9] + +Yet the Assembly was overwhelmingly loyalist. If we may believe William +Sherwood most of the Burgesses were Berkeley's "own creatures and chose +by his appointments before the arrival of the commissioners."[10] In the +elections intimidation and even fraud were used freely. Jeffreys wrote +that the Assembly "by reason of the unsettled condition of the country +was not so legally nor freely elected."[11] In Charles City County a +petition was posted on the courthouse door demanding a new election on +the grounds that there had been illegal voting.[12] + +As was to be expected, this Assembly backed Berkeley in all he had done +and was doing. They praised his wisdom, bravery, justice, and integrity. +They did their best to block the commissioners in their inquiry into the +causes of the rebellion. When the people presented their grievances they +were denounced as "libellous, scandalous, and rebellious."[13] Many +former rebels were forced to make humble submission on their knees +before the Governor and Council, with ropes around their necks.[14] Some +were attainted, some were banished. To speak ill of the Governor and +Council was made a high crime punishable by whipping. + +The people were deeply angered by the brutality of the Governor and his +puppet Assembly. Governor Notley, of Maryland, thought that, should a +leader appear who was bold enough to risk his neck, "the commons of +Virginia would enmire themselves as deep in rebellion as ever they did +in Bacon's time."[15] Many a sullen planter eyed his fusil longingly, in +the hope that Lawrence might emerge from the forests to head a new +mutiny.[16] "The putrid humor of our unruly inhabitants are not so +allayed, but that they do frequently vent themselves ... and were they +not awed by the overruling hand of his Majesty would soon express +themselves by violent acts," wrote Secretary Nicholas Spencer.[17] That +the Assembly was not unconcerned at the danger is shown by their +re-enacting in much the original form of several of Bacon's reform laws. + +Berkeley and his friends treated Jeffreys with contempt. "A pitiful +little fellow with a periwig," Philip Ludwell called him.[18] But it +took a woman's spite to give him the greatest insult. When the +commissioners heard that at last Berkeley was about to leave for +England, they called on him at Green Spring. On leaving they found the +Governor's coach waiting for them at the door. They did not realize that +Lady Berkeley was peeping through "a broken quarrel of glass to observe +how the show looked." But they were horrified to learn on reaching their +destination that the coachman was the "common hangman." "The whole +country rings of ... the public odium and disgrace cast on us, as the +Exchange itself shortly may," they wrote.[19] + +It was on May 5, 1677, that Berkeley sailed for England on the +_Rebecca_. The passage, though quick, was a terrible one for him. As he +paced the deck, he could but reflect that the time was at hand when he +must account to his royal master, not only for the failure of his +administration, but for his flagrant disobedience. By the time he +reached England the "tedious passage and grief of mind" had reduced him +to great weakness. But he pleaded for an opportunity to "clear his +innocency." If it is true, as was whispered about, that word reached his +ears that the King had said that that old fool had hanged more men in +that naked country than he for the murder of his father, it must have +broken his heart. He died on July 13, 1677, and was interred at +Twickenham. + +Berkeley's departure did not bring peace to the distracted colony. The +loyalist faction had spread the report that Jeffreys was merely Sir +William's deputy, that he could not exercise the full powers of +Governor, and would retire upon his return. To refute these rumors +Jeffreys issued a proclamation a few days before Berkeley left, formally +taking over the government. In it he declared that he had as much power +as any other Governor, and warned all men against belittling his office. +And he put his finger on the very foundation of the Berkelean system +when he declared that he would strive to reform, regulate, and redress +"all apparent abuses, oppressions, excesses, and defects in the power, +practice, and proceedings of all county courts."[20] + +But reform was just what the loyalists did not want. They wanted the +grievances of the people suppressed, the county courts to be packed with +their friends; they wished to continue their illegal seizures. The +leader of this group was the colorful and vigorous Lady Berkeley. She +held such frequent meetings at her home that the loyalists became known +as the Green Spring Faction. Here came Colonel Edward Hill, "a great +oppressor, of unparalleled impudence"; Philip Ludwell, Lady Berkeley's +future husband; Robert Beverley, who Jeffreys declared had risen from a +"mean condition" by toadying to Berkeley; and others.[21] + +As they sat in the spacious hall where the Assembly had met after the +burning of the statehouse in Jamestown, they denounced Jeffreys as a +nincompoop, who was not worth a groat in England, as a liar, as a "worse +rebel than Bacon." They would secure compensation for their losses +despite all he could do. So they planned their strategy. Lady Berkeley +was to strike terror into the people by threatening dire things when Sir +William returned. Nor did they relax their efforts when word of +Berkeley's death reached the colony. It was known that Lord Culpeper was +his successor, so Lady Berkeley gave it out that he was her close +friend, and promised great favors upon his arrival. To plead their cause +in England they engaged Captain Alexander Culpeper, Lady Berkeley's +brother.[22] + +After Berkeley's departure Jeffreys had called for the election of a new +Assembly to meet October 10, 1677. Unfortunately, at this moment, when +he was most needed, he became ill. Early in September a letter from the +Privy Council to the Governor and Council had been received, making void +Berkeley's proclamation of February 10, which had excepted so many +persons from the royal pardon. Had Jeffreys been a well man he would +certainly have published this letter immediately and relieved the people +from their fear. But the Council urged him to conceal it for the +present, and being weak and in bed, he yielded. This daring defiance of +the King's orders had an important effect on the election, for the +people were still trembling for their lives and property, and so were +bullied by the sheriffs into returning loyalist Burgesses. Daniel Parke +reported that there had been illegal elections in James City County, +Kent, and elsewhere.[23] + +It was in October that Parke arrived from England and delivered to +Jeffreys a letter from Secretary Coventry, telling him that Berkeley had +died and that Culpeper had kissed the King's hand as Governor. Even then +the Council was opposed to the publication of the King's order to void +Berkeley's proclamation, protesting that it had been procured by +misinformation. But the contents leaked out, and there was bitter +resentment at the delay. Most of the Assembly demanded its publication. +At last, when Jeffreys and Parke had won over a majority of the Council +to the view that it would be unwise to trifle further with the royal +command, the two Ludwells flung themselves away in "a seeming passion." +But there was great relief and widespread rejoicing among the +people.[24] + +The Assembly met at Middle Plantation, the site of Williamsburg, in the +house of Captain Otho Thorp. Despite the irregularity of the elections +it showed a far greater spirit of independence than its predecessor. It +passed a law against making unreasonable compositions for injuries done +during the rebellion; it imposed a penalty for the use of such terms as +traitor, rebel, or rogue; it forbade the impressing of cattle, boats, or +provisions without compensation; it regulated fees.[25] But it placed a +crushing burden on the prostrate colony by levying a tax of 100 pounds +of tobacco per tithable. "This, with the county and parish tax is in +some counties 250 pounds, in some 300, and in some 400, which falls very +heavily on the poorer people," Parke reported.[26] + +The Thorp house rang with protests when Robert Beverley, who was clerk +of the Assembly, reported that the King's commissioners had taken their +journals, orders, and acts from him by force. In a vigorous protest to +Jeffreys, they declared this a great violation of their privileges. This +seizure we "humbly suppose his Majesty would not ... command, for that +they find not the same to have been practiced by any of the Kings of +England." So they asked Jeffreys to give assurance that such a thing +would not happen again.[27] + +When this was reported to Charles II he was surprised at the presumption +of the Assembly in calling in question his authority. Referring the +matter to the Lords of Trade, he asked them what he should do to bring +the Assembly to a sense "of their duty and submission." The Lords +thought that the protest tended to rebellion, and that the Governor +should rebuke the Assembly and punish the "authors and abettors."[28] +Charles issued the order, but later, on the earnest plea of the Virginia +Council, rescinded it. But he insisted that the protest be "razed out of +the books of Virginia."[29] It was a strange twist of fate which caused +an attempt by the King to investigate the grievances of the people to +result in what may be considered the opening act of the Second Stuart +Despotism in Virginia. + +In the meanwhile, during Jeffreys' illness, Thomas Ludwell presided over +the meetings of the Council. So the King's commands were ignored, and +the plundering, confiscations, and banishing continued. "Great numbers +of poor men, having wives and children to maintain," faced utter +ruin.[30] The lengths to which the Green Spring Faction was prepared to +go is illustrated by a statement of Colonel Edward Hill at one of their +gatherings. One of those present remarked that William Byrd would +certainly win a case pending in which he was involved because he was in +England and could secure the King's backing. "That will not do," said +Hill, "for if the King should send in his letter, in that case we are +not to take notice of it."[31] + +This is just what they did when Charles wrote in behalf of Sarah +Drummond, widow of William Drummond. This poor woman made the long +voyage across the ocean to lay her case before the King. So great was +Governor Berkeley's hatred of her husband, she said, that he had not +only taken his life, but had seized his small plantation for his own use +and forced her to flee with her five small children into the woods, +where they might have starved had not the commissioners befriended +them.[32] Moved by her misfortunes, the King sent an especial command +that her property be returned. But when she brought an action in the +General Court against Lady Berkeley, and the King's letter was read, one +of the Councillors, turning to the crowd in the courtroom, declared in a +loud voice that it was based on nothing but lies. "So they dismissed the +case."[33] + +In the meanwhile, Jeffreys had sufficiently recovered his health to +strike back at his enemies. He had tried to win them over by appointing +them to collectors' places and doing them other favors, but without +success. So at last he retaliated upon Beverley by ousting him from his +civil and military offices and "silenced him from pleading in the +courts."[34] When Philip Ludwell's many insults were reported to +Jeffreys he had him arrested and charged him with "scandalizing the +Governor and abusing the authority of his Majesty." This was a serious +matter indeed, for the penalty was whipping or the payment of a fine of +500 pounds of tobacco. The jury pronounced Ludwell guilty, and asked the +Council to fix the punishment. Since most of the Council were Ludwell's +warm friends, Jeffreys appealed the case to the King. Ludwell countered +by appealing to the Assembly. In the end it was decided that the whole +case, including the matter of appeal, should be left to his Majesty.[35] + +But in the summer of 1678 Jeffreys again became ill, and the Green +Spring Faction renewed the "old exactions and abuses." William Sherwood +reported: "The colony would be as peaceful as could be wished except for +the malice of some discontented persons of the late Governor's party, +who endeavor by all the cunning contrivances that by their artifice can +be brought about, to bring a contempt of Colonel Jeffreys, our present +good Governor.... It is to be feared unless these fiery spirits are +allayed or removed home, there will not be that settled, happy peace and +unity which otherwise might be, for they are entered into a faction +which is upheld by the expectation of my Lord Culpeper's doing mighty +things for them."[36] + +Jeffreys died on December 17, 1678. A well-meaning man, who tried to +rule justly, he lacked the strength of character needed to bring peace +to the colony. With an army at his command, he should have put Governor +Berkeley on board ship and sent him to England when he refused to obey +the King's commands. This would have prevented many hangings, relieved +the fears of the people, and given pause to the Green Spring Faction. +But Jeffreys knew that Berkeley's brother, Lord John Berkeley, was in +high favor with the King, and he dared not offend him. + +Jeffreys' wife came from England to join him, but she was just in time +to say a farewell, for he was seized with a violent sickness four hours +after her arrival and died soon after.[37] So bitter were the Green +Spring Faction against him that they tried to prevent the payment to his +widow of £1,200 due him for nine months' salary, and to charge her with +all the perquisites he had received. When, as a consequence, she could +not meet all his obligations, they imprisoned her for debt. It was only +by appealing to Secretary Coventry that she received the arrears due her +and was able to free herself from the power of her enemies.[38] + +Upon the death of Jeffreys, Sir Henry Chicheley produced a commission as +Deputy Governor given him in 1674. Chicheley was a "most loyal, worthy +person, and deservedly beloved by the whole country."[39] He had been a +Burgess, a member of the Council, had commanded the Virginia forces in +the Indian war, had remained loyal to Berkeley during the rebellion, and +had been imprisoned by Bacon. But he was now "old, sickly, and crazy," +and lacked the vigor to force obedience and restore order. During the +eighteen months of his administration the old factions were not +reconciled to one another.[40] + +Yet Chicheley, to the extent of his ability, ruled impartially and well. +At the election of 1679 he insisted that the people be protected from +intimidation at the polls. As a result the Assembly showed a spirit of +independence and a desire to rectify the people's grievances. A degree +of democracy was introduced into local government by an act empowering +the voters of each parish to elect two men to sit in the county courts +in the making of by-laws. A limit was put to fees demanded by the +collectors of customs and the clerks of the courts. The claim of the +Green Spring Faction for compensation for their losses was referred to +the next session.[41] + +In May, 1680, Lord Culpeper arrived in Virginia after a tedious passage +of two and a half months, in which scurvy and other diseases took a +heavy toll. Chicheley handed over the government to him and the +reconstruction period came to an end. + +The patriotic Virginian, as he looked back over the years from the +collapse of Bacon's Rebellion to the arrival of Culpeper must have seen +in them nothing but confusion and disaster. The colony was divided +against itself, the most pressing of the people's grievances had not +been redressed, many families had been reduced to poverty, the right to +vote was denied to hundreds, taxes were higher than ever, and tobacco +was still a drug on the market. + +Yet important changes were taking place which gave reason for hope. +During Berkeley's administration the newly created aristocracy, the men +of wealth, the leaders in their own counties--the Ludwells, the Parkes, +the Custises, the Coles--had worked in close alliance with the Governor. +The common people, on the other hand, lacked leaders to guide them in +their struggle for their rights. But with Berkeley's departure the +aristocrats, so far from allying themselves with his successor, came +into violent conflict with him. And the Governor now assumed the role of +the people's friend and protector. + +So engrossed were the Virginians in their own disputes that their +attention was diverted from events in England, events that were to +affect them profoundly. For many years Charles II had lived in +comparative peace with his Cavalier Parliament, maintaining his +mistresses in luxury despite the meagerness of his revenue. But the rise +of the Whig Party under the leadership of the able Earl of Shaftesbury +was now threatening to undermine his power. All London was in terror +when Titus Oates came forward with a wild story that the Catholics were +plotting to bring in Irish and French troops, massacre the Protestants, +and murder the King. The Whigs were demanding the exclusion from the +succession of Charles' Roman Catholic brother James, and some actually +proposed that the King divorce his Catholic wife and marry a Protestant. + +Faced with the loss of his prerogatives, the indolent King struck back. +His father had tried to free himself from dependence on Parliament by +illegal taxation; he by sacrificing England's foreign interests for +French gold. In March, 1678, Charles negotiated a secret treaty with +Louis XIV in return for £300,000. Now he was in a position to thumb his +nose at the Commons when they tried to control and thwart him. It was +the beginning of the Second Stuart Despotism.[42] + +The change was immediately reflected in colonial policies. The old +Council of Plantations, and its successor the Council of Trade and +Plantations had done little to supervise and control the conduct of +affairs in America. But in December, 1674, after the fall of the Cabal +Ministry, the direction of colonial matters was turned over to a +committee of the Privy Council, presided over by the Secretary of State. +In this way the King's most trusted ministers were brought into close +touch with the colonies. Sir Joseph Williamson, Secretary from 1674 to +1678, was a most obedient servant of the King; his fellow Secretary, Sir +Henry Coventry, had defended Charles I on the field of battle, and now +defended his son before the public; Sir Leoline Jenkins was called "the +most faithful drudge of a Secretary that ever the Court had." + +We have no way of knowing whether these men, in their assault on liberty +in the colonies, were merely carrying out the commands of Charles II and +James II, or whether on their own initiative they shaped colonial policy +in accord with domestic policy. In either case it was the Second Stuart +Despotism in England which was responsible for the Andros despotism in +New England, and for the equally dangerous attack on liberty in +Virginia. + +It was prophetic of what was to come that Secretary Coventry, in +January, 1678, read to the Committee on Foreign Affairs a series of +proposals concerning Virginia. Three companies of soldiers were to be +left in the colony, a fort was to be erected "whereby the King may be +safe from rebellions," all laws were to be sent to England for revision. +The last proposal was an innovation of serious import.[43] The +Virginians had never questioned the right of the King to veto the acts +of Assembly, but never before had he demanded the right to revise laws +already on the statute books. + +Of even greater significance was the initiation of bills by the King. +Charles wrote Culpeper that whereas certain laws had been recommended to +him in Council of which he approved, "these bills we have caused to be +under the Great Seal of England, and our will is that the same bills ... +you shall cause to be considered ... in our Assembly of Virginia ... and +to these bills you do give and declare our royal assent." One was an act +of general pardon, one an act for naturalization, and the other an act +for raising a public revenue.[44] + +This was accompanied by an attempt to deprive the Assembly of the right +to initiate legislation. Culpeper was commanded to send to the King a +draft of such bills as he and the Council should think fit to be passed, +so that he could go over them and return them in the form he thought +they should be enacted in. "Upon receipt of our commands you shall +summon an Assembly and propose the said laws for their consent."[45] + +As though this were not enough, Charles demanded the sole power, +heretofore exercised by the Governor, of calling sessions of the +Assembly. "It is our will and pleasure that for the future no General +Assembly be called without our special directions, but that, upon +occasion, you do acquaint us by letter with the necessity of calling +such an Assembly, and pray our consent and directions for their +meeting."[46] + +The King struck a fatal blow at the control of justice in Virginia by +the people, by depriving the Assembly of its privilege of acting as the +supreme court of appeals. "Our pleasure also is that for the better and +more equitable administration of justice in our said colony, appeals be +allowed in cases of error from the courts ... to our Governor and our +Council there, and to no other court or jurisdiction whatsoever."[47] + +Although Thomas Culpeper had been too young to fight in the Civil War, +he donned a suit of armor with breastplate, shoulderpieces, and +brassarts, to have his portrait painted. But the face is not that of a +warrior. It is draped by the flowing hair of the Cavalier, has a +prominent nose and a weak mouth with the trace of a sneer. Culpeper had +followed Charles into exile, and with the Restoration had expected +compensation for his losses. But since there was not enough to go round +among all the hungry Cavaliers, the King repaid him at the expense of +his subjects in Virginia, first with the Arlington-Culpeper grant, and +then by making him Governor of Virginia. + +The outlook for the colony was gloomy. The King was determined to +override the people's rights and make himself absolute. Culpeper was +interested in filling his pockets. The Green Spring Faction were still +seeking to make good their losses at the expense of the rebels. The +common people were suffering from the high taxes and the low price of +tobacco. + +The King had as much trouble in getting Culpeper to sail for Virginia as +he had had in making Berkeley come back to England. My Lord had no +desire to exchange London for the forests of Virginia; he had little +interest in carrying out his instructions. All he wanted was his salary +and anything he could make out of the Northern Neck. At last, after two +years of dillydallying, the King told him that unless he sailed at once +he would remove him as Governor. So in February, 1680, he left the Downs +with the tobacco fleet.[48] + +On his arrival at Jamestown, the members of the Council and other +leading planters flocked around him, eager to give their version of the +troubles in the colony and to secure his support. When the Council met, +Culpeper was assured that the King had been misinformed on many points +by Moryson and Berry. Philip Ludwell was a loyal, honest servant of the +King, and should be restored to his place in the Council. Injustice had +been done to Colonel Hill, and they begged the new Governor to intercede +for him.[49] + +As for the King's rebuke to the Assembly for questioning his right to +seize their records, the Council advised Culpeper not to present it. To +do so would "unravel and disturb the good and cheerful settlement we are +now in by your Excellency's great prudence and conduct."[50] So they +induced him to suspend the rebuke until the King should order to the +contrary. + +Culpeper seems to have brought a degree of peace to the contending +factions. The act of pardon ended the plundering of the estates of the +former rebels, and the aggrieved loyalists were encouraged to seek +redress through the Assembly. Colonel Spencer wrote that the "late +different interests" had been "perfectly united to the general +satisfaction of all." + +United the people had to be to defend their liberties. When the wealthy +landholder and the humble owner of but fifty acres, the loyalist and the +former rebel alike realized that Charles was bent on reducing both +Council and Assembly to impotence, their domestic quarrels seemed +unimportant compared to the public danger. + +Since the statehouse at Jamestown was still in ashes, the Assembly of +June, 1680, crowded into the house of Mrs. Susanne Fisher. Some of the +Burgesses had come on horseback from their James City or Charles City +plantations, others by shallops from the Upper James, still others from +the far-off Eastern Shore. A sturdy, stubborn group they were, like +other Burgesses before and after them, determined to uphold the rights +of the people. + +They were dismayed, then, when Governor Culpeper placed before them the +three bills prepared and signed by the King. What right has he or the +Privy Council to introduce bills in this Assembly? they asked. And they +were especially concerned over the King's demand for a perpetual +revenue. + +There had existed since 1661 a law for laying a duty of two shillings +for every hogshead of tobacco exported from the colony. But the revenue +was to be disposed of by the Assembly. It was they who decided whether +it should be used to pay the Governor's salary, or to defend the colony +against the Indians, or for repairing the statehouse, or for paying the +salaries of the Burgesses. Now the Privy Council took it upon themselves +to draw up a similar act, but differing from the old one in one +all-important respect--it specified that the returns should go, not to +the Assembly, but "to the King's most excellent Majesty, his heirs and +successors forever." + +The debate which followed was long and bitter. Every man in the +Assembly, whether Burgess or Councillor, knew that the King was +demanding the surrender of their birthright.[51] So they replied to the +Governor: "The House do most humbly desire to be excused if they do not +give their approbation to his Majesty's bill."[52] And when the matter +was brought again before them by the Governor, they refused even to +resume the debate. + +But Culpeper knew that he would be severely blamed by Charles if he did +not succeed in forcing this bill through. Returning to the attack he +pointed out that the King claimed the right of disposing of all +revenues. Moreover, they were in no position to defy him, for he had it +in his power to ruin most of them by demanding all arrears of quit +rents. We do not know how many lucrative jobs Culpeper handed out to +bring the reluctant Burgesses around, but he himself tells us that he +won over one influential member by the promise of a seat in the +Council.[53] + +In the end the King had his way. The Burgesses made two minor +amendments, and then passed the bill. When it came before Charles again, +he vetoed one of these amendments, and allowed the other. A quarter of a +century later, when the Board of Trade asked Attorney General Simon +Harcourt and Solicitor General James Montague to pass on the validity of +the act, they reported that it had been put through irregularly. "It +would be wise," they said, "if any part of her Majesty's revenue depends +on this act, to have another in its place."[54] + +Yet the act was permitted to stand, and the cause of self-government in +colonial Virginia suffered its greatest reverse. No longer could the +Assembly force the Governor to sign this bill or that by refusing to +vote his salary. No longer did they hold a sword over the heads of the +Council. It is true that they still retained in part their grip upon +the purse, since the export duty together with the quit rents seldom met +even the ordinary needs of the government, and were entirely inadequate +in times of emergency. It is this which explains why such notable gains +for liberty were made during the colonial wars. Yet from this time until +the Declaration of Independence the Virginia Assembly had to fight the +royal prerogative with one hand tied behind its back.[55] + +Having secured the passage of the King's three laws, Culpeper rested on +his laurels. He seems to have yielded to the plea of the Council not to +deliver the King's rebuke to the Assembly. If he ever told the Council +of his instruction to initiate bills with their advice and secure the +King's approval before sending them to the House, they must have argued +that it was impractical. They had no desire to have representative +government in the colony made a mockery. Were the Burgesses to have the +right of amending bills? they must have asked. If so, would the amended +bills have to go back to England for the King's approval? Under such +conditions, it might take years to enact the simplest laws. So this +instruction was ignored. + +Equally impractical was it to secure the King's permission before +calling an Assembly. In case of a sudden emergency it might be fatal to +wait until the Governor had written to Secretary Coventry, until he had +taken the matter up with his Majesty, until some vessel sailed and had +made the tedious voyage to Virginia. If the need were the outbreak of +war with the Indians, half the colony might be scalped before the +Assembly could meet to raise men and money for arms and forts. So +Culpeper ignored this instruction also. + +As for the instruction to forbid appeals from the General Court to the +Assembly, the Governor kept it to himself. Three years later, at an +inquiry held on his neglect of his office, he explained: "Having some +thoughts of getting a revenue bill to pass, I was unwilling actually to +repeal the laws relating thereunto till the next session of Assembly +should be over, well knowing how infinitely it would trouble them."[56] + +As soon as the Assembly had been dismissed Culpeper made ready to return +to England, after having been in Virginia only a few weeks. Yet for his +supposed services he had been receiving £2,000 a year from the revenues +of the colony ever since the death of Berkeley.[57] Not content with +this, he contrived to rob the English soldiers who had remained in +Virginia after Bacon's Rebellion of more than £1,000. These men had +received no pay for many months, and were discontented and mutinous.[58] +So the Privy Council gave Culpeper money to satisfy them and the +families on whom they had been quartered. On his arrival he bought up +all the worn Spanish pieces of eight he could find, arbitrarily +proclaimed them legal tender at six shillings, which was a shilling more +than they were worth, and then paid the soldiers and landlords. But +before his salary became due, he restored the ratio to five to one.[59] + +In 1682 news reached England of a series of tobacco-cutting riots in +Virginia. The glut of tobacco in the English warehouses and its +consequent low price had convinced the people that a restriction on the +output was necessary. It was to be a kind of soil bank, though without +the subsidy. When this failed because Maryland refused to join in, angry +mobs went from plantation to plantation, cutting down the tender plants. +Fearing that this might be the beginning of a new rebellion, the Privy +Council ordered the reluctant Culpeper to go back at once to suppress +the riots and punish the ringleaders.[60] + +Culpeper arrived in December, 1682. Finding that the riots were over, he +contented himself with hanging two of the most notorious of the plant +cutters, and then hastened back to England. By this time Charles had +lost patience with him for his neglect of his government, the Attorney +General was ordered to take action against him, and his commission as +Governor of Virginia was declared void. In September, 1683, Lord Howard +of Effingham was made Governor in his place. + +Effingham was well fitted to carry out the King's attack on liberty in +Virginia. Deceitful, persistent, unscrupulous, he would have ridden +roughshod over the people's rights had he not encountered the determined +resistance of the House of Burgesses. No sooner had he arrived than the +struggle began. + +When the Assembly met in April, 1684, he put on his peer's coronet and +velvet and ermine robes, and told the Burgesses that he intended to +enforce the King's order to prohibit appeals to the Assembly. This was +received with dismay. They appealed to Effingham and the Council to join +them in an address to the King imploring him to restore a privilege +enjoyed from the earliest times. But in vain. "It is what I can in no +part admit of," was Effingham's curt reply. Since this made the General +Court the last court of appeals in Virginia, the structure of justice +became aristocratic rather than democratic. + +Future Governors had reason to regret this change, for it added greatly +to the influence of the Council, and the day was not distant when the +Council was to become so powerful as to threaten to make the Governor a +mere figurehead. It was the Council which was to be responsible for the +dismissal of Andros and Nicholson. Governor Spotswood, in his bitter +quarrels with the Councillors tried to undermine their power by striking +at their judicial privileges, but he failed, and he too was forced out +of office by their influence. + +Even more alarming to the people than the ending of appeals to the +Assembly was an order from the King that certain causes arising in the +courts be referred to England for decision. The Burgesses protested. +Such a thing would be "grievous and ruinous," they said, and would +involve delays and great expense. Moreover, they could not find that +appeals to England had been allowed "from the first settling of the +colony." When Effingham and the Council refused to join them, they sent +their petition to the King as the protest of the Lower House alone.[61] + +But James II, who had succeeded to the throne on the death of Charles in +February, received their appeal with contempt. In the new instructions +to Effingham drawn up in October, 1685, he wrote: "Whereas ... our +Committee of Trade and Plantations ... have received from some unknown +persons a paper entitled An Address and Supplication of the General +Assembly of Virginia to the late King ... which you have refused to +recommend as being unfit ... we cannot but approve of your +proceedings.... And we do further direct you to discountenance such +undue practices for the future, as also the contrivers and promoters +thereof."[62] + +At this dark hour, when American liberty hung in the balance, the +Burgesses were quick to repel any attempt to tax the people without +their consent. In May, 1688, they stated that they had received "many +grievous complaints" that unlawful fees had "under color of his +Majesty's royal authority" been unjustly imposed upon the people. They +protested especially against a fee of 200 pounds of tobacco for affixing +the great seal of the colony, a fee of 30 pounds of tobacco for +recording surveys of land, and a fee of £5 for escheats.[63] + +And they were adamant in refusing repeated demands for permission for +the Governor and Council by themselves to levy a tax even though a very +small one. "Your Lordships will ... find their total denial that the +Governor and Council should have any power to lay the least levy to ease +the necessity for so frequent Assemblys," Effingham wrote the Committee +of Trade and Plantations in February, 1686. "This was propounded by me +to them before his Majesty's instructions came to hand ... but nothing +would prevail, nor I believe will, unless his Majesty's special command +therein."[64] + +There was consternation in the Assembly when they learned that the King +was attempting to build up a revenue independent of the Burgesses by +increasing the returns from the quit rents. This tax on land, for such +it really was, had always been paid in tobacco. In 1662 the Assembly had +fixed the rate of payment at twopence a pound, which at that time +approximated the current price. But the decline in the value of the leaf +had greatly lessened the value of the returns. So in 1684 the King +ordered Effingham to accept only specie, "that is to say in money and +not in tobacco or in any other commodity."[65] Since tobacco was then +selling at a halfpenny a pound, this would have quadrupled the value of +the quit rents, imposed a heavy burden on the impoverished country, and +strengthened the authority of the Governor. + +The controversy over this matter led to another and a more serious +encroachment on the rights of the people, for when the Assembly refused +to repeal the law of 1662, the King voided it by proclamation. Having +heard that "persons go about ... imposing bad tobacco upon our +collectors at the rate of 2d per pound, under pretence of an act of +Assembly ... we have thought fit to repeal the said act."[66] Upon +receipt of this order Effingham sent for the Burgesses to meet him in +the Council Chamber. When they filed in he soon found that they were in +no mood to yield. Not only did they again refuse to repeal the law of +1662, but they "rudely and boldly disputed the King's authority in +repealing laws by proclamation."[67] Moreover, they pointed out, it was +impossible to pay in pounds or shillings since there were not enough in +the entire colony. This argument was unanswerable, and in the end the +Governor was forced to assent to a compromise by which the tax was to be +paid in tobacco, but at the rate of one penny per pound instead of two. + +The difference in the theories of government held by Charles and James +on the one hand, and the people of the colony on the other was brought +into focus by a dispute over the King's right to revive a law by +repealing a law which had repealed it. When James revived a law of 1680 +concerning attorneys by annulling the repealing law of 1682, the +Burgesses rose as one man in angry protest. "A law may as well receive +its beginning by proclamation as such a revival," they said. "Some +Governor may be sent to govern us who under the pretence of the liberty +he hath to construe prerogative and stretch it as far as he pleaseth, +may by proclamation revive all the laws that for their great +inconveniences to the country have been repealed through forty years +since."[68] + +The Councillors as well as the Burgesses must have been startled when +Effingham in reply told them that the King had the right to nullify or +revive what laws he pleased, since the only authority the Assembly had +to legislate at all rested on a grant from the Throne. They had been +under the impression that the right of the people to make laws through +their representatives was inherent in all Englishmen. If it were a grant +from the King, which the King might at will withdraw, liberty in America +rested on a shaky basis indeed. In an address to Effingham they stated +that they did not dare "to say what is prerogative and what is not,"[69] +but they made it clear that when prerogative was stretched so far that +it threatened to enslave them, they would resist by every means within +their power. + +Despots throughout the years have feared a free press, and have either +prohibited printing or controlled it for their own purposes. So it was +in keeping with the spirit of the Second Stuart Despotism that Charles +and James would allow no press in Virginia. It was in 1682 that John +Buckner, a prominent merchant and landowner of Gloucester County, and a +member of the House of Burgesses, employed William Nuthead to set up a +printing establishment at Jamestown. But they had picked an inauspicious +time for their venture. Nuthead was ordered to appear before the Council +"to answer for his presumption in printing the acts of Assembly ... and +several other papers without licence." The Council ordered that "for +prevention of all troubles and inconveniences that may be occasioned +through the liberty of a press ... Mr. John Buckner and William Nuthead +the printer enter into bond for one hundred pounds sterling ... that +from and after the date hereof nothing be printed by either of them ... +in this colony until the signification of his Majesty's pleasure shall +be known."[70] + +His Majesty's pleasure therein was a foregone conclusion. "Whereas we +have taken notice of the inconvenience that may arise by the liberty of +printing in Virginia," stated Charles in his instructions to Effingham, +"no person is to be permitted to use any press for printing upon any +occasion whatsoever."[71] So Nuthead took the press to Maryland and for +nearly half a century Virginia was without a printer.[72] + +The quartering of troops upon the people has been a serious grievance +wherever it has been practiced. People object to having rough soldiers +thrust into their homes, to disrupt their daily life, or perhaps to +create disorders. When the British troops sent over to suppress Bacon's +Rebellion were quartered on the people, there were bitter complaints. +"Instead of being a guard and safety" to us as was intended, "they have +by their long stay and ill behavior not only been totally useless, but +dangerous," and the greatest of our terrors.[73] To make matters worse, +complaints came in to the Assembly from Isle of Wight, York, James City, +and Nansemond Counties that payments for quarters were in arrears by six +months or more. So it was with thanksgiving that the people received the +announcement that the money to pay for the quarters had arrived from +England together with orders to disband the troops.[74] + +Effingham was even more brazen than Berkeley in using the patronage +openly to force obedience to the King. Berkeley ruled chiefly by +rewarding those who did as he told them; Effingham by punishing all who +opposed him. To acquiesce in everything he proposed was the only way for +one to retain one's job. William Sherwood and Colonel Thomas Milner, for +forwarding an address of the Burgesses to the Privy Council, were +dismissed from office. Mr. Arthur Allen was "turned out of all +employment, civil and military" to his great loss, "he being a surveyor +of land at that time."[75] Effingham himself explains why. He was "a +great promoter of those differences between me and the Assembly +concerning the King's negative voice ... as not thinking it fit that +those who are peevishly opposite to his Majesty's interest should have +any advantage by his favor."[76] + +Another prominent member of the House of Burgesses, Mr. Charles +Scarburgh, was "turned out of all employment, and as a mark of his +Lordship's displeasure, a command was sent to the clerk of the county to +raze his name out of the records as a justice of peace."[77] Mr. William +Anderson, Scarburgh's colleague from Accomac County, must have been even +more active in opposing the Governor, for when the session of 1688 was +over he had him "put in the common jail," where he was "detained seven +months without trial, though often prayed for.... Nor could he obtain +the benefit of habeas corpus."[78] + +"From whence the people conclude these severities are inflicted rather +as a terror to others than for any personal crimes of their own," it was +said, "and is of such ruinous consequence that either the public or +particular interests must fall, for if none oppose, the country must +languish under the severity of the government, or fly into mutiny to +save themselves from starving. If any do appear more zealous in +prosecuting the country's complaints they know what to expect. It being +observable that none has been thus punished but those who were forward +in the Assembly to oppose the encroachments on the people, and promote +the complaint to England, being out of hope of relief on the +place."[79] + +In Virginia, as in England, there was much dissatisfaction at the +accession of the Roman Catholic James II. Many would have preferred +Charles' illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. When news came that he +had raised the standard of revolt, had landed in Dorset, had gathered an +army of rustics, and was marching on London, some did not hesitate to +express their sympathy. Effingham wrote that "so many took liberty of +speech upon the rebellion ... that I was fearful it would have produced +the same here."[80] But when he issued a proclamation forbidding "false, +seditious, and factious discourse and rumors," and made "some examples," +quiet was restored. The defeat of the rebels at Sedgemoor, the bloody +revenge taken by James, and the execution of Monmouth ended all hope for +the time being. + +But Effingham's proclamation could not prevent news of what was +happening in England from reaching the people. In Ireland James was +recruiting a Catholic army under a Catholic general. At home he was +replacing civil and military officers by Catholics. To remove all +restrictions on Catholics he issued declarations of indulgence, giving +freedom of worship to dissenters and Catholics. He converted two Oxford +colleges into Catholic seminaries, and ousted the Fellows of Magdalen to +make room for Catholic successors. + +These events were soon reflected in Virginia. It was noted that when +important offices in the government became vacant, Effingham filled them +with Catholics. Both of his appointees to the Council were members of +the Roman Catholic Church--Colonel Isaac Allerton and Colonel John +Armistead. That several justices of the peace refused to take the oath +of allegiance "through scruple of conscience" in 1691, after James had +been deposed, shows that the Governor tried also to pack the county +courts with Catholics. + +The people watched these developments with resentment, mixed with fear. +The shudder of horror which had gone through England a few years before, +when Titus Oates accused the Jesuits of a "hellish plot" to fire London, +conquer the country with Irish and French armies, and massacre the +Protestants, was still fresh in men's minds. Perhaps his story is not +false after all, it was whispered. Perhaps the plan may still be carried +out. Think of what has just happened in France, where thousands of men +and women, for refusing to give up their faith were driven into exile or +thrown into loathsome prisons with criminals, starved, and beaten. Are +we sure that it will not be our turn next? + +The Assembly which met in April, 1688, reflected the ugly mood of the +people. They were determined to redress the grievances which poured in +from one county after another. The Governor's appeal for aid for New +York and for a bill to prohibit the exportation of loose tobacco +received scant consideration. "Debates of grievances jostled out most +other matters," reported Nicholas Spencer.[81] When the Council +requested a conference on the tobacco bill, the House countered with a +proposal for a conference on the people's wrongs. But their message was +couched in such bitter terms that the Council thought "no success could +be expected from a conference agitated with heat and resolvedness."[82] + +Nor would the Council join the Burgesses in an address to Effingham for +redress of "the many grievous oppressions this poor country at present +groans under." Thereupon the House drew up a petition to the King which +they entrusted to Philip Ludwell to deliver. Before James could reply, +he was forced to flee from England, and it was only in February, 1689, +that the petition came before the Council of State. + +Such was the situation when Effingham left Virginia "for recovery of his +health by change of air." He may have realized also that the air of +Virginia was becoming unhealthful for him in more sense than one, for +had he not left it is possible that the people might have risen in arms +and sent him home. Several years later, when Francis Nicholson asked the +Council whether "if his Excellency my Lord Effingham had stayed" the +country would not have been in trouble? they replied in the affirmative. +"The country were in great dissatisfaction ...and there was great cause +to doubt that some disturbance would have been."[83] + +But it was only in the spring of 1689, some months after his departure, +that an uprising actually occurred. Then it was touched off by a weird +story told by a stray Indian to some of the settlers on the northern +frontier of a plot by Jesuits and Indians to attack Virginia and +Maryland. No less than 10,000 Senecas and 9,000 Nanticocks were under +arms, he said, ready to cut off all the Protestants. As the report +spread from plantation to plantation, the outlying families fled in +terror, while men gathered volunteers by beat of drum. We must defend +ourselves in arms, they said, since no reliance can be placed on the +Council or even on the county magistrates, for most of them are +Catholics. + +The Council thought the story of the Catholic plot "only a gloss to +their rebellious purposes." In October, 1688, James had sent word to +Effingham that William of Orange was preparing to invade England, and +had ordered him to place the colony in a posture of defence.[84] It was +to seize this opportunity to rise against the government, rather than +the imaginary Indian plot, that had made them take up arms, the Council +thought. Preferring not to take sides in a matter which could be settled +only in England, they arrested some of the ringleaders.[85] But when, +apparently on the same day, a letter came to hand from the Privy +Council, announcing that William and Mary had been proclaimed joint +monarchs of England, order was instantly restored. On April 26, 1688, +their Majesties were proclaimed before the courthouse door at Jamestown. + +There were two things which the colonial Virginians dreaded--despotism +and the tomahawk. And it is significant that both were factors in the +two uprisings of the seventeenth century. In Bacon's Rebellion the +people demanded, not only protection from the savages, but an end to +Berkeley's misgovernment. If the Council was right in their +interpretation of the disorders of 1688, they, like the ousting of +Andros in New England, were a part of the Glorious Revolution. The +Council afterwards took great credit for suppressing the disorders, but +one can only surmise whether the people would have remained quiet had +not James been overthrown. We must not permit the Indian terror to blind +us to the fact that the rebellions of 1676 and 1688 were both in defense +of liberty. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] CO389.6, pp. 113, 137. + +[2] H. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 423, 424. + +[3] CO389.6, p. 116. + +[4] CO1-40, p. 23. + +[5] CO1-40, p. 23. + +[6] CO5-1371, pp. 27, 33. + +[7] CO5-1371, pp. 55, 60. + +[8] _Ibid._, p. 152. + +[9] CO5-1371, p. 152. + +[10] CO1-40, p. 43. + +[11] _Bath papers_ 3: 155. + +[12] CO1-40, pp. 73, 106. + +[13] CO1-39, p. 38. + +[14] W. W. Hening, _Virginia statutes at large_ 2: 366, 386. + +[15] CO1-40, p. 88. + +[16] CO5-1371, p. 132. + +[17] CO1-40, p. 89. + +[18] _Virginia Magazine_ 18: 12. + +[19] CO5-1371, pp. 220-231. + +[20] CO1-40, Doc. 53. + +[21] _Bath papers_ 3: 187-198. + +[22] _Ibid._ + +[23] CO1-42, p. 17. + +[24] _Bath papers_ 3: 206. + +[25] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 407-432. + +[26] CO1-42, Doc. 1. + +[27] CO1-41, Doc. 87. + +[28] CO1-42, Doc. 11. + +[29] Sainsbury, 18: 129. + +[30] CO1-42, Doc. 23. + +[31] _Ibid._, Doc. 107. + +[32] _Virginia Magazine_ 18: 2-5. + +[33] _Bath papers_, 3: 168, 169. + +[34] _Virginia Magazine_, XVIII, p. 20. + +[35] _Bath papers_ 3: 214. + +[36] CO1-42, Doc. 117. + +[37] _Bath papers_ 3: 295. + +[38] CO5-1355, Docs. 304, 305, 309, 370. + +[39] CO1-41, Doc. 121. + +[40] Sainsbury, 14: 230. + +[41] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 2: 441, 443, 456. + +[42] G. M. Trevelyan, _England under the Stuarts_, 396. + +[43] CO1-42, Doc. 152. + +[44] CO1-43, Doc. 165. + +[45] _Ibid._, p. 313. + +[46] _Ibid._, p. 334. + +[47] _Ibid._, p. 349. + +[48] CO5-1355, p. 378. + +[49] CO5-1376, p. 265. + +[50] CO5-1355, p. 384. + +[51] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 126. + +[52] _Ibid._ + +[53] CO5-1356, pp. 125, 126. + +[54] CO5-1315, Dec. 23, 1707. + +[55] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 134. + +[56] CO5-1356, p. 142. + +[57] _Ibid._, p. 56. + +[58] CO1-42, p. 152. + +[59] Robert Beverley, _The present state of Virginia_, ed. L. B. Wright, +89, 90. + +[60] CO5-1356, p. 76. + +[61] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 228. + +[62] CO5-1357, p. 58. + +[63] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 316, 317. + +[64] CO5-1357, p. 95. + +[65] CO5-1356, p. 282. + +[66] CO5-1357, p. 113. + +[67] _Ibid._, p. 126. + +[68] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 305. + +[69] _Ibid._, 308. + +[70] _Executive journals of the Council_ I: 493. + +[71] CO5-1356, p. 271. + +[72] D. C. McMurtrie, _A history of printing in the United States_, +276-279. + +[73] CO5-1376, p. 285. + +[74] CO5-1356. + +[75] _McDonald papers_ 7: 26. + +[76] CO5-1357, p. 129. + +[77] _McDonald papers_ 7: 437-441. + +[78] _Ibid._ + +[79] _Ibid._ + +[80] _Executive journals of the Council_ 1: 75. + +[81] CO5-1357, p. 214. + +[82] _Ibid._, p. 216. + +[83] CO5-1306, Doc. 114. + +[84] CO5-1357, p. 229. + +[85] _Executive journals of the Council_ 1: 105. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE GLORIOUS REVOLUTION + + +The Glorious Revolution completely changed the relations between the +English people and the King. No sooner had James fled than a committee +of the Commons drew up a "Declaration of Rights," to secure the liberty +of the subjects and the power of Parliament, which was accepted by both +Houses and by William. Parliament then declared William and Mary joint +monarchs. Mary could argue that as the child of James II she was the +rightful heir to the Throne, but William could make no such claim. So +the old Tory doctrine of divine right was officially repudiated, and the +monarch henceforth ruled by the consent of the nation. The Revolution +opened a new epoch of liberty. + +The people of Virginia were well aware that they were to share in this +liberty. In an address to the King and Queen, the Assembly gave them +heartfelt thanks for "so magnanimously exposing" their persons in +rescuing them, their religion, laws, and liberties from the twin evils +of slavery and popery. They begged them, while extending their justice +and goodness over the English nation, not to forget their faithful +subjects in Virginia. They, too, were "descended of Englishmen," and had +the right to enjoy "the just and lawful liberties and privileges of free +born" Englishmen.[1] + +In this they were not disappointed. During the next seventy-five years +they advanced steadily along the road to liberty. From time to time they +had to contend with despotically inclined Governors, but these men, +prior to the reign of George III, in assailing the rights of the people +acted on their own initiative rather than at the command of the King. By +the middle of the eighteenth century Virginia had become in internal +affairs practically a self-governing dominion. People began to say +openly that final authority rested, not with the King, but with the +people, and that governments derived their powers from the consent of +the governed. + +This trend was noted early in the eighteenth century. As early as 1706 +Colonel Quary warned the English government of what was coming. A few +years later Governor Spotswood wrote: "If the ancient and legal rights +of the Crown must give place to the later customs of an infant colony, +especially if the practice and usage which ... men would introduce shall +be of greater force, the prince's power and authority must daily lose +ground here."[2] + +It was a slow, almost imperceptible process. But year after year the +Burgesses whittled away at the powers of the Governor, until, after the +passage of decades, the change became apparent to all. Berkeley, +Culpeper, and Effingham had exercised almost dictatorial powers; Gooch, +Fauquier, and Botetourt ate out of the hands of the Assembly. Whereas +the Governors of the seventeenth century commanded and threatened, those +of the mid-eighteenth century pleaded. On one occasion Governor Fauquier +wrote the Lords of Trade that he had signed a bill, not because he +approved of it, but because had he vetoed it he "must have despaired of +ever gaining any influence either in the Council or House of Burgesses." + +The shouting and firing of guns in celebration of the accession of +William and Mary had hardly ended when the Virginians turned their +thoughts to the long desired new charter. The Bill of Rights gave them +as well as Englishmen residing in England guarantees of liberty, but +they had distinctive interests which they thought ought to be protected. +Appointing Jeffrey Jeffreys to manage the affair, the Council and +Burgesses sent him £200 for expenses and suggested that he call to his +support any Virginians who chanced to be in London. That the art of +lobbying was as well understood in the seventeenth century as it is +today is shown by their instruction "to procure the assistance ... of +the nobility and such as have offices at Whitehall and other men of note +... to be mediators with their Majesties."[3] + +The proposed charter was to confirm the authority of the Assembly. At +first sight this would seem to be unnecessary since the Assembly had +been in existence since 1619, and had been recognized by James I, +Charles I, Charles II, and James II. But the attempts to undermine its +authority during the Second Stuart Despotism had convinced the people +that its very existence might be threatened by some future King. + +They asked, also, that in the charter it be promised "that no tax be +made upon this country but by the consent of the Assembly." The people +had been deeply disappointed that a like promise had been left out of +the charter of 1676. They took for granted that Parliament would not +violate their rights as Englishmen by taxing them, but it would have +comforted them to have it down in black and white. How necessary such a +guarantee was became apparent eighty-five years later with the passage +of the Stamp Act. + +The charter was to promise, also, that the King and Queen would continue +to the Virginians and their descendants their rights as natural born +subjects of England, and that as "near as may be" they should be +governed after the same method as Englishmen, and "have the full benefit +of the Great Charter and all other laws and statutes indulging the +liberty of the subjects." Jeffreys was to ask that "the ancient method" +of making appeals from the General Court to the Assembly be restored, +since appeals to the Privy Council were in most cases impractical +because of the expense involved and the difficulty of bringing +"evidences, papers, and other records" to England.[4] + +We do not know why the application for the charter was dropped. It may +have been because Jeffreys found that it would not meet with success, or +the Assembly may have been persuaded that a charter was unnecessary +under the liberal administration of the new monarchs. + +Francis Nicholson, who had been selected to serve as Lieutenant Governor +during Effingham's absence, arrived in Virginia in May, 1690. The choice +was unfortunate. This man was a strange mixture of contrasting +characteristics. A devoted Church of England man and a friend of the +clergy, he was at times shockingly profane. One of the patrons of the +College of William and Mary, and the founder of the city of +Williamsburg, he was unscrupulous in trampling on the rights of all who +opposed him. Seeking the admiration of those with whom he was +associated, he alienated his best friends by his fits of uncontrollable +temper. Capable of acts of great generosity, he was accused of being +parsimonious in his private life. + +Nicholson's treatment of the Reverend Mr. Slaughter was typical. He and +a certain Captain James Moodie had gone to York to a funeral. "The +ceremony and sermon being over," Moodie relates, "he went out of church, +where he saw and heard the Governor in the most outrageous passion that +he ever saw, swearing the most horrid oaths and most bitter imprecations +against Mr. Slaughter, the minister of that parish, calling the said +Slaughter rogue, rascal, knave, and all the base billingsgate language +that could be in the basest of men's mouths, shaking his horsewhip and +threatening to beat the said minister therewith, and to pull his gown +over his ears."[5] Apparently Mr. Slaughter had brought on this torrent +of abuse by asking for a fee for the funeral sermon. + +Nicholson's conduct as Deputy Governor of New York under Sir Edmund +Andros at the time of the Glorious Revolution was not such as to inspire +confidence that he would do well in Virginia. With no official orders to +proclaim William and Mary, and with the people ready to rush to arms, +what was needed was tact and conciliatory measures. Instead, Nicholson +flew into a rage and talked about suppressing the "uproar and +rebellion." It was rumored that he planned to burn the city, and that +the people were to be betrayed and murdered. When some armed men, under +the German merchant Jacob Leisler, seized the fort, Nicholson deserted +his post and took ship for England.[6] + +The first meeting of the Council after Nicholson arrived at Jamestown +was held on January 3, 1690. After he had shown his commission, he and +the Councillors went to the courthouse where it was read to the people +assembled there. If the Virginians had been prejudiced against the new +Lieutenant Governor by reports of his conduct in New York, they could +not have been reassured by his personal appearance. It was said that +when he made a bow to the ladies, he looked like a goose picking up +straws. + +Nicholson began his administration with a due regard to the influence of +the Council. He had noticed that some of them held large tracts of land +for which they paid no quit rents, and he pointed out, in a letter to +the Earl of Nottingham, that it would strengthen the hands of the +Governor if they were forced to pay up. "But the great men being +concerned, I dare not venture to put any new method in execution +without an instruction."[7] + +He was equally cautious at first to defer to the Council in making +appointments. When the sheriff of Middlesex died, he asked those +Councillors who lived in that part of the country to nominate his +successor. When they suggested Mr. Robert Dudley, Nicholson at once gave +him a commission. At the same meeting he pointed out that the regular +time for naming sheriffs and coroners was at hand, and asked that the +Councillors be prepared to make nominations at their next meeting.[8] + +But it was not long before he began to use the patronage to build up his +own power under the guise of defending the royal prerogative. When the +oath of supremacy was tendered the members of the Council, Richard Lee, +Isaac Allerton, and John Armistead refused to take it because they were +Roman Catholics. Nicholson filled one vacancy by naming Attorney General +Edmund Jenings. He then sent a list of four other prominent men to the +King and Queen, with the suggestion that they select the other two from +it. Three of the four deserved well, he pointed out, because in the +House of Burgesses they had been "for their Majesties' interest." +Colonel Thomas Milner, the Speaker, behaved very well too, "but he hath +not estate enough to be a Councillor. But he should have promise of some +place of profit."[9] + +We have no evidence that Nicholson tried to build up a party in the +House of Burgesses by distributing sheriff's places to the members. But +he did try to ingratiate himself by hobnobbing with them and "admitting" +them daily to his table. This he did, he said, in order to keep a good +agreement with them for their Majesties' service and advance the public +affairs of the country, and not to propose or gain anything to be done +in the Assembly. But the fact that he used the same technique to gain +power during his second administration, makes his protestations seem +rather hollow. + +Nicholson claimed great success for his administration. He had +befriended the clergy and bettered their condition, he pointed out, he +had "looked after their Majesties' revenue," and left it in excellent +condition, he had reorganized the militia. But he admitted, in fact +boasted, that he had defended the royal prerogative on all occasions. He +might have added that he had given Commissary Blair his wholehearted +support in his efforts to found a college. + +When Nicholson heard that Effingham had retired as Governor General of +Virginia, and that he had been succeeded by Sir Edmund Andros, he was +bitterly disappointed. As Lieutenant Governor under Effingham, he +thought that when the government became vacant it was his due. He was +especially disgruntled that Andros had been selected since he had +against him a long standing pique. Yet he made the best of the +situation, greeted Andros upon his arrival, and, at the head of the +James City County militia, escorted him to Jamestown "through the +several counties which were in his way."[10] + +It must have been with apprehension that the Virginians received Sir +Edmund, for reports of his despotism in New England had preceded him. +They had heard that there he ruled like an Eastern despot, promulgating +laws, levying taxes without the consent of the Assemblies, placing men +under arrest and denying them the right of _habeas corpus_. And they +knew that the Bostonians had at last captured him, put him aboard a +vessel, and shipped him back to England. The Virginians were ready to +offer stiff resistance should he try to rule them with a harsh hand. + +So they were surprised to find Andros a mild mannered man, who not only +made no attack on their liberty, but tried to live in peace with both +Council and Burgesses. He seems not to have used the patronage to build +up his power, nor to have broken the grip of the House on the purse by +demanding large fees; he would have allowed the Burgesses to appoint +their own clerk had his instructions permitted it, and he carefully kept +off the explosive subject of the arrears of quit rents. Edward Randolph +summed it up by saying that he had "mightily gained upon the Council and +chief men in the country by his even temper."[11] + +Nothing can illustrate better the progress made in self-government in +Virginia since the overthrow of James II than the Burgesses' cavalier +treatment of two bills recommended by the King and Queen. The first, a +bill to prohibit the exportation of loose tobacco, was greatly desired +by the English merchants. The other, a bill to establish ports in the +Virginia rivers, had been passed in 1688 by the Assembly, and was now +returned for certain revisions before becoming law. The Burgesses +promptly voted down both measures. "The appointment of ports and +enjoining the landing and shipping of all goods ... from the same will +... be very injurious and burdensome," they said. There was a long +debate on the question of prohibiting the exportation of loose tobacco, +but this bill too failed to pass. Andros was deeply concerned at this +disregard of the royal wishes, but when the Council advised him that +nothing more could be done with the Burgesses, he dissolved them.[12] + +The British government also decided that it was best not to press the +matter. In 1695 Andros spoke of the King's "goodness" in dispensing with +his prerogative "to establish ports without the consent of the Assembly, +and leaving it to our choice, and also in waiving the prohibition of +bulk tobacco so earnestly desired in England because it was found not +pleasing here." But the victory of the Burgesses riled Edward Randolph. +"They are full of conceit, and fancy themselves as great as the House of +Commons in England," he said in disgust.[13] + +It is probable that the King was so lenient with the Assembly because he +wanted them to vote men and money to assist New York in her struggle +with the French and Indians. Andros did his best, pointing out that New +York was a bulwark for Virginia, and that if she fell the war cry would +soon be heard on the Virginia frontier. The Burgesses were not +convinced. The situation in New York was not so desperate as had been +represented; they denied that New York was the "bulwark and defense of +Virginia"; they were at heavy expense to guard their own frontier. It +was characteristic of Andros that he asked the Council to reply for him. +The Councillors at heart were no doubt as reluctant as the Burgesses to +send aid to New York, but they were in the position of royal advocates +and put up the best argument they could. Yet the session ended without +anything being done.[14] + +When the Assembly met in 1695, Andros had better success. He had been +instructed by the King to send a quota of men from the Virginia militia +whenever the Governor of New York asked for them, he said. This alarmed +the Burgesses. They thought it would not only weaken the defense of +Virginia by taking away so many men, but would so frighten the young +freemen that many would desert their wives and children and leave the +colony. In the end they compromised by voting £500 in lieu of men.[15] +This Andros was forced to accept, though by so doing he brought on +himself a reprimand from the Committee of Trade.[16] + +It is strange that Andros, who was so moderate in his dealings with the +House of Burgesses, and declared that he never thought himself better +than when he had them about him to consult for the good of the country, +should have bearded them on one of their most sensitive points--the +appointment of a Treasurer. In 1691 the Assembly passed two laws, one +for levying a poll tax, and one laying a duty on liquors, both of which +were to be "paid by the collectors thereof to the Treasurer." Included +in the act was the naming of Colonel Edward Hill as Treasurer.[17] + +A year later, when Nicholson gave him a lucrative job as collector, Hill +had to vacate this office, since it was unlawful for the same man to +hold both. To act as Treasurer until the Assembly convened, the Governor +named one of the Council, Henry Whiting. When the Burgesses met they +questioned Whiting's authority, but he satisfied them by showing them +his commission. They then passed a bill to name a permanent Treasurer, +but the Council, probably at Andros' urging, refused to concur. "The +Governor would never consent to the Assembly's appointing their own +Treasurer but would rather lose a tax than suffer them to do so," James +Blair testified. But, he added: "This makes them suspicious and more +unwilling to raise money."[18] + +Whiting held the office until his death, which occurred probably in +September, 1694. Then, for several years, there seems to have been no +Treasurer. But the Burgesses were merely biding their time. Their +opportunity came in 1699. The old statehouse at Jamestown had burned +down, and there was urgent need for an appropriation to build a new one. +They passed a bill placing a duty on the importation of servants and +slaves, and laying a levy by poll, the revenue from both to be paid +into the hands of the Treasurer for financing a new Capitol. Since there +was no Treasurer they included in the act the appointment of Colonel +Robert Carter to that office. The Governor and Council, realizing that +they could not have the Capitol without the Treasurer, yielded.[19] + +The undoing of Andros was his quarrel with the Reverend James Blair, +Commissary for the Bishop of London in Virginia. When this rugged +Scotsman came to the colony he found conditions in the Church far from +satisfactory. Since there was no college in the colony the parishes were +entirely dependent upon England for their ministers. The dispersal of +the people was such that if a parish were large enough to provide the +rector with an adequate living, it was too large for him to minister to +properly. Some parishes extended forty miles or more along the banks of +the great Virginia rivers, the minister was usually too poor to have a +library or to marry. Since English clergymen were reluctant to come over +under such conditions, there were many vacant parishes. Often the +vestries in desperation were forced to accept any that offered +themselves, however unsuitable. There were many able and pious ministers +in Virginia, but some were of inferior ability, and a few were a +disgrace to their calling. And it was inevitable that amid the woods and +tobacco fields of a new country they should neglect many features of the +liturgy--the use of vestments, the observance of the saints' days, +burial in consecrated ground, etc. + +With the enthusiastic support of the Bishop of London and of Governor +Nicholson, Blair had worked out a plan of reform. He would found a +college to educate young Virginians for the ministry; he would secure an +act of Assembly increasing the ministers' salary; he would enforce +ecclesiastical discipline; he would give the clergy a voice in the +government by procuring a seat in the Council for the Commissary. Going +to England, he gained the backing of the Archbishop of Canterbury and +other prelates, and through them of King William and Queen Mary.[20] + +Their Majesties granted a charter for the college, permitted it to be +named William and Mary, gave £1,985.14.10 out of the quit rent fund, +10,000 acres of land, the revenue of one pence a pound on tobacco +exported from Virginia to any other colony, and a salary for the +Commissary from the quit rents. So Blair returned in triumph and took +his seat beside the great men of the Council. But it was a triumph which +won him the enmity of Andros. The Governor, no doubt, was jealous of his +influence in high circles in England, and he viewed with alarm the +diversion from the use of the government to the college and the clergy +of urgently needed funds. With the opening of the year 1694 the +government was facing a deficit with no way of meeting it except by the +hated levy by poll, or by drawing on the quit rents. + +Soon Blair was complaining that Andros was trying to obstruct his +reforms for the clergy. There must have been stormy scenes in the +Council meetings, with Blair hurling accusations at the Governor, and +the latter denying them. The President of the College "could not be +obliged by all endeavors to contain himself within bounds," wrote Andros +to Secretary Shrewsbury. "His restless comport I ever passed by till the +whole Council ... faulting him as unfit to be in the Council, I thought +it my duty ... to suspend him."[21] + +But Andros did not reckon on Blair's influence in England. Undoubtedly +the Commissary wrote the Bishop of London of his suspension, and the +Bishop complained to the Lords of Trade. In due time Andros received a +rebuke from the King. He had appointed Blair to the Council "the better +to enable him to promote and carry on" the "good and useful" work of +founding a college. Now he found that his gracious intentions had been +discouraged by his suspension. "Our will and pleasure is that forthwith +upon the receipt hereof you take off the said suspension."[22] It was a +bitter humiliation for Andros when, in August, 1696, Blair produced the +King's letter and resumed his seat.[23] So bitter, in fact, that he +dared a second time to oust the hated Commissary. At a meeting of the +Council in April, 1697, Blair asked whether a recent act of Parliament +did not debar him from sitting in the General Court since he was a +native of Scotland. Whereupon the Council, with a promptness he probably +did not expect, voted that not only did it do so, but that it made him +ineligible for the Council as well.[24] + +Blair's answer was to take ship for England, there to lay his complaints +before the English prelates and through them before the Board of Trade. +To the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of Salisbury, and the Bishop +of London he undoubtedly poured out his complaints of Andros--that he +was an enemy of the college, that he did not support the efforts to +secure better livings for the clergy, that he had disobeyed the King's +express orders to keep him in the Council. This ecclesiastical lobby was +too much for Sir Edmund. Seeing the handwriting on the wall, he wrote +that he wished to come home because of ill health. On May 31, 1698, his +resignation was accepted and Francis Nicholson named to succeed him as +Governor General.[25] + +When Andros bade Jamestown goodbye and set sail for England, a full +decade had passed since the Glorious Revolution, time sufficient for one +to judge its effect upon self-government in Virginia. Some of the losses +of the Second Stuart Despotism had not been regained. The act of 1680 +giving the Crown a perpetual revenue had not been repealed; the judicial +powers of the Assembly had not been restored; the efforts to secure a +charter for the colony had been abandoned; the Burgesses had not +regained the right to name their clerk. + +Yet the gains far outweighed these failures. Of first importance was it +that the Assembly itself had been preserved with most of its rights and +privileges. It still could initiate legislation, it alone could initiate +money bills, it could determine the uses of all appropriated funds, it +could appoint the Treasurer. The petitions of the Assembly to the Throne +were no longer cast aside with scorn as in the days of Charles II and +James II, but were given careful consideration. The battle for liberty +had not yet been won, many bitter struggles lay ahead, but the gains +made under the mild rule of King William and Queen Mary were vital to +the eventual victory. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1660-1693: 370. + +[2] CO5-1318. + +[3] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1660-1693: 352. + +[4] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1660-1693: 352. + +[5] CO5-1314, Doc. 9. + +[6] _Documentary history of New York_ 2: 25, 31, 42, 181-183. + +[7] CO5-1306, Doc. 64. + +[8] _Executive journals of the Council_ I: 158. + +[9] CO5-1306, Doc. 41. + +[10] _Sainsbury papers_ 5: 100. + +[11] A. T. S. Goodrick, _Edward Randolph_ 7: 430. + +[12] _Sainsbury papers_ 5: 165. + +[13] A. T. S. Goodrick, _Edward Randolph_ 7: 448. + +[14] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 292, 482-493. + +[15] _Ibid._, 1695-1702: 9-42. + +[16] CO5-1359, p. 79. + +[17] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1659-1693: 360. + +[18] CO5-1359, pp. 101, 102. + +[19] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 3: 197, 198. + +[20] T. J. Wertenbaker, _The first Americans_, 133. + +[21] _Sainsbury papers_ 5: 225, 226. + +[22] _Ibid._, 236. + +[23] _Executive journals of the Council_ I: 350, 352. + +[24] _Ibid._, 364. + +[25] CO5-1359, p. 208. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE VIRGINIA HITLER + + +It was James Blair who was chiefly responsible for the appointment of +Francis Nicholson as Governor General of Virginia. Nicholson's hearty +support for his plans to found a college and better the condition of the +clergy when he was Lieutenant Governor, made the Commissary eager to +have him back. So when Andros resigned, he used his influence with the +Bishop of London, who was one of the Commissioners of Trade, to have him +made his successor. + +It seems strange that one identified with the interests of Virginia +should have foisted on the colony one of the worst Governors in its +history. But at the time Blair seems to have permitted the man's good +qualities--his undoubted ability, his energy, and his devotion to the +Church--to blind him to his many faults. Blair himself admitted this +later after he came into violent conflict with Nicholson, and wrote to +the Bishop of London in a repentant mood. + +The new Governor General arrived in Virginia in the winter of 1698. He +found that the personnel of the Council had been greatly changed during +his absence. But there were several familiar faces in the group which +met in the great hall of the residence of the late William Sherwood. +Nicholson then announced the King's appointments to the Council and +administered the oath required by Parliament to those who were present. +One wonders whether Matthew Page and Benjamin Harrison, in their elation +at being elevated to the "Virginia House of Lords," suspected that it +would involve them in bitter controversy with the Governor, or that +they, together with four of their fellow Councillors, would be +responsible for his removal from office. + +There was nothing basically despotic in the program Nicholson outlined +for himself. He sought to set the finances of the colony in order by +eliminating frauds and demanding a strict payment of quit rents so as to +increase the royal revenue. He was determined to uphold the King's +prerogative against all assaults by the Council or the Burgesses. He +wished to put the colony in a state of readiness to repel any attack by +hostile Indians, and to aid other colonies who should become involved in +Indian wars. He tried to gain permanent tenure for the clergy so as to +give them a degree of independence of the vestries. He planned a new +city which was to be the seat of government, with broad streets and +charming Capitol and Governor's mansion. + +Since certain features of this program ran counter to the interests of +the Council, and others to those of the people, to carry them through +would have required resolution, tact, moderation, and ability to handle +men. Resolution Nicholson had in abundance, but in other respects he was +entirely unsuited for the task he set himself. To vilify men, to call +them rascals, to threaten to lash them with his whip was not the way to +handle the liberty-loving Virginians. His attempts to bribe the +Councillors and the Burgesses with fat jobs and to pack the courts with +favorites, might have been more successful had they not been accompanied +with such violent bursts of temper and such threats of ruin against any +who opposed him. + +It so happened that the Committee of Trade, finding that the amount of +tobacco received in England was far greater than that on which the +export duty was paid in Virginia, became convinced that there were great +frauds in collections. The fault lay with the naval officers and +collectors, they thought. They instructed Nicholson not to appoint the +same person to both offices, and not to permit members of the Council to +hold either. When the Governor, not wishing to offend, at first failed +to comply, they gave him a severe rebuke. In June, 1699, he was forced +to turn several Councillors out of their lucrative jobs. + +This drew from them a violent protest. They denied that they had any +knowledge of frauds in the collections. To forbid Councillors to hold +these positions was to reverse the custom of many years. The income was +their only compensation for their expense in journeying perhaps seventy +miles, perhaps one hundred miles, in some cases crossing great rivers, +to attend meetings of the Council and the General Court. And though they +could not directly blame Nicholson, they probably suspected that it was +at his suggestion that the instruction had been made. So it was a soured +and discontented group of men who dispersed to return to their homes +after the Council meeting ended. + + [Illustration: The Old Capitol at Williamsburg, showing the north + elevation which is a duplicate of the historic Virginia Capitol + originally completed in 1705. Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, + Inc.] + + [Illustration: The House of Burgesses in the Old Capitol at + Williamsburg. Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.] + +Nicholson's efforts to secure more accurate returns of the quit rents +did not put them in better humor. It was well known that it was a common +practice for men to "conceal" part of their holdings when the sheriff +came round to collect the rent, and, if the sheriff happened to be a +friend or a relative, he would not look into the matter too closely. As +for the great tracts held by the wealthy, the sheriffs dared not demand +the rent. To do so would certainly be bitterly resented and might cost +them their jobs. Nicholson was convinced that a strict accounting would +greatly increase the returns. + +When he was Lieutenant Governor he had tried to force the large +landholders to pay their rents by taking the matter into the courts. +Making a test case of Colonel Lawrence Smith, who had several large +properties, he ordered the Attorney General to prosecute him. The case +was ready for trial when Nicholson was removed and it was afterwards +compounded for a small sum.[1] + +At the time Nicholson had had some thoughts of drawing up "an exact, +true, and perfect rent roll." But the Council, who had no desire to have +their own "concealed" acres exposed, pointed out that it would be a +difficult and costly undertaking. So for the time being the matter was +dropped. But when Nicholson began his second administration he resumed +his efforts. He instructed William Byrd, the Auditor, to order the +sheriffs to make accurate rolls of holdings in their counties. But as +late as October, 1703, Byrd reported that though he had urged this on +the sheriffs he realized that there was "still very great abuse +therein."[2] Yet the next year the Governor had in his hands a rent +roll, which, however imperfect, must have been of great value in the +collection of the rents. Undoubtedly much of the unoccupied lands were +not put down on the rolls, yet some of the members of the Council were +hard hit. Byrd now had to pay on 20,700 acres, Custis on 12,600, +Harrison on 9,100, and the others on holdings ranging from 2,000 to +7,000 acres. Other members of the aristocracy, many of them related to +one or more Councillors, were put down for thousands of acres. Lewis +Burwell had 7,000 acres in the Isle of Wight County, 4,800 acres in King +William, 3,300 acres in Gloucester, 2,100 acres in York, and 1,300 in +James City County.[3] + +Having alienated the Councillors and other influential men by striking +at their pocketbooks, Nicholson proceeded to cross swords with another +influential group--the vestrymen. The Virginia clergymen had long +complained of the insecurity of their tenure, for the vestries who +appointed them claimed the right also of dismissing them when they +proved unsatisfactory. "They are to their vestries in the nature of +hired servants, agreed with from year to year, and dismissed ... without +any crime proved or so much as alleged against them," Commissary Blair +complained. + +Claiming that whenever a vestry failed to present their minister to him +for induction, he had the right to fix him on them for life by +collation, Nicholson appealed to Sir Edward Northey, Attorney General of +England. Northey's opinion supported him fully, and in triumph the +Governor sent copies to all the vestries. But he met with one rebuff +after another. We "do not think it proper, neither are we willing to +make presentation for induction," replied one vestry. Another declared +that the word induction sounded very harsh in their ears, and as for +collation they hoped the Governor would not try it. And Nicholson, +realizing that, if he should, the vestry would refuse to pay his +appointee his salary and so starve him out, was forced to let the matter +drop. + +Despite his efforts for the clergy, the Governor managed to change the +friendship of the man who was so largely responsible for his appointment +into bitter hatred. Blair turned against him because he took over many +functions rightly belonging to the Commissary and tried to make himself +head of the Church. "He has invaded almost all ... parts of the +ecclesiastical jurisdiction," Blair complained, "such as convoking the +clergy, ... appearing himself in their meetings and proposing the +subject matter of their consultations, ... requiring of some ministers +canonical obedience to himself as their bishop, taking upon himself to +turn out ministers."[4] + +This was followed by an attempt to take out of the hands of the +Councillors the control of the military forces of the colony. In the +summer of 1701, when England was on the verge of war with France, word +reached Virginia that a French fleet was preparing to sail for the West +Indies. Claiming that there was danger that they might attack Virginia, +"being an open and defenseless country," Nicholson organized a new force +to resist them. He ordered the captains of militia to pick out every +fifth man in their companies, "being persons young, brisk, fit, and able +to go out to war," and organize them into bands of thirty, mounted and +fully equipped.[5] + +Thus the militia, who were largely under the command of members of the +Council, were to be superseded by a new force under Nicholson himself. +The people became alarmed when it was rumored that he was trying to +persuade the English government to keep a standing army in America with +himself as Captain General. If he succeeds, men told each other, we may +as well bid goodbye to liberty, for then he will carry out his threats +of taking and arming all our servants, of bringing the Burgesses with +ropes about the necks, and daring the Assembly to "deny him +anything."[6] + +When the war with France began and the attack fell, not on Virginia, but +on New York, King William asked the Assembly to give financial aid. But +the Burgesses refused, pointing out that they needed all their resources +to protect their own exposed frontier. It is possible that it was +because this answer interfered with his own ambition that it was so +displeasing to Nicholson. His Majesty should signify his resentment and +order the Burgesses on their allegiance to comply, he thought, "and I +hope in God that they will then" do so.[7] Losing his temper, as he +always did when opposed, he threatened to draft men, even members of the +House, on his own authority and send them to fight in New York. Much +more to his credit was his action in advancing £900 to New York out of +his own pocket. + +It is probable that Nicholson, when he had cooled off, had no real +intention of carrying out his threats against the Burgesses, but he did +try to control them by a brazen use of the patronage. Of twenty-two +sheriffs whom he appointed in June, 1699, no less than sixteen were +Burgesses. Ignoring the advice of the Council, he put men in or turned +them out as they voted as he directed. During one session of the +Assembly, when seven of the Burgesses were county clerks, he had seven +blank commissions made out and placed in the Secretary's office where +all could see them. Then he spread the report that any or all of the +clerks who proved to be "bad boys" were to be dismissed and the +commissions given to those who behaved better.[8] + +"Are not all the places of profit in the hands of the Governor?" it was +asked.[9] The sheriff of King and Queen County was arbitrarily removed +when he was busy collecting the poll tax. If it happened that one of +Nicholson's favorites was legally ineligible for an office he would give +him a blank commission and tell him to fill it in with the name of a +relative or friend, or even to sell it. Colonel John West was stated to +have sold a sheriff's commission for 8,000 pounds of tobacco.[10] + +The members of the House who were deaf to his threats and promises, the +Governor tried to wheedle. "We have a way of treating three days in a +week all the Assembly time," said Harrison, "where some of the House +constantly attend to get their bellies full of victuals and too many +times their heads full of strong drink."[11] + +Fearing that even such measures would not avail if a hostile House were +returned, the Governor interfered actively in the elections. "We have +had an election of Burgesses ... in which there hath been ... promises, +threats, spreading scandalous reports ... browbeating ... and what not," +Philip Ludwell, Junior, wrote his father. Nicholson had been in Charles +City County to oppose the election of Benjamin Harrison, promising +sheriff's and clerk's places to some and threatening others. "Having rid +all through Charles City, from house to house, he went to Surry." Here +he commanded the sheriff to draw up a list of those who spoke ill of +Major Allen, the candidate he favored. When Major Thomas Swan was +elected, he forbade the sheriff "at his peril" to return him. And he +told the sheriff of James City County that he could not serve two +masters, and if Benjamin Harrison were chosen, he need never expect any +more favors from him.[12] + +In his dealing with the House of Burgesses, the Governor sacrificed any +influence he had built up, by his disregard of their privileges and his +violent abuse of individual members and of the body as a whole. His +agent in London, John Thrale, saw no reason why the Burgesses should be +angered at him for proposing a tax bill. If Mr. Thrale knew how they +disliked those levy bills which arose outside the House, he would change +his mind, Philip Ludwell pointed out.[13] In one of his fits of temper +Nicholson threatened to cut the Speaker's throat.[14] + +In the General Court Nicholson made free use of threats and promises to +secure verdicts to his liking. Robert Beverley said it was his constant +practice to browbeat and vilify both lawyers and their clients. Two +cases, especially, he managed with such violence "that there was not one +person in court, favorite or foe, but thought it very hard and unjust +dealing." One case had to be postponed several times because as soon as +it came up he flew into such a rage that the court had to adjourn.[15] + +Nicholson threw one suit out of court without even consulting the other +Judges. In another he pleaded "from the bench more like a party than a +judge and flew into great heats and passions." In the case of Swan +_versus_ Wilson, he grossly abused Swan's attorney. When the verdict +went for Swan, Wilson's attorney said there had been an error in form. +To this Harrison replied that the form had been in keeping with Virginia +practice. Instantly Nicholson turned on him, thundering out: "Sir, you +are the Queen's counsel and pretend to set up a precedent in Virginia +contrary to the practice in England. You shall not impose upon me with +your tricks and equivocations."[16] On another occasion he became so +enraged against Mr. Bartholomew Fowler, one of the attorneys, "a very +sickly, weak man," that he seized him by the collar and shook him, +swearing that his commands must be obeyed without hesitation or +reserve.[17] + +If we may believe Robert Beverley, the Governor made a habit of packing +the grand jury, in order to get flattering addresses from them. He would +pick out men whom he knew he could influence, send for them to come to +Williamsburg, and order the sheriff to put them on the jury in place of +others of whom he was doubtful. Beverley was talking with a man whom the +sheriff had summoned and then had discharged, when the sheriff happened +to pass. So the man stopped him to ask why he had done it. He replied +that the Governor had ordered him to do it. When the jury he had +selected for the purpose gave him the address he wanted, he showered +them with favors. To the foreman he gave a naval officer's place, others +he "favored by barefaced methods" in cases at law in which they were +concerned, still others had sheriff's places.[18] + +Nicholson's greatest blunder was to antagonize the Council. Its members, +representing the Virginia aristocracy, and having influential friends at +Court, were not the men to sit quietly and see their hard-earned +privileges taken from them. Is the Council so mean spirited as to let a +Governor do all the ill things he pleases in their names, and all the +while using them like slaves, not suffering them to have any opinion of +their own? Philip Ludwell asked. "Arbitrary power is grown to a high +pitch among us. Hectoring is the only court language. Our laws and +liberties openly trampled upon."[19] + +Nicholson should have known that he was in for a fight to the finish +when he bearded the Councillors. Prominent among them was the pugnacious +Commissary James Blair. Robert Carter, of Corotoman, had been a Burgess +at twenty-eight, and had twice been Speaker. A man of great energy, +shrewd, and dominating he was dubbed "King Carter." Benjamin Harrison +had represented Surry in the House of Burgesses, was a Visitor of the +College of William and Mary, was commander of the Surry militia. Philip +Ludwell, Jr., Page, Custis, Bassett, Duke, and the others were all men +of wealth and influence. + +The first open breach between these men and Nicholson came when he began +to make appointments to office without consulting them. They were +outraged when he removed their friends from lucrative jobs to make room +for his own favorites. They protested the issuing of warrants on the +revenue and the giving of patents to land without their consent. It was +almost an insult for him to prorogue the Assembly on his own authority +and without their knowledge. + +Later Nicholson put the blame on the Councillors themselves for his +failure to get along with them. They hated him, he said, because he +would not be guided and governed by them, and turn secretaries, +auditors, collectors, naval officers, and others out of their places and +put them and their friends in, and would not let them do what they +pleased.[20] + +The Council meetings became stormy, with the Councillors protesting to +the Governor and the Governor flying into a rage. When the sessions +were held in the Wren Building at the college prior to the completing of +the new Capitol, passersby could hear Nicholson storming "as loud as he +could extend his voice." If any member dared to oppose him in any +measure he was sure to bring down on himself a volley of insults. + +The Councillors were liable to abuse even when the Council was not in +session. One day when John Lightfoot was in Williamsburg, he called on +the Governor. He had not been in his presence fifteen minutes before +Nicholson began to storm at him, calling him a rogue, a rascal, and a +villain. "You have sided with that damned Scotch parson, Blair, and by +God, sir, you have shipped yourself in a leaky vessel.... You shall be +turned out of the Council." Then he flew out against the rest of the +Council, saying there was not one of them who was not a rogue and a +coward, who did not dare look a man in the face.[21] + +The testimony regarding Nicholson's violent temper is so overwhelming as +to indicate that the man was unbalanced. On one occasion while talking +with Captain James Moodie in an "upper apartment" of the college, he +flew into a violent passion against the Commissioners of the Navy, +"calling them all the basest names the tongue of man could express." +These imprecations were thundered out "with such a noise that the people +down in the lower rooms came running up stairs ... believing that the +college had been on fire." Several sea captains, who were lodging in a +room some distance away, "came running out of their beds in their +shirts," one of them "without his wooden leg, holding himself by the +wall."[22] + +If Nicholson had contented himself with hurling imprecations at those +who offended him, his victims might have been able to endure it. "I must +confess I have no reason to be satisfied with the insolent, tyrannical +behavior of our Governor, but as long as he is vested with the Queen's +authority, I will quietly endure his barbarous usage," wrote Philip +Ludwell.[23] But when Nicholson carried his malice so far as to +prosecute those to whom he took a disliking, deprive them of their jobs, +and imprison them, their safety lay in fleeing the colony. + +Clergymen seem to have been especially unfortunate in incurring +Nicholson's resentment. At a convocation of the clergy in Elizabeth City +church, on October 28, 1702, Commissary Blair asked the Reverend James +Wallace, the minister, to deliver a sermon. The Governor, who claimed +to be the head of the Virginia Church and had summoned the meeting in +order to secure a flattering address, was present. It may have been this +which influenced Mr. Wallace to choose as his text: "Herein do I +exercise myself to have always a conscience void of offence toward God +and toward men," and to use it to illustrate the duty of both government +officials and clergymen. + +Shortly after the services were over Nicholson sent for Mr. Wallace. +"How durst you preach such a sermon?" he demanded. "How dare you take +such a text? How dare you presume to tell me my duty? I will not be told +my duty." From that day the Governor pursued him with the greatest +malice. He summoned him before the Council, and threatened him with +ruin, calling him villain, hypocrite, Jesuit. He went all the way to +Elizabeth City to lay charges against him before his vestry. When Mr. +Wallace could endure this persecution no longer and prepared to sail for +England, he tried to stop him.[24] + +If anything else were needed to make Nicholson a ridiculous figure, it +was his love affair with Lucy Burwell. Lucy's father, Major Lewis +Burwell, was perhaps the wealthiest man in Virginia. Owning many +thousands of acres of land, served by scores of slaves and indentured +workers, connected by marriage and birth with some of the most +influential families in the colony, he was the typical Virginia +aristocrat. Carter's Creek, his residence in Gloucester County, remained +standing for over two centuries as witness to his lavish style of +living. The great halls, the marble mantels, the elaborate staircase, +the wainscoting carved to resemble drapery were reminiscent rather of +England than of seventeenth-century Virginia. However, Lucy seems to +have spent most of her childhood, not at Carter's Creek, but at King's +Creek, an historic old estate left to her parents by her mother's uncle, +Nathaniel Bacon, Senior. And here it was that Nicholson pressed his +suit, riding over to see her whenever there was a lull in the business +of the General Court and the Assembly was not in session. + +Lucy and her family received him with the courtesy due the +representative of the Crown. But they knew of the Governor's fits of +anger, of his profanity, and the abuse he had heaped on their relatives. +Lucy was not attracted to him and, telling him she did not love him, +refused to marry him. + +When he was at last convinced that all hope of winning Lucy was gone, +Nicholson acted like a madman. He swore that if she married another he +would with his own hands cut the throats of the bridegroom, the +minister, and the justice of the peace who issued the license.[25] All +pretence of friendship for her relatives was thrown to the winds. Every +few days he sent Major Burwell such threats of ruin that the poor man +was kept in a constant state of alarm. "For what I know not, unless it +is because I will not force my daughter to marry utterly against her +will, which is a thing no Christian body can do," he wrote Philip +Ludwell, Senior. "If it please God I live until the return of our next +fleet, I propose for England, for I shall not be able to live here."[26] + +Nicholson became violently jealous of young Stephen Fouace, minister of +Martin's Hundred parish, in which the Burwells resided. One night, when +he was returning from a pastoral call at King's Creek he happened to +meet the Governor. Falling into one of his rages, Nicholson, in a +thundering voice, commanded him never again to visit the house unless +sent for, and never again to speak to Lucy.[27] + +"Why, Sir," stammered the frightened pastor, "what is the matter? Does +your Excellency take me for your rival? I assure you, sir, I have not +that foolish presumption to think to be preferred to your Excellency." + +"Hold your prate, sirrah. I have taken good notice of you. You are an +impudent rogue, a villain, a rascal." + +As they were riding along together Nicholson reached over and pulled +Fouace's hat from his head. + +"How do you have the impudence to ride with me with your hat on?" + +"I hope you will not use me like a footman," said Fouace. + +After a pause Nicholson asked: "Is it not a shame for one of your +function to suffer me to be ridiculed and railed at in some companies +where I know you have been? Is it not your duty to reprove them?" + +Fouace replied that the best way to avoid ridicule was to be sure that +his behavior was such as not to expose him to odium and contempt, that +even the King of France could not hinder many of his subjects from +speaking ill of him. + +"But seeing your Excellency is pleased to make me mindful of my duty to +reprove the evil I see done in my presence, I must make bold to reprove +your Excellency for using at this rate in the highway, in the woods, and +in the night, on a Sunday, a clergyman coming from visiting the sick of +his parish." + +Nicholson received this in silence. But a few minutes later he ran at +Fouace, trying to seize him, and threatening to lash him with his whip. +This frightened him, for the Governor had his sword and pistols with +him, and they were alone in the night. So he wheeled, set spurs to his +horse, and fled.[28] + +But he could not escape Nicholson's malice. He soon found that life in +Virginia was intolerable, and laid his plans to leave for England. But +the Governor had no desire to have him lay charges against him before +the Bishop of London and the Lords of Trade and Plantations. After he +had gone aboard the tobacco fleet, he tried to bring him back, but by +shifting from ship to ship Fouace managed to escape. + +Nicholson's folly aroused astonishment even in England, and the gossips +in the London Exchange and the coffee houses tittered at his +unsuccessful suit. An English clergyman wrote him an anonymous letter. +"It is not here as in some barbarous countries where the tender lady is +often dragged into the Sultan's arms just reeking in the blood of her +nearest relations, and yet must strongly dissemble her aversion. But +English women are the freest in the world, and will not be won by +constraint, but hate them who use them and theirs roughly." + +One day when Nicholson was calling on Lucy, before the final breach had +occurred, she happened to drop her handkerchief. He picked it up, +slipped several rings in it unobserved by Lucy, and handing it to her +mounted his horse and rode away. She sent them back to him, but he +returned them. And for a while she kept them. Later he complained of the +costliness of his suit. "Though she would not accept him," he told +several persons, "she and her friends had taken presents to the value of +£500."[29] + +When this came to Lucy's ears, she thought it necessary to return +everything he had given her. So she, with her mother and brother, +together with her uncle, Philip Ludwell, Junior, went to Williamsburg +with them. But Nicholson, hearing of their mission, "slipt out in the +morning." The little group retired to the nearby Wren building, and +waited there until six o'clock in the evening. Then they went back to +Nicholson's house, where Ludwell went in to the "public room" and left +the gifts on the table. + +Late that night, after he had retired, Ludwell was aroused by two +messengers sent by the Governor, one bringing the gifts, and the other a +summons in the Queen's name for him to come to Nicholson immediately. +Ludwell told the man that he "could not apprehend the Queen had any +occasion for his services" just at that moment, and so went back to bed. + +But the next morning he went to the Governor's house, taking the gifts +with him. He found Nicholson in a towering rage. + +"I wonder how you dare come into my house yesterday when I was abroad to +offer me such an insult?" he said. + +"Sir, I never offered your Excellency an affront in my life that I know +of," Ludwell replied. + +"Yes you have, several, like the base villain and rascal that you are." + +Ludwell bowed and thanked him for this "civil usage." But Nicholson +began again to storm, calling him "rogue, lying villain, base rascal, +and coward," and declaring that he would teach him his duty. Finally he +told him to get out of his house and not return until he was sent for. +This Ludwell did with alacrity. But he took good care to leave the +gifts. At first this escaped Nicholson's notice, but while Ludwell was +putting on his boots he rushed up to him, "calling him all the names the +Devil could invent" and commanding him to take the things.[30] + +When Ludwell had mounted his horse and started to ride away, the +Governor ran out "stark mad," and catching hold of his coat tried to +pull him from his horse. Failing in this, he snatched his whip from his +hand, and ordered him in the Queen's name to dismount. When he had done +so, he shook the whip over his head, and swore that he had a mind to +slash him soundly. Ludwell told him that as he was Governor of Virginia +he had to take all his ill usage, but if he were in another place he +would not dare treat him so. A few days later Nicholson challenged +Ludwell to a duel. But Ludwell declined. He had not so much love for the +gallows, he said. "But I always wear a sword with which to defend +myself, and I am always easily found." + +When one reads the long recital of Nicholson's misdeeds, one is apt to +forget that he conferred one lasting benefit on the colony, a benefit +which today is shared by millions of Americans from all parts of the +country. He was the founder of Williamsburg. It was on October 21, 1698, +that a fire broke out in the statehouse at Jamestown which in a few +hours laid the building in ashes. So the old question of moving the +capital away from the mosquito-infested town on the banks of the James +was again debated. Nicholson favored Middle Plantation. The college was +located there, there was ample room for a town, there were several +springs of pure water, and the place was healthful. The Assembly voted +that a city be laid out there, which, in honor of the "most gracious and +glorious King William," was to be named Williamsburg. + +Nicholson busied himself with planning the streets, which at first he +hoped to lay out in the form of the letters W and M in honor of King +William and Queen Mary. When this proved too complicated, he decided to +run a central avenue from the college to the site of the Capitol, to be +named Duke of Gloucester Street, paralleled by two side streets, one of +which was to be called Nicholson and the other Francis. To aid him in +designing the Capitol, he called in the ablest architect and builder in +the colony, Henry Cary, and day after day the pair pored over the +drawings. What book of designs they had before them from which to +draw their inspiration we do not know, but it must have been of +recent publication, for the building was typical of the late +seventeenth-century English houses. + +The plan called for a brick structure of two wings, connected by a +gallery, the whole to be two stories high, with a sharply rising roof +pierced with dormers and surmounted by a high cupola. The floors of the +first story were to be laid in flagstones, while the roof was to be +covered with cyprus shingles. Inside were to be rooms for the Council, +the General Court, the House of Burgesses, and several committee rooms. + +The gratitude of the Virginians to Nicholson for founding their new +capital and adorning it with beautiful buildings did not blind them to +his violence, his injustice, and his persecution of innocent men. Does +he think he is governing the Moors or some other slavish people? they +asked. He seems to think it a crime in us to demand the liberties of +Englishmen. "That which bears up their spirits under all the heavy +customs on their commodities, and restraints in point of trade, is that +they have the happiness to enjoy the British laws and constitution, +which they reckon the best of Governments," said Philip Ludwell, Senior. +"But if once their Governors be suffered to break in upon them in this +tender point, and to treat them with the arbitrariness of France, or the +insolence of Morocco, as this gentleman has done, it is not to be +imagined how ill this will go down with Englishmen that have not forgot +the liberty of their mother country. The least that can be expected from +it is that men of substance, if they find no redress, will remove +themselves and their effects out of the colony to any other part of the +world where they may enjoy peace and quietness."[31] + +At last six members of the Council--Lightfoot, Page, Harrison, Carter, +Blair, and Ludwell--drew up charges against Nicholson. Though they were +careful to keep the matter secret the Governor suspected that something +was up. In July, 1703, he wrote the Lords of Trade: "It hath been +industriously reported here that ... I was turned out of the government +for maladministration.... I hope in God, I shall not only be able to +clear myself, but to make my accusers appear ill people."[32] + +Nicholson might have surmised that it was Blair who would present +charges against him when, several weeks later, the Commissary left for +England. But he could not have anticipated the strategem which the +shrewd Scot was to adopt. Though he arrived in November, 1703, he did +not present the charges of the six Councillors to the Queen in the +Council until late in the following March, after the tobacco fleet had +sailed for Virginia. Thus months would elapse before Nicholson could +have word of them and prepare his answers. + +The Privy Council referred the charges to the Lords of Trade and +Plantations. It must have been with surprise that they listened as the +petition was read. We appeal to "your Majesty for relief of ourselves +and other subjects of Virginia from many great grievances and pressures +we lie under by reason of the unusual, insolent, and arbitrary methods +of government, as well as wicked and scandalous examples of life, which +have been now for divers years past put in practice by Nicholson, which +we have hitherto in vain endeavored by more soft and gentle applications +to himself to remedy and prevent. But to our unspeakable grief we have +reaped no other fruit ... but that thereby we have so highly exasperated +the revengeful mind of Nicholson to the height of implacable malice and +enmity against ourselves and the better part of the people ... that +without your Majesty's seasonable interposition we fear the dangerous +consequences, not only in fomenting lasting feuds and acrimonies among +the people here, but in endangering the public peace of Virginia."[33] + +During the summer Blair had not been idle. It is probable that the +little colony of Virginians in London got together to plan their +strategy. When the matter came before the Lords of Trade, the Commissary +was armed with affidavits from Fouace, Captain James Moodie, and others, +and letters from Philip Ludwell, Junior, and Benjamin Harrison to the +elder Ludwell, accusing Nicholson of tyranny. At the hearing Wallace, +George Luke, and Robert Beverley were called on to tell their stories of +persecution and injustice. + +Hearing that John Thrale was agent for Nicholson, the Lords called him +in. He made the best defense he could, but he was ignorant of the whole +matter, and he had not witnesses to refute the charges. When he demanded +particular instances of misgovernment and injustice, Blair and Beverley +overwhelmed him with them.[34] To make the Governor's case hopeless, +Thrale died in the midst of the hearings, leaving him without anyone to +defend him.[35] + +Late in October, 1704, when the first word of the petition reached +Nicholson he was heard "to make a terrible imprecation, vowing to the +living God that he would pursue the petitioners with eternal vengeance." +At a meeting of the Council he glared at the members. "Whoever they were +that signed that petition I hope they will be obliged to stand by it in +England and that such of them as are there will be obliged to stay and +those here to go thither, where it is my desire to come to a fair +hearing," he told them.[36] + +He defended himself in several long letters to the Board. He had done no +more than defend the Queen's prerogative against the assaults of the +Council, he said. If everything they asked were granted them, "her +Majesty would have but a skeleton of a government left, and hardly the +power of a Doge of Genoa. And I think the question may be put to them +as the wise King Solomon did to his mother, why don't they ask the +kingdom or the government also?" As for Commissary Blair, he "and his +little faction now set up to have the power and interest of turning out +and putting in Governors, and affect the title that the great Earl of +Warwick had." If he were ousted, he would present himself to the Board, +"when I hope I shall not be found to have a cloven foot, to be a fury, +or to have snakes instead of hair."[37] + +If we may credit the reports from Virginia which reached Blair, Ludwell, +and Fouace in England in January, 1705, Nicholson began proceedings to +"terrify all people" from discussing his conduct. "He sets up +inquisition courts, giving commissions to some of his creatures to +examine all persons on oath if ever they heard such a man reflect upon +the Governor ... which practice is very terrible to all, there being few +in Virginia who have not sometimes in private spoke of him as he +deserves ... If witnesses are backward they are threatened by the +Governor himself and terrified into depositions." When anyone was +accused of complaining of him, even in private, he ordered the Attorney +General to prosecute him under the law against defaming the Governor +passed after Bacon's Rebellion.[38] + +The Governor had one warm defender in Colonel Robert Quary. In a letter +to the Board of Trade he testified that, when Nicholson was appointed, +the Councillors expected to "govern and direct all matters," to +monopolize all places of profit and honor, and have him "suppress all +that were not of their faction." But when they found that he would not +be governed by them, they turned upon him with the greatest malice. +"They aspersed and blackened him both in the country and by letters to +England, as if he had been the greatest monster in nature." He had been +guilty of no maladministration in his government "further than some +escapes of his passion, which their injustice often forced him to."[39] + +During the first week of March, 1705, Nicholson was busy preparing his +defence so that it could get off on the first vessel sailing for +England. He penned long letters to the Lords of Trade on the first, the +third, and the sixth, and enclosed them with a memorial against Blair, +and an address from the Virginia clergy. These papers were received on +May 2, and read May 31. Whether they would have influenced the Lords in +Nicholson's favor we do not know, for on April 2, just a month before +their arrival, the Board received a communication from Secretary Hedges, +advising them that the Queen wished them to prepare a commission and +instructions for Colonel Edward Nott to be Governor General of +Virginia.[40] + +It was on August 15, 1705, that the Council met in their beautiful room +in the new Capitol, for Nott's inauguration. When all had been seated +Nicholson entered and read a letter from the Queen directing him to +deliver up the government and "repair to her royal presence." He must +have looked around at the men who had been his bitter enemies with an +air of triumph as he read a letter from Secretary Hedges, stating that +he was being recalled, not because of the charges made against him, but +merely for her Majesty's service. Then he handed over the seal of the +colony and the charter of 1676. One wonders whether, as he bowed himself +out, he took one last look at the room for which he had been so largely +responsible--the portrait of Queen Anne, the large oval table, the +stiff-backed chairs, the Queen's arms, the panelling. + +Nicholson's administration proved once more that the Virginians could +not be governed by illegal and arbitrary means. That he was not ousted +by violence as was Sir John Harvey, or that he did not drive the people +into open rebellion as did Berkeley, is explained by the difference in +the character of the times. Harvey acted in the spirit of the First +Stuart Despotism, Berkeley of the Second Stuart Despotism; Nicholson was +out of step with his time. To remove him it was not necessary to resort +to violence; an appeal to the Queen was all that was needed. + +Perhaps it was fortunate for the cause of self-government that an +experiment in despotism had failed in the opening years of the +eighteenth century. It made succeeding Governors wary of trampling upon +the people's rights, it gave the people confidence. Having won this +victory, they went on to others until their Governors became their +servants rather than their masters. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] CO5-1309, Doc. 9. + +[2] CO5-1339, Doc. 33 V. + +[3] T. J. Wertenbaker, _Planters of colonial Virginia_, 183, 247. + +[4] T. J. Wertenbaker, Attempt to reform the church of colonial +Virginia, _Sewanee Review_ 25: 273-275. + +[5] CO5-1409, p. 135A. + +[6] CO5-1314, Doc. 35, IIb. + +[7] CO5-1360, p. 117. + +[8] CO5-1314, Doc. D10. + +[9] _Ibid._, Doc. 15G. + +[10] CO5-1314, Doc. 36. + +[11] _Ibid._, Doc. 15G. + +[12] _Ibid._, Doc. 15. + +[13] CO5-1314, Doc. 17. + +[14] _Ibid._, Doc. 35 II 6. + +[15] _Ibid._, Doc. 10. + +[16] _Ibid._, Doc. 23. + +[17] _Ibid._, Doc. 24. + +[18] _Ibid._, Doc. 10. + +[19] _Ibid._ + +[20] CO5-1314, Doc. 40. + +[21] _Ibid._, Doc. 14c. + +[22] _Ibid._, Doc. 9. + +[23] _Ibid._, Doc. 15. + +[24] _Ibid._, Doc. 12. + +[25] _Ibid._, Doc. 7. + +[26] _Ibid._, p. 23. + +[27] _Ibid._, Doc. 7. + +[28] _Ibid._ + +[29] CO5-1314, Doc. 15f. + +[30] _Ibid._ + +[31] _Ibid._, Doc. 17. + +[32] CO5-1360, p. 424. + +[33] CO5-1660, pp. 463-465. + +[34] _Ibid._, Docs. 23, 24. + +[35] CO5-1360, p. 480. + +[36] CO5-1314, Doc. 36. + +[37] _Ibid._, Docs. 43, 44. + +[38] CO5-1314, Doc. 36. + +[39] _Ibid._, Doc. 67. + +[40] _Ibid._, Doc. 46. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE VIRGINIA HOUSE OF LORDS + + +Though the members of the Council must have been surprised when +Nicholson read Secretary Hedges' letter, they did not let it disturb +them. They were rid of him, and that was what really mattered. No more +could he bully them in the Council meetings, no more could he thwart +them in the General Court by packing juries, no more could he ignore +them in appointing officers, no more could he insult and revile them. As +they sat around the table with the mild-mannered Nott, they realized +with satisfaction that his personality was in strong contrast with that +of his predecessor. Perhaps it would be easy to control him and keep the +power in their own hands. + +To a large extent this is just what they did. Though Nott was no +weakling, he was anxious to live in peace with both Council and +Assembly. It was said of him that his "whole study was to do everybody +justice."[1] Like other Governors when they first arrived and were +unacquainted with men and conditions in the colony, he was dependent +upon the Councillors for advice and guidance. Before he could learn the +ropes, he died. Since four years elapsed before a new Governor arrived +to take his place, the Council remained for half a decade the +controlling power in the colony. From August, 1705, to July, 1710, the +government was neither despotic nor democratic, but aristocratic. + +Nathaniel Bacon, Nicholson, Spotswood, and others derided the "mighty +dons" of the Council, pointing out that they came from humble families +in England. These critics did not stop to consider that it was more to +their credit to have won by their own efforts positions of wealth and +power than to have inherited them. Virginia itself offered them the +opportunity, but it was they who seized it. + +The group of well-to-do planters whom the Council represented, in the +early years of the eighteenth century were far from numerous. "In every +river there are from ten to thirty men who by trade and industry have +gotten very competent estates," wrote Colonel Quary. "Out of this number +are chosen her Majesty's Council, the Assembly, the justices, and +officers of the government."[2] + +It must have been a humiliation to such proud men as William Byrd II, +"King" Carter, and Benjamin Harrison that they were not admitted to the +English peerage. But though there were no dukes, nor lords, nor knights +among the Councillors, they had the right to certain titles which +carried great distinction. The term "esquire" was given to members of +the Council, and was invariably used by them in signing legal documents. +If a man were not a Councillor, yet was prominent and wealthy, he had +the right to sign himself "gentleman." The holders of high office in the +militia--colonels, lieutenant colonels, majors, and captains--prized +their titles highly and used them in conjunction with "esquire," or +"gentleman."[3] + +Nor did the English nobility command greater respect than did the +members of the Council in Virginia. When a certain Humphrey +Chamberlaine, of Henrico County, became angry with William Byrd I, and, +stripping off his coat, drew his sword as if to attack him, he was +arrested and clapped into jail. At his trial he excused himself by +saying he was a stranger in the country and ignorant of its laws and +customs. But the court, ruling that no one "could be insensible of the +respect and reverence due so honorable a person as Colonel Byrd," fined +him five pounds sterling.[4] + +Although the basis of the wealth of the aristocracy was land, the +holding of large tracts did not in itself bring riches unless the owner +could find the labor necessary to work them. During most of the +seventeenth century indentured workers were used extensively. But their +cost and the fact that they served but four or five years limited the +return they brought their masters. With the importing of slaves in large +numbers in the last two decades of the seventeenth century and the first +third of the eighteenth century, the cost of raising tobacco was greatly +lowered. This not only doubled or tripled existing fortunes, but created +many new ones. It is this which explains why the Virginia aristocracy, +which so late as the last decade of the seventeenth century was little +more than a group, by the mid-eighteenth century had become a numerous +class.[5] + +In their mode of life the aristocracy consciously imitated the English +country squires. The large libraries which they accumulated served +practical as well as cultural ends. The wealthy man who wished to build +a residence pored over James Gibbs' _A Book of Architecture_, or Abraham +Swan's _The British Architect_. In laying out his garden he consulted +Kip's _English Houses and Gardens_, or John James' _The Theory and +Practice of Gardening_. On his shelves were English books on law, +medicine, religion, agriculture. + +Fortunately some of the mansions of colonial Virginia have survived the +ravages of time, fires, and wars, to bear witness to the charm and +dignity of the plantation life of two centuries ago. Carter's Grove, +Mount Airy, Gunston Hall, Westover, Brandon, and others constitute +history in brick and wood. The lovely gardens, some of which have been +restored in recent years, are in the formal style of Le Notre and Rose. +The mansions were furnished with tables, chairs, bookcases by the +English masters; on the tables were pitchers, goblets, and candlesticks +by English silversmiths. The aristocrat dressed himself and his family +in the latest English fashions, owned an English-made coach, imported +English race horses, perhaps sent his son to Oxford, when he visited +England had his portrait painted by Lely or Kneller. + +It was inevitable that in so small a group as the early Virginia +aristocracy there should be frequent intermarriages. In 1717 half of the +members of the Council were related to each other by blood or marriage. +James Blair and Philip Ludwell were brothers-in-law of Nathaniel +Harrison; William Byrd's wife was the niece of Ludwell; William Bassett +and Edmund Berkeley had married half-nieces of Ludwell; Ludwell's wife +was Harrison's sister. Governor Spotswood habitually referred to them as +"the family." + +It was wrong, Spotswood pointed out, that a group of relatives should +wield such power. Since they all sat on the General Court, it was to be +expected that they would vote as a unit if the interests of any one of +them were involved. "Whoever has lived here and frequented the General +Courts held of late in Virginia, has abundant reason to know that there +is a strong link of relatives on the bench, who by their majority have +the determination of all causes," he wrote in 1718. "When one of their +kindred is charged with enormous crimes, clerks may safely keep back the +examination, and sheriffs keep back the witnesses.... When the King has +been plaintiff in a civil action against one of that family, the cause +could not be tried for want of judges to make up a bench exclusive of +those who were akin to the defendant."[6] + +One wonders how long Governor Nott would have put up with this kind of +thing had not death overtaken him. Despite his desire to work in harmony +with the Council, there is evidence that he had no intention of letting +them ride over him roughshod. This became evident when they tried to +take the patronage out of his hands. "I do believe the Council have a +mind to dispute with me the making of the collectors of the two +shillings per hogshead," he wrote the Lords of Trade. "Their pretence is +that it is said in my instructions I shall not make them but by advice +of Council. Now they have a mind to turn several out and put in their +own relatives. And that is not my turn of temper."[7] + +When he asked the advice of the Council before reappointing naval +officers, they objected to Major Arthur Allen, Colonel Miles Gary, and +Colonel William Wilson. But when nothing of consequence was brought +against them, the Governor insisted on continuing them. At the same time +he shook off responsibility by refusing to renew their commissions until +he had instructions to do so from the Lord Treasurer.[8] + +Whatever resentment the Councillors bore him for this was forgotten when +he championed their plea that they should not be forbidden to become +naval officers. "I think this instruction very strange," he wrote the +Lords of Trade. "To be deprived of those few places of profit ... brings +the consequence that the good men are very indifferent to being one of +the Council. I hope you are of opinion that this restriction may be +taken off."[9] + +The Governor thought it his duty to defer to the Council in most of his +appointments to lesser offices. "I have directed new commissioners of +peace," he wrote the Lords of Trade, "and not knowing persons yet, I +left the nomination of justices solely to the Council. I have continued +the former escheators since there was no objection to them."[10] + +When Nott first took over the government, he found the colony divided +against itself. The people as a whole were overjoyed to get rid of +Nicholson, but a group made up no doubt of men who had received favors +at his hands, resented his removal. When an election was held for a new +Assembly, opposing candidates were put up by the pro-Nicholson and +anti-Nicholson factions. Although the latter won an overwhelming +victory, enough Nicholson men were returned to continue the old feuds +and hatreds. Governor Nott made his opening address an appeal for peace. +It was his earnest hope, he said, that all animosities be laid aside, +and that the only contention be as to who should be most obedient to the +Queen and most serviceable to the country.[11] + +Despite this plea the pro-Nicholson faction presented under the guise of +a grievance a resolution which was in reality a reproof of the six +members of the Council who had presented the charges against the +Governor. No one should take upon himself to represent to the Queen the +grievances of the colony without the consent of the House of Burgesses, +it said. No thanks, but rather a check should be given to those that had +done so against the late Governor. But they met with a severe rebuff. So +far from approving, the House ordered the so-called grievance to "be +burnt under the gallows by the sheriff of York County as a mutinous, +seditious, and scandalous paper."[12] + +Though there is no evidence that Nott tried to render the Burgesses +submissive to his will by bribing them with offices, the Assembly +thought this a golden opportunity to weaken the Governor's appointive +power. Some could recall Berkeley's Long Assembly, and all had been +witnesses of the shameless way in which Nicholson had handed out jobs. +So they passed a bill requiring each county court to nominate three men, +all of them justices, from whom the Governor was to select one as +sheriff, who was to serve not more than two years. Had not Nott been so +anxious to avoid any conflict with the Assembly, he would certainly have +vetoed this bill, for not only did it restrict his power of appointment, +but it infringed upon the royal prerogative. + +But he balked when the House sent up a bill to require the Governor, in +appointing the justices of the peace, to secure the assent of the +Council, or at least five of them. He thought they were going too far in +this attempt to deprive the Governor of the patronage, leave him at the +mercy of the Council and Assembly, and make him a mere figurehead. When +the Lords of Trade heard that he had vetoed this bill, they wrote +congratulating him. "The restraining Governors from making justices ... +is entrenching on prerogative, and you may be assured it will not be +approved here. In all other plantations the power of appointing and +removing justices of the peace is solely in the Governor.... But it +would be prudence in the Governor to advise for his better +information."[13] + +When the Assembly met again, in April, 1706, they made a daring attempt +to weaken the Governor's power by passing a substitute law for the +famous Act of 1680 which gave a perpetual revenue to the Crown. The new +bill bore the disarming title of "An Act for raising a public revenue +for the better support of the government ... and for ascertaining the +salary of the Council." Nott apparently saw nothing alarming in it, but +Colonel Quary at once suspected that it was intended to weaken the Act +of 1680, and perhaps set a precedent which would eventually give the +House control of the revenue from the export duty on tobacco. + +"These topping men" were merely waiting an opportunity to have the old +law damned, he wrote the Lords of Trade. "Had the Assembly only designed +to have augmented and added to the Queen's revenue, why could they not +make an act of it without damning and destroying the former act? And +that your Lordships may see the snake in the grass, please observe that +the Assembly are pleased to appropriate the Queen's revenue as they +think fit, a thing never pretended to before, and to limit and confine +her Majesty from disposing of her own money.... Whereas in a former act +the Queen was graciously pleased to appropriate £370 to be divided among +the Council for attendance, in this act they have ordered otherwise ... +by which they have tied up the Queen's hands from giving any part of her +bounty but according to their pleasure."[14] + +When this bill came before the Board of Trade they referred it to +Attorney General Harcourt and Solicitor General Montague. Although these +astute men, as we have seen, gave it as their opinion that the old act +had been passed in a way "contrary to the present method," and should be +superseded by a new one, the Board decided to let sleeping dogs lie. So +they advised the Queen to veto the Act of 1716. "'Tis hoped it will +never be revived by any Governor who has at heart the interests of the +Crown, and wishes that people should distinguish between what they owe +to the indulgence of the Sovereign and what they may claim as their +right by the laws of Virginia," wrote Governor Spotswood several years +later.[15] + +The climate of Virginia, which was fatal to so many newcomers from +England, took a heavy toll of Governors. Lord De la Warr fell a victim +to the Virginia sickness; Herbert Jeffreys died after having been in the +colony only a few months. Now, on August 23, 1706, death ended the brief +administration of Governor Nott. He was mourned by the people, and was +buried in Bruton Parish churchyard with all the solemnity the colony was +capable of. "Had it pleased God to have spared him but a little time +longer amongst us, he would have healed all those unhappy differences +that have of late made us uneasy, and united us again to be one people," +wrote William Bassett.[16] + +When the Council met after Nott's death they opened his commission and +listened intently as it was read. And there was great satisfaction when +they found that in the event of a Governor's death the Council was to +take on themselves the administration of the government. But they were +far from happy that Colonel Edmund Jenings, as the senior Councillor, +was to preside at their meetings with such powers as were necessary in +"carrying on the public service." They insisted that the Attorney +General of the colony, in drawing up the first proclamation under the +new government, should issue it, not under the name of the President +alone, but of the President and Council.[17] + +Jenings wrote to the Lords of Trade to ask just what his status should +be. Their answer was decisive. The instruction that the Council should +take over the government upon the death of a Governor had caused many +controversies between the President and the Councillors and had greatly +hindered public business. So they altered it to read: "The eldest +Councillor do take upon him the administration of the government ... in +the same manner ... as other our Governor should do."[18] + +Francis Nicholson had written the Lords of Trade some years previously +expressing doubts as to the wisdom of making any member of the Council +the chief executive. "There may happen great disputes about the person +of the President and his powers. And may be when the President and the +Council are all natives or else entirely settled here, nature and +self-interest may sway them to do some things and pass some acts that +may be (as they will imagine) for the good of their country and make and +secure an interest with the people. This may be prejudicial to their +Majesties' service."[19] No doubt the Lords of Trade saw the force of +this reasoning, but they were not prepared to keep a Lieutenant Governor +in Virginia whose only function it would be to wait around ready to step +in when the Governor died or was recalled. + +Although the other members of the Council seem to have regarded Jenings +with something like scorn, and one of them had spoken of him as "the +right noble little Colonel Jenings," the man had had a distinguished +career. He had been clerk of the York County court, collector of the +York River district, commissioner for the College of William and Mary, +member of the Council, Attorney General, and Secretary. And now, as +President of the Council, he seems to have laid aside former +animosities, and considered himself merely first among equals. + +It was taken for granted that Jenings' administration would be brief, +and that a new Governor would come over as soon as one could be +appointed. Word had come that a commission had been drawn up for Colonel +Robert Hunter, and that he had sailed from Portsmouth in June, 1707. But +month after month passed and he failed to appear. As late as March, +1708, the Council was wondering what had become of him. At last they +heard that the vessel in which he had shipped had been taken by the +French, and that he was held captive in France. So they had to wait two +more years before a Governor arrived.[20] + +This suited President Jenings and the Council, for it left them in +undisputed control of the government. They even refused to hold an +Assembly for fear it might question their proceedings. It is true that +six times they set the date for a meeting of the Assembly, but six times +they postponed it. At last, when people began to question whether these +frequent postponements did not put an end to the Assembly, the Council +settled all doubts by dissolving them by proclamation. + +This was a dangerous thing to do, for it was in the midst of the War of +the Spanish Succession, and an Assembly was needed to provide funds for +the defense of the colony. But the Council gambled that no French fleet +would appear in the Chesapeake Bay. The normal expenses of the +government--their own salaries and those of the President, Auditor, +Attorney General, and other officials--they paid out of the export duty +on tobacco and the quit rent fund. In September, 1708, Jenings wrote +that privateers had come in between the capes and had chased a merchant +vessel up the York River, that the Indians were threatening the +frontier, that the Governor's house was unfinished, and that the quit +rent fund was "much drained," but that despite all, the Council would +not call an Assembly.[21] + +In December, 1709, Lord George Hamilton, Earl of Orkney, was appointed +Governor General of Virginia. Orkney had been trained as a soldier, and +had distinguished himself at Namur, Blenheim, Malplaquet, and elsewhere. +It is probable that it was intended from the first that the office +should be a sinecure, and though Orkney held it for years he never set +foot on Virginia soil. But Virginia had to pay his salary, for his +£1,000 a year was taken out of the export duty on tobacco. To carry on +the administration in the colony Colonel Alexander Spotswood was made +Lieutenant Governor. + +It would seem that in the years from the recall of Nicholson to the +arrival of Spotswood, the danger to liberty in Virginia came less from +the Throne than from the Council. A free people could not be quiet under +the rule of a body of twelve men, not chosen by the voters but appointed +by the sovereign. + +The average planter, not only the owner of only a few acres, but the man +of means had reason to be alarmed. Was it consistent with the principles +of English liberty, they must have asked, for a clique of wealthy men, +many of them united in one family, to have such power over their lives +and their property? If the people were to rule, final authority must be +vested in the House of Burgesses, not the Council. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] CO5-1315, Bassett to Perry & Co., Aug. 30, 1706. + +[2] CO5-1314, Doc. 63iv. + +[3] Hugh Jones, _The present state of Virginia_, ed. R. L. Morton, 93. + +[4] P. A. Bruce, _Social life of Virginia_, 133 + +[5] T. J. Wertenbaker, _The planters of colonial Virginia_, 155-160. + +[6] CO5-1318, Spotswood to Lords of Trade, March 20, 1718. + +[7] CO5-1340, Doc. 15. + +[8] _Ibid._ + +[9] _Ibid._, Doc. 19. + +[10] CO5-1316, p. 450. + +[11] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1702-1712: 131. + +[12] _Ibid._, 147. + +[13] CO5-1362, March 26, 1707. + +[14] CO5-1315, Quary to Lordships, Sept. 1, 1706. + +[15] CO5-1317. + +[16] CO5-1315, Aug. 30, 1706. + +[17] _Executive journals of the Council_ 3: 119, 120. + +[18] CO5-1362, p. 121. + +[19] CO5-1314, Doc. 15. + +[20] CO5-1362, pp. 336-340. + +[21] CO5-1362, pp. 318, 325. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SPOTSWOOD + + +Alexander Spotswood arrived in Virginia June 20, 1710, aboard the +warship _Deptford_, and spent the night at Green Spring, with his future +enemy, Philip Ludwell. Two days later he met with the Council around the +oval table in the beautiful Council Chamber in the new Capitol, and laid +his commission before them. + +The new Lieutenant Governor was descended from a family of Scottish +Anglicans. His great-grandfather had seconded Archbishop Laud's attempt +to introduce the Prayer Book in Scotland; his grandfather had been put +to death by the Presbyterians. Perhaps it was this tragedy which induced +his father to desert his native land and take service in the English +army. It was while he was with his regiment in Tangier that Alexander +Spotswood was born. + +The son chose to follow in the father's footsteps, and in 1693 we find +him serving in the Earl of Bath's regiment in Flanders. He fought +gallantly, was wounded at Blenheim, and was captured at Oudenarde. It is +possible that he served under the Earl of Orkney, also, and that was the +reason he named him as his deputy in Virginia. "I must ever own +gratefully that to your Lordship's good will I owe my station here," he +wrote Orkney in 1718. + +Spotswood was one of the ablest Governors sent to America to represent +the British Crown. He did much to open the West to Virginia, encouraged +settlement in the Piedmont, and erected forts in the passes of the Blue +Ridge. He wiped out a nest of pirates under the notorious Blackbeard and +strung several of them up at Williamsburg. A man of artistic interests, +he was responsible for the beautiful Palace gardens, with their wealth +of boxwood, walks, walls, lake, ornate gates, flower beds; and designed +charming Bruton Parish Church. + +In 1716 he led a party of gentlemen, accompanied by rangers, servants, +and Indians, on an exploring expedition to the West. As they rode +through the wilderness of the Piedmont, they shot deer and bears, camped +in the open, roasted venison on wooden forks. On reaching the Blue +Ridge they toiled to the summit, and there, looking out over the Valley +of Virginia, drank the health of King George I and the royal family. +After descending into the Valley and crossing the Shenandoah River, they +turned their horses' heads homeward. Back in Williamsburg, the Governor +presented each of his companions with a golden horseshoe, inscribed with +_sic juvat transcendere montes_. + +Although Spotswood was accused of being haughty and implacable, he +lacked the fiery temper of Nicholson or the revengeful fury of Sir +William Berkeley. In his conflicts with the Council his astute mind and +his knowledge of English and Virginia constitutional law made it easy +for him to refute their arguments. Though he defended the powers of the +Crown, he was honestly concerned for the welfare of the colony. But he +hated democracy, and he had no patience with what he termed the follies +of the ignorant multitude. Despite his assaults on the Virginia +aristocracy, his ambition was to become one of them, and he used his +office to build up one of the greatest estates in the colony. + +The instructions given Spotswood by the Lords of Trade were on the whole +wise and liberal. The people of Virginia were to have the full benefit +of the _habeas corpus_; fees and salaries must be moderate; no one must +be deprived of life, member, or property without due process of law; +martial law was forbidden; the people were to be supplied with arms. Yet +several clauses were loaded with trouble for the Lieutenant +Governor--one for appointing courts to try criminals; another for +preventing frauds in the accounts of governmental receipts and payments; +another for collecting arrears of quit rents; one to prevent the holding +of large tracts of unoccupied land. + +When this last instruction was read to the Council, they must have +shifted uneasily in their seats, for most of them held land which they +did not cultivate. Fourteen years earlier Edward Randolph had reported +this to the Lords of Trade. The reason the colony was so thinly settled, +he thought, was that poor men would not go there "because members of the +Council and others who made an interest in the government, have from +time to time procured grants of very large tracts of land." Thus +newcomers and indentured workers on becoming free were forced to be +tenants or go to the utmost bounds of the colony. The remedy, he +suggested, was to force payment of arrears of quit rents and prohibit +for the future grants of more than 500 acres.[1] + +Both Nott and Hunter had been instructed to cancel patents for land of +any who neglected to cultivate even a small part of their holdings. So +now Spotswood, in the face of bitter opposition, restricted all grants +to 400 acres unless the patentee showed that he was able to meet this +requirement. In 1710 he tried to satisfy the Lords of Trade by pushing +through a law stating what should be considered satisfactory seating, +and in 1713 another making the regulations still more specific.[2] + +The chief effect of these acts was to arouse the resentment of the +Council. They assented to them in their capacity as the Upper House of +the Assembly because they dared not flaunt openly the commands of the +British government. But they found means to make them inoperative. The +rumor was spread throughout the colony that the attorney general in +England had ruled that no lands patented prior to the passage of these +acts was liable to forfeiture. To ease men's fears, several large +landholders purposely refused to pay quit rents. Even John Grymes, the +deputy auditor into whose hands the quit rents were paid, himself +remained in arrears "to show no danger in that law."[3] Spotswood +admitted that the law was a failure when he wrote in 1718: "No man in +Virginia has yet had land granted away for non-payment of quit rents." + +When Spotswood came to Virginia there were many complaints of hard +times. The war in Europe had proved disastrous to the tobacco trade, the +flow of hogsheads to the continent of Europe had been reduced to a +trickle, tobacco piled up in the British warehouses, the merchants left +a part of each crop on the planters' hands, and the price dropped lower +and lower. Many of the poorer farmers were in rags, and some began to +raise sheep and to spin and weave. The salaried class, especially the +clergy, were in dire straits also, since they were paid in tobacco, +often of the lowest grade. + +The fertile brain of Spotswood now thought out a scheme intended to +raise the price of tobacco, give the colony a convenient and stable +currency, make the collecting of quit rents easier, and prevent frauds +in shipping out tobacco. So he got one of his friends in the Assembly to +introduce a bill to require inspection of all tobacco at government +warehouses, and the issuing of tobacco notes which were to be legal +tender. This plan had much to recommend it, and a similar one was put +into successful operation later during the administration of Governor +Gooch. + +Despite violent opposition in certain quarters, the tobacco bill passed +both Houses of Assembly and was signed by the Governor. So now there +were sounds of hammering and sawing as warehouses arose on the great +rivers. Soon the tobacco vessels were tying up at the adjacent wharves, +and the planters were rolling their hogsheads for the inspection. After +the agent had examined the leaf, he either rejected it as "trash" and +unfit for exportation, or stamped on the hogshead the weight and variety +of the tobacco, and gave the owner his certificate. + +At first everything seemed to be going smoothly. The quit rents were +collected in tobacco notes, the price of the leaf rose in the English +market. The clergy wrote Spotswood thanking him for the increased value +of their salaries. "Their livings, which by the badness of the pay were +sunk to little or nothing, begin now to be much more valuable by your +wise and just contrivance to keep up the credit of the public +payments."[4] + +None the less, the law was unpopular. The debtor objected to paying in +appreciated currency. It was a heavy expense for the planter to roll his +hogsheads over the bad roads to the warehouses and then pay for +inspection and storage. He was resentful if his tobacco was judged to be +unfit for export. At the courthouses local politicians began to denounce +the act to willing listeners. "He is the patriot who will not yield to +whatever the government proposes," complained Spotswood. "Him they call +a poor man's friend who always carries still-yards to weigh to the needy +planter's advantage, and who never judges his tobacco to be trash."[5] + +Spotswood said that the tobacco act was looked upon to be the most +extraordinary one that ever passed a Virginia Assembly. When he first +outlined his plans for it his friends assured him it would be impossible +to persuade the Assembly to pass it. Yet it was adopted unanimously by +the Council, and passed in the House "with some address and great +struggle." + +What the Governor meant by "address" is revealed by an examination of +the list of fat jobs that he handed out to individual Burgesses. Of the +fifty-one members, seventeen were justices of the peace. Fearing perhaps +that this did not assure the passage of his bill, he was lavish in +promising tobacco agents' places, and no less than twenty-five Burgesses +cast their votes with this job in sight. Only nineteen members failed to +get one or the other of these posts, and some got both.[6] "I have, in a +great measure, I think, cleared the way for a Governor towards carrying +any reasonable point in the House of Burgesses," Spotswood boasted, "for +he will have in his disposal about forty agencies, which one with +another are likely to yield nigh 250 pounds per annum each."[7] + +But Spotswood would not have been so pleased with himself if he had +realized the resentment which this open bribery of the people's +representatives caused throughout the colony. The Assembly "gave him all +things asked, and he them agent's places to pick our pockets," said one +disgruntled planter. But what the officeholder had to expect if he +opposed the measures urged by the Governor is shown by his treatment of +Nicholas Meriwether. When Meriwether not only spoke against the tobacco +bill in the Assembly, but by "many seditious speeches" denounced it to +the people of New Kent County, Spotswood promptly removed him from his +place as justice of the peace. This, he thought, would discourage others +from following his example. + +Having corrupted the Burgesses and made most of them his henchmen, +Spotswood would have no doubt continued them indefinitely by successive +adjournments, had they not been automatically dissolved by the death of +Queen Anne. "By a good providence we were delivered from them, else they +would have continued as long as he," wrote Joshua Gee.[8] Just how +passively the people would have submitted to another long Assembly must +remain a matter of speculation, but their resentment against both +Spotswood and his puppets is shown by their selections for the House of +Burgesses in 1715. Of the twenty-five members who had accepted agents' +jobs, only one, William Armistead, of Elizabeth City, was returned. And +the voters of New Kent showed their anger at Spotswood's treatment of +Meriwether by returning him to the House. Altogether only sixteen +Burgesses of the old House had seats in the new, and of these eleven had +been neither agents nor justices. + +Spotswood was deeply resentful. The new Burgesses, he thought, were a +set of ignorant demagogues, determined to oppose anything he suggested. +It was all the fault of the law which permitted any man to vote who +owned any real estate, even half an acre. Just before an election +reports were spread that the country was on the verge of ruin, and no +one was qualified to save it but "some of their own mobbish +politicians." It was no wonder that some of the Burgesses could not +write grammatical English, since the ignorant people insisted on +electing men of their own stamp.[9] + +The new Assembly was as hostile to the Governor as their predecessors +had been subservient. Everything he proposed they objected to, in some +cases for no other reason than to thwart him. They were egged on by +Gawin Corbin, who had been ousted from his job as naval officer; George +Marable, whom Spotswood had removed from the James City County court; +and Edwin Conway, of Lancaster County. But the whole atmosphere of the +House was one of hostility. + +No sooner had the House been organized than grievances from various +counties poured in, most of them complaining against the tobacco law. +The people of Surry prayed that the law be repealed, the people of +Henrico wanted it repealed, the people of Essex wanted it repealed, the +people of Warwick complained of the hardships of the law. It seemed that +no more than two counties in all Virginia were satisfied.[10] Spotswood +claimed that these grievances did not represent the views of a majority +of the people. Many of them were drawn up by members of the House, some +were signed at election fields, horse races, and drunken meetings. "Nor +shall a seditious paper, signed by five obscure fellows who must have a +scribe to write all their names, ever pass with me for a county +grievance."[11] + +When Richard Littlepage and Thomas Butts, two of the justices of New +Kent, refused to certify the grievances of that county, they were +arrested under the Speaker's warrant. Though the House voted them guilty +of high misdemeanor and contempt, they refused to appear, claiming that +the Burgesses had no legal authority over them. Thereupon the House +appealed to the Governor to arrest them. "The freedom and privileges of +this House are in danger of being utterly subverted," they said, "when +justices ... assume a jurisdiction and by their judgment debar the +people and their rightful representatives of the rightful ways ... for +redressing their grievances ... we believe that such matters do concern +the Burgesses in Assembly."[12] But Spotswood rebuffed them. They were +exceeding their authority, he told them, when they persecuted justices +and tried to punish them for their proceedings on the bench. + +In his anger at not being able to control the Burgesses, Spotswood tried +to make the House less democratic by restricting the right to vote. But +not daring to reveal his intention, he approached the question in a +roundabout way. In September, 1715, he sent out a printed letter to all +of the county courts, questioning whether the justices should levy a tax +to pay the Burgesses' salaries when no law existed empowering them to do +so.[13] To the Lords of Trade he explained that if the justices declined +to pay the levy, "the Burgesses must have become suitors for an act +wherein might properly have been described the qualifications of the +electors and elected."[14] In other words, he was prepared to veto any +bill to legalize the collecting of salaries that did not disfranchise +the small landholder and restrict the right to sit in the House to the +well-to-do. So he kept mum on the fact that the salaries could be +assessed by the sheriffs on a writ, as was the practice in England. + +But in this matter he was balked by the members of the Council. Carter, +Blair, Ludwell, and the others no doubt guessed what Spotswood was +aiming at, and they were unwilling to have him undermine the very +foundations of liberty in Virginia. So in the General Court they passed +"an unpreceded sentence" to levy the Burgesses' salary on the private +estates of the justices if they refused "to levy it on their +counties."[15] + +The House asserted in no uncertain terms its right to judge of the +election and qualifications of its members. When they heard that William +Cole and Cole Digges, of Warwick County, had promised the voters that if +elected they would serve without salary, they refused to seat them. A +new election was held in which, presumably, no such promise was made, +and Cole and Digges were again elected, and this time permitted to take +their seats.[16] Spotswood taunted the House for not grasping at this +opportunity to reduce the heavy burden of the poll tax, and the Council +thought there was neither law nor practice to justify their action.[17] +Yet the Burgesses were right, not only in regarding Cole and Digges' +offer as bribery, but in claiming that it was contrary to a law passed +in October, 1705.[18] + +The House now made a major assault upon the powers of the Governor. The +time had come, they thought, to put an end to the bribing of its members +with lucrative jobs, which had been done with such pernicious +consequences by Berkeley, Nicholson, and others. They passed an act +making it unlawful for any Burgess to be also a naval officer, tobacco +agent, clerk of a county court, or hold any other office of profit in +the government. They next tried to put an end to long Assemblies by +prohibiting their continuance for more than three years. A third measure +"for ascertaining secretaries', sheriffs', clerks' and constables' fees" +was designed to make the bait of office less attractive. These bills +aroused Spotswood's ire, for he saw immediately that they were designed +to strike the vital power of patronage from his hands and the hands of +his successors. So he vetoed all three. + +The Governor's main purpose in calling the Assembly of 1715 was to have +them vote assistance to South Carolina in that colony's bloody struggle +with a powerful confederation of Indians. "We must appear to have +neither policy nor bowels of compassion, if this government can remain +unconcerned while savage pagans are overwhelming one of our adjacent +provinces, and inhumanly butchering and torturing our brethren," he told +the Burgesses in his opening address.[19] To them South Carolina seemed +a long way off. They had troubles enough at home without sending men and +money there, but, since the Governor was so set on it, they would yield +if he would consent to something they wanted. + +They passed a bill to raise £450 for the purchase of supplies for South +Carolina, but tacked on a rider for the repeal of the hated tobacco act. +This, of course, Spotswood vetoed. To let it pass, he thought, would be +an act of high injustice, since upon the faith of the tobacco law at +least £7,000 had been spent in erecting warehouses and wharves, and in +the purchase of scales.[20] Neither he nor the Burgesses realized that +the law was under attack in England. The merchants were dissatisfied +with it, and Solicitor General William Thompson held that it was an act +in restraint of trade. In July, 1717, the act was vetoed by King George +I.[21] + +Spotswood closed the session with an ill-natured and bitter denunciation +of the Burgesses. "The true interest of your country is not what you +have troubled your heads about," he said. "All your proceedings have +been calculated to answer the notions of the ignorant populace, and if +you can excuse yourselves to them, you matter not how you stand before +God, your Prince, and all judicious men or before any others to whom you +think you owe not your elections.... In fine, I cannot but attribute +those miscarriages to the people's mistaken choice of a set of +representatives whom Heaven has not generally endowed with the ordinary +qualifications requisite to legislators, for I observe that the grand +ruling party in your House has not furnished chairmen for two of your +standing committees who can spell English or write common sense. And to +keep such an Assembly on foot would be discrediting a country that has +many able and worthy gentlemen in it. And therefore I dissolve you."[22] + +Having insulted the Burgesses and the people who had elected them, +Spotswood next incurred the enmity of a majority of the Council. The +trouble started when he laid before them the instruction requiring him +to see that fair books of accounts be kept of the Crown revenues.[23] +Since only the gross sums had been reported and itemized accounts kept +only on "loose papers," he demanded that the Auditor and the Receiver +General adopt more businesslike methods. To this Receiver General +William Byrd and Auditor Ludwell replied that they kept their accounts +as their predecessors had kept them and in accordance with instructions +from the Auditor General for all the colonies. + +Soon after this Byrd left for England, taking with him, if we may +believe Spotswood, "all the books of the revenue." The Governor then +demanded of Ludwell whether or not he intended to comply with the +instruction to keep account books. Ludwell replied that he could not +change the old method without orders from the Auditor General. Since +this was nothing less than setting up the authority of this officer +against that of the King, the Governor thought the excuse a very poor +one. So, in January, 1716, he ousted both Ludwell and Byrd from +office.[24] + +No doubt there had been confusion in the accounts, and no doubt +Spotswood's insistence on having account books would have done much to +bring them into order. It is possible, also, that there had been much +remissness in paying taxes and some fraud. The Governor wrote the Lords +of Trade: "Notwithstanding all the contrivances of the family to justify +the late officers of the revenue, here is now demonstration, not only of +darkness and confusion in the manner of collecting the quit rents, but +likewise of frauds and errors in accounting for the King's revenue."[25] + +Realizing that he had brought down on himself the hostility of the +Councillors, Spotswood now tried to undermine their power by setting up +courts of oyer and terminer to which he appointed persons other than +themselves. The General Court, on which all members of the Council and +none else sat, had long been the court of last appeal in the colony. The +Councillors prized their seats in this court not less than their seats +in the Upper House of Assembly or around the Council table. Spotswood +claimed that their power over the lives and property of the people made +all regard them with awe, and "kept the country in subjection to their +party."[26] "They know that they have now lodged wholly in their hands +that power that Absalom wanted for effectually securing the people in +his interest, when he longed to be the judge of every man's cause."[27] + +It was to be expected, then, that they should insist that none but +themselves should sit on the new court of oyer and terminer. In May, +1717, eight of them met in secret and drew up a letter to the Lords of +Trade defending their position. The charter of 1676 expressly stated +that the Governor and Council had authority to try "all treasons, +murders, felonies." The laws of Virginia made the Governor and Council +the supreme court. They could not believe that a Governor could "break +through laws and charters and alter all the ancient usage and tradition +of the government."[28] + +Spotswood also appealed to the Lords of Trade. And he was overjoyed when +this body wrote him that they could not see what reason the Council had +to insist upon being the sole judges of the new court since his +commission empowered him to "appoint judges."[29] They were backed by +Attorney General Edward Northy in his opinion of December 24, 1717. +Northy advised, however, that Governors be instructed not to hold courts +of oyer and terminer except in cases of "extraordinary emergency."[30] + +The test came in December, 1718, when the court of oyer and terminer was +about to begin its session. Several Councillors had taken their seats +when Spotswood announced that he was joining with them Mr. Cole Digges +and Mr. Peter Beverley. Since neither was a member of the Council, +Ludwell and four others got up and left. The five then drew up a +remonstrance, which Ludwell presented to Spotswood in court, with a +"long harangue." Noticing that people were gathering, he turned around, +and raising his voice, addressed them. "The Governor's power of naming +other judges than the Councillors in life and death cases is of +dangerous consequence to the lives and liberties of free subjects," he +said. "For that reason I refuse to sit in the court of oyer and terminer +with those gentlemen."[31] + +In London, Byrd pleaded the cause of the Council before the Lords of +Trade. It would be fatal, he argued, to permit a Governor to try any +person by what judges he thought proper. "Whoever has had the fortune to +live in the plantations knows that Governors are not in the least exempt +from human frailties, such as passionate love of money, resentment +against such as presume to oppose their designs, particularly to their +creatures and favorites."[32] To this Spotswood retorted: "What else +could tempt the ruling party in the Council so strenuously to insist on +a right, never claimed before, of being judges of oyer and terminer, but +the desire of gaining to one family an entire power over the lives, as +they now have over the estates, of the people of Virginia?"[33] + +To the Earl of Orkney, Spotswood wrote bitterly. If he lost his battle +with the Council, future Governors would think it folly to oppose them. +"I take the power, interest, and reputation of the King's Governor in +this dominion to be now reduced to a desperate gasp, and if the present +efforts of the country cannot add new vigor to the same, then the +haughtiness of a Carter, the hypocrisy of a Blair, the inveteracy of a +Ludwell, the brutishness of a Smith, the malice of a Byrd, the +conceitedness of a Grymes, and the scurrility of a Corbin, with about a +score of base disloyalists and ungrateful Creolians for their adherents, +must for the future rule the province."[34] + +Since the Virginia treasury was now overflowing as a result of peace in +Europe and the shipping out of vast quantities of tobacco, Spotswood +managed to get along without an Assembly for three years. He would +probably have continued to do so indefinitely, had he not wanted an act +to reimburse the Indian Company which had been dissolved by order of the +King. The trade with the Indians had recently become a mere trickle, +because South Carolina had confiscated the goods of some Virginia +traders, and lawless savages had robbed others. So an act was passed in +1714 under which a monopoly of the trade with the southern tribes was +lodged in the Virginia Indian Company. + +In return the company was required to contribute £100 towards building a +public magazine at Williamsburg, to garrison and keep in repair a fort +at Christanna on the frontier, and erect a schoolhouse there for Indian +children. Some of the leading men in the colony became stockholders, +among them William Cocke, Mann Page, William Cole, Nathaniel Harrison, +and Cole Digges. They had spent large sums "in purchasing servants, +taking up land and making settlements on the frontier, clearing roads, +and building warehouses," when word came that the act under which they +operated had been vetoed by the King.[35] Since they were now left +holding the bag, they asked that the Assembly reimburse them. + +The election which followed was one of the bitterest in Virginia +history. Spotswood made full use of the patronage. "Commissions flew +about to every fellow that could make two or three votes," wrote Joshua +Gee. "He gave the power to his friends to make a discreet use of [them]. +And indeed never fouler play was by men, than at most of our +elections."[36] Political pamphlets were distributed at every +courthouse. One of them began: "Having seen a rascally paper which +contained advice to freeholders in favor of a court party and tools of +arbitrary power to enslave and ruin a free born people ... to prevent +which I thought it my duty to open your eyes.... You are to know, +brother electors, that this Assembly is called for no other reason but +to pay to the Indian Company their charges on Fort Christanna, if they +can get a set of men fit for that purpose to gull into that unjust +payment."[37] + +The outcome of the election was another defeat for the Governor. No less +than thirty-four members of the hostile House of Burgesses of 1715 were +returned. Of the new members Gawin Corbin, John Grymes, Archibald Blair, +and others were bitter enemies of Spotswood. During the session the +Governor kept his temper, since he had been ordered to do so by the +Lords of Trade, but the Burgesses, remembering his former insults, did +everything they could to annoy him. Though his opening address was +conciliatory, it was greeted with "violent censures." One wrathful +member "shot his bolt" and cried out: "It is all stuff and calculated +only for the latitude of Whitehall." When Spotswood laid before the +House several letters from New York in regard to renewing a treaty with +the Indians, "they made it their jest, and setting up a great laugh ... +cried out in their vulgar language, 'A bite!'"[38] + +Needless to say, Spotswood got practically nothing out of this Assembly. +They refused to repay the Indian Company for what they had laid out for +the defense of the colony. They refused to pay for a proposed trip to +New York by Spotswood to renew the treaty with the Iroquois. To his +request for payment of his expenses in making fatiguing journeys in the +service of the country, they replied, "we hope they will give you the +satisfaction of reflecting that you have deserved the salary allowed by +his Majesty."[39] + +But the Burgesses were not yet done with him. Late in the session, when +it seemed that nothing more of importance was to come before them, and +some had gone home and others were at the race track, the "party +managers" brought in an address to the King with a long string of +accusations against him. Spotswood intimates that Blair and Ludwell were +responsible for this maneuver in order to have the House second the +complaints of the Council. Blair made his influence felt through his +brother, Archibald Blair, and Ludwell through his son-in-law, John +Grymes. "As during the last two sessions the one has scarce let a day +pass without dropping in the Assembly some scurrilous reflection upon +me," Spotswood wrote, "so the other can't keep his temper when he +perceives any matter agreeable to me is likely to be carried."[40] + +The accusations, which were embodied in instructions to William Byrd II +as agent for the House, were carried by a vote of twenty-two to +fourteen. But when they were considered one by one most of them were +struck out. In their final form the accusations boiled down to little +more than that the Governor had misconstrued the laws, that he had tried +to keep the justices from levying the salaries of the Burgesses, and +that he had by provoking speeches and messages abused the House.[41] +Spotswood, in two long papers, had no difficulty in answering the +charges, but they remained as convincing evidence that there existed +widespread dissatisfaction with his administration. + +To counteract this impression he now followed the precedent set by +Nicholson of seeking flattering addresses. "To support his cause tools +were picked to make up grand juries to deliver fulsome addresses to the +Governor and abuse the Council and Assembly," Joshua Gee tells us. "The +same tools made addresses from the courts and even engaged every +barefooted fellow to sign addresses from the counties."[42] The address +from Middlesex spoke of Spotswood's wise and moderate government; that +of the "justices, clergy, and principal inhabitants" of New Kent +declared that his character had been traduced; that of King and Queen +County that the charges against him were false. All in all, the +addresses came from twenty-one of the twenty-five counties.[43] + +This deluge of praise must have had its influence with the Lords of +Trade and the Earl of Orkney. But more convincing was the logic of +Spotswood's letters in which he answered the charges against him. He had +brought down on his head the hostility of the Councillors and Burgesses +through his efforts to carry out their Lordships' orders and uphold the +prerogative of the King, he said. To remove him for doing his duty would +render the situation hopeless for future Governors. + +So, despite the arguments and pleading of William Byrd, both Orkney and +the Lords of Trade gave Spotswood their support. Orkney thought that no +essential complaint had been brought against him, and praised him for +putting the government of Virginia upon a much improved footing.[44] The +Board of Trade wrote Spotswood, in June, 1719: "You may depend upon all +the countenance and support which we can give you which we think you +have deserved."[45] It was rumored in Virginia, also, that the Board was +considering removing from the Council some of the Governor's bitterest +enemies. + +Yet at the moment of triumph, Spotswood, instead of lauding it over the +Councillors and forcing them to submit, seemed anxious to compromise all +differences. The key to his moderation is found in his opening address +to the Burgesses in November, 1720: "To consider the stake I have among +you and the free choice I've made to fix it under this government, you +have not surely any grounds to suspect me of injurious designs against +the welfare of this colony."[46] Then he indulged in a metaphor to show +that the interests of Virginia and Great Britain did not conflict. "I +look upon Virginia as a rib taken from Britain's side, and believe that +while they both proceed as living under the marriage contract, this Eve +must thrive as long as her Adam flourishes." + +In other words, Spotswood did not want to continue his differences with +the planter aristocracy because he planned to become one of them. In +1716 he had acquired 3,229 acres on the Rappahannock, known as the +Germanna Tract, and peopled it with German tenants. Three years later he +granted 3,065 acres, the so-called Wilderness Tract, to a certain +Richard Hickman, who transferred it to him. He next acquired the Fork +Tract, the Barrows Tract, the Mine Tract of 15,000 acres, the Lower +Massaponax Tract, and the Upper Massaponax Tract. In 1729, when the new +county of Spotsylvania was created, the Governor owned 25,000 acres +within its borders.[47] On his Mine Tract he had invested so heavily in +an iron foundry that Byrd called him the Tubal Cain of Virginia. + +So, when Nathaniel Harrison approached him with proposals for a +reconciliation, Spotswood was quite willing to do his part. But there +were long negotiations before peace was concluded. On May 16, 1718, when +the Governor made new overtures, they were greeted by stiffness and +reserve. Yet the Councillors at his invitation, went from the Capitol to +the Palace, and there gathered around a bowl of arrack, drinking until +midnight. On the other hand, the hostile eight shunned Spotswood's +celebration of the King's birthday, "got together all the turbulent and +disaffected Burgesses, had an entertainment of their own in the +Burgesses House, and invited all the mob to a bonfire, where they were +plentifully supplied with liquors."[48] + +In the end the Councillors came to terms. Smith and Berkeley were dead, +while Carter, Blair, Ludwell, Lewis, Byrd, and Harrison had seen the +handwriting on the wall. At a meeting in the Council Chamber of the +Capitol, in April 1720, with Spotswood at the head of the table, it was +agreed that all past controversies be forgotten, and that in the future +there should be no other contention than who should most promote the +King's service and the public benefit of the colony.[49] + +For some months there was comparative quiet in Virginia. But in 1721 +Spotswood became uneasy when James Blair decided to visit England. "He +is continually assuring me of all the service he can do me at home," the +Governor wrote to the Bishop of London, "but ... I shall be contented +with his not offering to do me any disservice."[50] These fears were +well-grounded, for there is reason to think that the Commissary was +instrumental in having him removed from office, just how is not known. +It is significant that when it was rumored that a new Governor was +coming over, "it was understood that Parson Blair was likely to act as +prime minister." Significant, also, is it that Hugh Drysdale, who +succeeded Spotswood early in 1722, came to Virginia on the same vessel +as Blair, and remained on the most intimate terms with him throughout +his short administration.[51] + +Spotswood's last act as Lieutenant Governor reflects no credit upon his +character, and did disservice both to the Crown and colony. Upon hearing +that he was to be removed, he made out patents for huge tracts of land +in Spotsylvania County to certain persons who immediately conveyed them +to him.[52] He later adopted a system of tenantry, leasing land in small +parcels for two generations, a system which was copied in the huge +Virginia manors developed in western Virginia late in the century. +Although tenantry hastened settlement, it was inconsistent with the +democratic spirit of the frontier, and was largely abolished by the +Revolution. + +Nathaniel Blakiston said of Spotswood: "That gentleman has real capacity +and talents to manage in a high sphere, but he adheres too much to his +own sentiments, and thinks himself ill-treated if everybody does not +think as he does."[53] This weakness accounts in part for his inability +to get along with either the Council or the Burgesses. Many of the +policies which he advocated were wise, but his attempts to force them +through were unwise. When the Council opposed him he tried to break +their power; when the Burgesses thwarted him, he tried to bribe them +into submission. + +Spotswood's administration was marked by several years of great +prosperity, by the expansion of the frontier, by the attempts to develop +manufactures, by the regulation of the tobacco trade; but more important +was the demonstration that the people would no longer permit their +representatives in the Assembly to be made submissive to the Governor by +the use of the patronage. The punishment which they meted out to the +faithless in the Assembly of 1714 marked a notable advance along the +road to liberty, and was a warning to future Governors not to attempt to +rule by corruption. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] CO5-1315, Doc. 26. + +[2] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 3: 525. + +[3] CO5-1318. + +[4] CO5-1406, Dec. 7, 1714. + +[5] _Spotswood letters_ 2: p. 50. + +[6] _Virginia Magazine_ 2: 2-15. + +[7] _Spotswood letters_ 2: 49. + +[8] CO5-1319. + +[9] CO5-1318. + +[10] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 132, 133. + +[11] _Ibid._, 167. + +[12] _Ibid._, 147, 148. + +[13] CO5-1318. + +[14] _Ibid._ + +[15] _Ibid._ + +[16] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, xxxiii. + +[17] _Ibid._, 153, 165, 168. + +[18] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 3: 243. + +[19] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 122. + +[20] _Ibid._, 169. + +[21] CO5-1313. + +[22] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 170. + +[23] CO5-1416. + +[24] _Executive journals of the Council_ 3: 437. + +[25] CO5-1318, Spotswood to the Lords of Trade, March 20, 1718. + +[26] _Ibid._ + +[27] _Ibid._, Spotswood to Orkney, July 1, 1718. + +[28] Ludwell, Smith, Lewis, Bassett, Harrison, Berkeley, Carter, and +Blair. + +[29] CO5-1364. + +[30] CO5-1318. + +[31] CO5-1318, Spotswood to the Lords of Trade, March 5, 1719. + +[32] _Ibid._, Byrd Concerning Courts. + +[33] _Ibid._, Spotswood to the Lords of Trade, Dec. 22, 1718. + +[34] _Ibid._, Spotswood to Orkney, Dec. 22, 1718. + +[35] CO5-1317, Memorial of the Virginia Indian Company. + +[36] CO5-1319, Letter of Mr. Gee, Oct. 5, 1721. + +[37] CO5-1318, "Advice to Freeholders." + +[38] CO5-1318, Answer to Lieutenant Governor Spotswood. + +[39] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 213. + +[40] CO5-1318, Spotswood to Orkney, Dec. 22, 1718. + +[41] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 230, 231. + +[42] CO5-1319, Letter of Mr. Gee. + +[43] CO5-1318. + +[44] _Board of Trade journal_, 1715-1718: 425, 426. + +[45] CO5-1365, Lords of Trade to Spotswood, June 26, 1719. + +[46] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 250. + +[47] Leonidas Dodson, _Alexander Spotswood_, Chap. XIII. + +[48] _Spotswood letters_ 2: 284. + +[49] _Executive Journals of the Council_ 3: 524. + +[50] Rawlinson manuscript. + +[51] CO5-1319. + +[52] Ludwell papers 2 (40). + +[53] _Ibid._ + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +PEACE AND PROSPERITY + + +As the first quarter of the eighteenth century was a period of bitter +contention between the Governors of Virginia and the Council and +Burgesses, so the second quarter was marked by peace and harmony. In +England the government, under the leadership of Sir Robert Walpole, +adopted a conciliatory policy toward the colonies, the famous policy of +letting sleeping dogs lie. Great Britain was reaping huge profits from +the trade with America, and the chief concern of the Board of Trade was +to see that no laws were passed by the Assemblies to lessen them. On the +other hand, the colonies were permitted to govern themselves to a degree +that would not have been tolerated under the Stuarts. + +Possibly it was by chance that the two Lieutenant Governors whose +administrations covered this period--Hugh Drysdale and William +Gooch--were admirably suited to carry out this policy. Or they may have +been selected because of their winning personalities, their ability to +see both sides of a question, their desire to do justice to all men, +their lack of greed and ambition to dictate. We know that Drysdale was +recommended to the Earl of Orkney by Walpole himself.[1] At all events, +after contending for years with the implacable Nicholson and the +dictatorial Spotswood, Drysdale and Gooch must have seemed gifts from +Heaven to the Virginians. + +Drysdale arrived in Virginia on September 25, 1722, and two days later +was sworn in in the Council Chamber. He was heartily welcomed. A few +months later he could report that there was "universal contentment on +the change made in the government," and that his administration had the +approbation of all ranks of people.[2] In marked contrast to their wordy +war with Spotswood, the Burgesses showed him only respect and affection. +"We must acknowledge the present calm and tranquility to be the +consequences of your prudence and moderation," they told him.[3] When +he was planning to leave for England because of ill health, they +addressed the King to say that his speedy return would be a great +happiness to the people of the colony.[4] + +Drysdale's popularity was based more on what he did not do than what he +did do. He made no attempt to undermine the judicial power of the +Council, he seems not to have used the patronage to control the House of +Burgesses, he did not try to make the colony less democratic by +restricting the right to vote, he did not deny to the Burgesses their +ancient privileges, he did not use his office for personal gain. + +He was at first critical of the policy, favored by the Council, of +issuing patents for huge tracts of land. His predecessor had granted +some for 10,000 acres, some for 20,000 acres, some for 40,000 acres +despite the order that I,000 acres should be the limit. "Thus the +intention of the government to make Spotsylvania a well inhabited +frontier is frustrated," he said.[5] + +But the Councillors and other men of wealth persuaded him that large +holdings which could be cut up into small farms and leased to tenants +hastened rather than retarded settlement. "The Council are of opinion +that the limiting the quantity of land to be taken up in the new +counties is prejudicial and a discouragement to their speedy +settlement," he wrote in July, 1724.[6] He did not stop to consider that +the growth of tenantry would be a blow, not only to economic democracy, +but political democracy as well, since tenants, unless they were also +freeholders, had no right to vote. + +Drysdale called for an election for a new Assembly who met in the +Capitol on May 9, 1723. The Burgesses had hardly settled themselves in +their seats when they took up two cases which concerned the rights of +the people and their privileges. In Essex County grievances had been +presented to the court for certification to the Assembly, charging +Colonel Joseph Smith, commander of the county militia, with harsh and +illegal conduct while a member of a court-martial. Colonel Smith, +himself a member of the court, refused to sign this paper, so that it +failed to reach the House. Thereupon the Burgesses declared him "guilty +of a breach of his duty," and ordered the Speaker to reprimand him.[7] +In striking contrast to Spotswood's upholding of Littlefield and Butts +in a similar case, Drysdale backed the House by removing Smith from the +county court.[8] + +In the other case a certain William Hopkins was accused of "rude, +contemptuous, and indecent" language in the House about one of the +members--Mr. Matthew Kemp. When he was adjudged guilty and ordered on +his knees to ask the pardon of the Burgesses and Mr. Kemp, he flatly +refused. It was then ordered that he be led through the Duke of +Gloucester Street, from the Capitol to the college gate and back, with a +placard pinned to his breast bearing the following inscription: "For +insolent behavior at the bar of the House of Burgesses, when he was +there as an offender and with obstinacy and contempt disobeying their +order." This prospect was too much for Hopkins, so, no doubt with inward +curses, he made the apology.[9] + +There was universal grief in Virginia when Drysdale died, on July 22, +1726. He was buried with elaborate ceremonies, to the booming of cannon. +The Council wrote Mrs. Drysdale expressing "the just sense" of "the +public loss," and giving her permission to remain for the time being in +the Palace.[10] Pending the appointment of a new Lieutenant Governor, +they voted to make Robert Carter President. The selection normally would +have gone to Edmund Jenings, as the senior member of the Council, but he +had just been suspended because of his age and because he was much +"decayed in his understanding." + +William Gooch, who was appointed to succeed Drysdale, took the oath of +office on September 11, 1727. It must have been with apprehension that +the members of the Council greeted him. It would be too much to expect +that the colony would have in succession two Governors of the stamp of +Drysdale. Might not the new arrival be another Spotswood, or even +another Nicholson? + +They were not long kept in doubt. Gooch proved to be one of the most +popular Governors in the history of the colony. Sincerely interested in +the welfare of the people, conciliatory in his dealings with both the +Council and the Burgesses, he brought internal peace and contentment. +The story was told of him that one day when in the company of several +gentlemen, he happened to pass a Negro slave. When the Negro lifted his +hat, Gooch lifted his in return. + +"What, Governor Gooch, do you lift your hat to a slave?" one of his +companions asked. + +"I would be deeply humiliated to be surpassed in courtesy by a slave," +was the reply. + +Throughout Gooch's administration there was practically no friction +between the Governor and the Assembly. The public affairs were carried +on in perfect harmony and good understanding, he reported in 1734. The +address of the Speaker of the House of Burgesses, Sir John Randolph, to +Gooch is one of the most remarkable in Virginia history. "You have +shew'd how easy it is to give universal satisfaction to the people under +your government.... You have not been intoxicated with the power +committed to you by his Majesty, but have used it like a faithful +trustee for the public good.... You never propose matters without +supposing your opinion subject to the examination of others, nor strive +to make other men's reason blindly and implicitly obedient to yours.... +You have extirpated all factions among us ... and plainly proved that +none can arise, or be lasting, but from the countenance and +encouragement of a Governor."[11] + +Both the Council and the Burgesses expressed their gratitude to Gooch by +gifts of money, the former voting him £300 to cover the expense of his +voyage to Virginia, and the latter giving him £500. Although his +instructions forbade his acceptance, he pocketed the money. "I thought +it would not become me to refuse this extraordinary instance of their +regard," he wrote the Lords of Trade. There was a precedent for his +acceptance, for Nicholson had had £300 when that sum was worth £600 in +the present currency. And though the Board censured him, they did not +make him refund the money.[12] + +It was typical of Gooch that he was willing to yield in matters of which +he did not fully approve in order to carry points which he had very much +at heart. He had not been long in the colony when he came to the +conclusion that it would greatly benefit the planters if the tobacco +inspection act of 1713 could be revived. But he was well aware that the +people had not forgotten the use Spotswood had made of it to gain +control of the House of Burgesses, or his veto of the bill to prohibit +Burgesses from holding places of profit in the government. So, in +return for the passage of a new tobacco law, he assented to an act to +keep officeholders out of the House. "The Burgesses were for this bill," +he wrote the Lords of Trade, "and my desire to keep them in good humor +while matters of greater moment were under their deliberation, prevailed +with me to assent to it."[13] + +But he thought that the act had nothing in its favor, except that it was +an imitation of the laws of England made for securing the freedom of +Parliament. "In my humble opinion this country is yet too young for so +refined a regulation. Places of profit are indeed but few, but men of +capacity for the discharge of them do not much more abound; therefore +either the government must be ill served, or the House of Burgesses +meanly fitted if men of capacity and integrity must be shut out either +of the one or the other."[14] + +Gooch either did not understand the importance of this bill, or +deliberately concealed it from the British Government. Had he known of +the use of the power of appointment by former Governors to gain control +of the House of Burgesses, he could not have dismissed the measure so +lightly. Nor could he have realized what a major victory it was for +liberty. Henceforth no Berkeley could bribe the Burgesses into +submission and so rule the colony like a despot; no Nicholson could hand +out commissions as sheriffs, or collectors, or officers in the militia +in exchange for votes in the House; no Spotswood could create tobacco +agents' jobs to tempt the people's representatives. + +Though Gooch was solicitous for the welfare of the poor planter, he was +not in favor of manhood suffrage. So he affixed his signature to a bill +limiting the right to vote to freeholders owning 100 acres of unoccupied +land or twenty-five acres with a house.[15] Had he had his way the +limitation would have been greater. "Yet as the former laws had allowed +any kind of a freehold to give that right, and all attempts made +heretofore to exclude the mob of the populace ... had proved vain, it is +much better to have that point fixed on some certain basis, than to +leave all persons indefinitely at liberty to have a vote. ... After such +a beginning it may be hoped a further regulation will follow to remove +from the House such members as have little recommended them to the +people's choice besides the art of stirring up discontents."[16] + +Though Gooch thus frankly avowed his dislike of democracy, he promoted +its growth by encouraging the westward expansion of settlement, not only +in the Piedmont, but in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1736 he wrote the +Lords of Trade: "Great numbers, as well of his Majesty's natural born +subjects as foreigners, ... have removed into this colony on the west +side of our mountains." This he pointed out would be a protection to the +older parts of the colony by heading off any attempt of the French at +penetration. + +Perhaps it had not occurred to Gooch that expansion would divide the +colony into two parts--the democratic up-country, and the aristocratic +tidewater. Spotsylvania, Brunswick, Goochland, Amelia, Caroline, and +other counties in the Piedmont were filling up with small farmers from +the east, Frederick with poor Germans and Swiss. It is true that some +well-to-do planters established "quarters" managed by overseers above +the Fall Line, and later invaded parts of the Valley, but even as late +as the French and Indian War frontier conditions persisted in the +regions on either side of the Blue Ridge. The influence of the west grew +steadily as each new county sent its two representatives to the House of +Burgesses. Whereas in 1727 when there were 65 members of the House, only +10 were from the west, in 1752, when the members numbered 104, 46 were +from the western or southwestern counties. The time was not distant when +the up-country members would count a majority. A bewigged Carter, or +Harrison, or Wormeley, in his broadcloth suit with silver buttons, may +have been resentful when a roughly clad delegate from Albemarle or +Frederick took a seat beside him, but he dared not show it. + +But in the first test of strength the newcomers lost because the east +still dominated the Council. In 1749, after the burning of the Capitol +in Williamsburg, the western Burgesses proposed that the seat of +government be moved to a site on the Pamunkey, in Hanover County, which +would save them many miles of travel in attending meetings of the +Assembly. The feeling on each side ran high. Mr. John Blair, a member of +the Council, in conversation with one of the Burgesses, pointed to the +Speaker, saying: "There goes the man who is at the bottom of this +hellish scheme." The House was deeply offended, and was appeased only +when Blair apologized. After much hesitation the bill for the removal +was passed by a vote of forty to thirty-eight, but it was promptly +rejected by the Council.[17] So the Capitol was rebuilt on the old +foundations, but with the proviso that this would not fix the seat of +government permanently in Williamsburg. It did, however, fix it there +until the Revolution, when, in response to the wishes of an overwhelming +majority of the people, it was moved to Richmond. + +During most of Gooch's administration the two Houses worked in harmony. +But occasionally there was friction. At the close of the session of 1728 +the Burgesses passed a resolution to pay their own salaries out of the +fund raised by the duty on liquors in order to lessen the hated poll +tax. But the Council refused to concur. The Burgesses then voted that +they be paid from funds in the hands of the Treasurer. Again the Council +demurred. They argued that the salaries of the Burgesses was the concern +of the counties. "It would be an unequal distribution of the public +money to allow the same share of it to a county which has a thousand +tithables as one that has three thousand."[18] This reasoning was based +on the assumption that a Burgess represented only the interests of the +county which elected him and not those of the colony as a whole, an +assumption contradicted by the whole history of the House. Yet the +Burgesses, though with some bitterness, were forced to yield for the +time being. + +Gooch was much concerned over the dispute, for he was convinced that it +was not ended. He was right. At the very next session a bill was passed +to pay the Burgesses out of the money in the Treasurer's hands, provided +this should not reduce the fund below £1,500.[19] The Council consented, +under Gooch's urging, because the bill allowed the Burgesses only ten +shillings a day instead of thirteen as formerly, and nothing when not +actually in attendance, but "at home about their private affairs or +perhaps in pursuit of their pleasures." Gooch wrote the Lords of Trade +congratulating himself on having reduced salaries, but this does not +obscure the fact that the act was a victory for the House.[20] + +In fact, the House of Burgesses, like the House of Commons, was becoming +the dominating body, and the Council, like the House of Lords, was +growing weaker. With the multiplying of the number of wealthy planters +through the use of slave labor, the twelve men who made up the Council +ceased to be the sole representatives of their interests. Many +aristocrats were honored to have a seat in the Lower House. One has only +to glance down the list of Burgesses to find many of the proudest names +in colonial Virginia--Page, Harrison, Fairfax, Randolph, Burwell, +Carter, Ball, Wormeley, Digges, Spotswood, Lee, Byrd, Claiborne, etc. So +the aristocrat as well as the small farmer, the wealthy easterner as +well as the pioneer of Orange or Albemarle, or the German of Frederick +looked to the House to protect their interests. + +While the leadership of the House continued to be aristocratic, the rank +and file grew more democratic. The open spaces of America fostered a +spirit of independence. When men had gone into a wilderness, cleared +openings in the forest, built their simple houses, laid out crops, +fought the Indians, they became impatient of control by a group of +eastern aristocrats, or by a government three thousand miles away in +which they had no voice. + +Nor was democracy confined to the west, for the small farmer class of +the east persisted despite the importation of thousands of slaves. It is +true that many, finding it difficult to compete with slave labor, sold +their little holdings, packed up their few household goods, and set out +for the West or for one of the northern colonies. But others kept their +heads above water by producing only the highest grades of tobacco, for +which the blacks at first were not suited. "I must beg you to remember +that the common people make the best," Gooch wrote in 1731. + +But this reprieve was only temporary, for in time the wealthy planter +taught the Africans to produce even the high priced Orinoco. Then the +poor planter had to join the class of slaveholders by making a few +purchases, or sink into abject poverty. That thousands did buy slaves we +know from an examination of the tax lists. In 1716, in Lancaster County, +of some 200 slave-owners, 165 had from one to four only. The only large +owner was the wealthy Robert Carter who had 126.[21] + +The replacing of the Virginia yeomanry, the men who cultivated their +holdings with their own hands, by small slaveholders was in many ways a +development to be deplored, but it saved the small farmer class from +extinction, and democracy from a fatal blow. Without it all the eastern +part of the colony and part of the Piedmont would have become a land of +wealthy proprietors and their slaves, and ignorant, degraded, +poverty-stricken whites. + +The small slaveholders were fiercely jealous of their rights, both +social and political. From the proud aristocrat they demanded courtesy +and respect. And these the aristocrat thought it wise to accord them, +for he knew that they constituted an overwhelming majority of the +voters. Nor were there anywhere, in the northern colonies or in the +West, more ardent upholders of self-government. In the long struggle for +liberty it was usually the aristocrats who led the way, but they would +have been powerless had they not had the loyal support of the small +eastern farmer as well as the western frontiersman. + +And the climax of this struggle was not distant. Walpole resigned in +1752, and his successors were not inclined to let the colonies become +semi-independent little republics. Had their attention not been diverted +by European wars, they would probably have come to grips with the +colonial governments sooner than they did. + +At the moment, however, the chief differences between Virginia and the +mother country seemed to be economic rather than constitutional. The +planters had long protested against the Navigation Acts, but they had in +time adjusted themselves to them. To the merchants of England they were +tied by the bonds of mutual interest, for they were dependent upon them +for transporting and disposing of their tobacco, and for bringing them +manufactured goods in return. + +But there developed various points of difference. And it became a bitter +grievance to the planters that when these differences were placed before +the British government, the decision always favored the merchants. In +fact, so great was the influence of certain traders that at times their +recommendations to important posts in the colonies were decisive. Among +the best known of these men was Micajah Perry, whose opinion the Board +of Trade frequently sought on matters affecting commerce. It was rumored +that it was he who persuaded the Auditor General to appoint Philip +Ludwell Auditor of Virginia. And when the British government turned down +the recommendation of a Governor in filling a vacancy in the Council in +favor of one by the merchants, it was deeply resented in the colony. +"Your Lordships cannot but be sensible that little regard is likely to +be paid a Governor who shall be supposed to have no interest at your +Lordships' Board," Gooch wrote in 1747. + +The people were even more resentful at the insistence of the merchants +in blocking any measure by the Assembly, no matter how beneficial, if +they thought it would lessen their profits. Many of them had invested in +the Royal African Company, and the slave trade to Virginia was booming. +It was stated that black workers were coming in at the rate of 1,500 or +1,600 a year, and at every landing place scores were sold to the highest +bidders. In 1730, out of a total population of 114,000, no less than +30,000 were Negroes.[22] With profits piling up, the merchants wanted no +interference with this trade, however inhuman it was, and however +harmful to the economic and social structure of the colony. + +Many thoughtful men in the colony viewed the situation with alarm, not +only because the importation of so many blacks was drying up the stream +of white immigrants from England, but because it was driving out of the +colony poor men who did not want to compete with slave labor. And the +planters had reason to dread slave insurrections. Some of the Africans +were docile enough, but a few resented their bonds fiercely. In 1710 a +conspiracy was discovered in Surry and James City Counties, in which the +Negroes planned to rise, kill all who opposed them, and escape out of +the colony. Several were tried in the General Court, convicted and +executed.[23] + +There was much satisfaction when the Assembly, in the revenue act of +1723, tried to stem the tide by placing a duty on the importation of +slaves. But when the act came before the Lords of Trade, the merchants +opposed it vigorously. John Gary, who had lived in Virginia, and later +went to England to enter the tobacco trade, when summoned before the +Board, argued against it. It would ruin the poor planters, he said, +because it would run up the cost of slaves, and they would not be able +to buy enough to cultivate their plantations.[24] This argument, as we +have seen, was not entirely misleading, but it ignored the predicament +of the thousands who could afford not even one, no matter how cheap, and +so sank into great poverty, became "poor white trash." Yet the Board +sided with Cary and his fellow merchants, and in January, 1724, advised +the King to veto the act. + +The Assembly, greatly disappointed, five years later made another +attempt, placing a duty of forty shillings a head on the importation of +slaves. Gooch gave them his full support. The merchants would not be +injured by the law, he argued, since the purchasers had to pay the +tax.[25] But the importers did not see it that way, and at their urging +the King disallowed the act. + +How bitterly these vetoes were resented in Virginia is shown by a +statement of Thomas Jefferson in his "A Summary View of the Rights of +British America," written in 1774. "The abolition of slavery is the +great object of desire in those colonies, where it was, unhappily, +introduced in their infant state. But previously to the enfranchisement +of the slaves we have, it is necessary to exclude all further +importations from Africa. Yet our repeated attempts to effect this, by +prohibitions, and by imposing duties which might amount to a +prohibition, having been hitherto defeated by his Majesty's negative: +thus preferring the immediate advantages of a few British corsairs to +the lasting interests of the American States, and the rights of human +nature deeply wounded by this infamous practice. Nay, the single +interposition of an interested individual against a law was scarcely +ever known to fail of success, though, in the opposite scale, were +placed the interests of a whole country."[26] + +The merchants opposed, not only the duty on slaves, but any other duty +which they thought might lessen imports. The Assembly repeatedly passed +laws to place duties on rum, brandy, wine, cider, beer, and ale, not +because they thought they would debauch the people, but to raise revenue +to meet the needs of the government without resorting to the hated poll +tax. They finally persuaded the merchants that light duties on liquors +would do them no harm. And perhaps the King was persuaded to give his +assent by the urgings of Gooch. "The revenue arising from the duty on +liquors is the best expedient to raise money for defraying the +contingent charges of the government and the chief support of the +College of William and Mary," he wrote. "By it most of the public debts +are paid and the people eased of an intolerable poll tax, which many of +the poorer sort would be unable to pay." + +But in 1730 the Assembly went too far when, in the revenue bill of that +year, they exempted Virginia owners from half the tax in a rather +forlorn attempt to build up local shipping. The merchants were +indignant. It was a very partial procedure, they thought, for the +colonists to tax his Majesty's subjects at large to a higher degree than +themselves. Moreover, it set up the shipping of Virginia in opposition +to and in great prejudice to the navigation of Great Britain. Needless +to say the act was disallowed.[27] It was now the turn of the planters +to be indignant. Gooch wrote the Board: "I cannot conceal from your +Lordships the resentment of the people against the merchants."[28] + +The Virginians, like the peoples of the other colonies, were angered at +the passage of the Molasses Act, which placed prohibitive duties on the +trade between the British colonies on the American continent and the +foreign West Indies. Virginia's stake in the trade to the French and +Spanish islands was much less than that of New England, but it was great +enough to draw a protest from Gooch. And the good Governor seems to have +winked at the violations of the act. In 1734 he wrote the Lords of +Trade: "As to trade, upon the strictest inquiry I can make I can find +none ... but with Great Britain, the British islands in the West Indies, +and the island of Madeira."[29] The Board might well have asked why it +was, if this were true, that so many Spanish pieces of eight and so many +pistoles and French guineas and crowns were circulating in the colony. + +Even more serious than the conflict between planters and merchants over +the restrictions of trade, was the quarrel over debts. The trade with +Great Britain was carried on chiefly by credit, and in times when the +price of tobacco was high and profits good the planters lived well and +spent freely. Then it was that they made heavy purchases of silverware, +handsome furniture, or even blooded horses. And only too often, when +prices of tobacco fell, they could not bring themselves to curtail +expenditures in proportion. In fact, when they placed their orders they +could not foresee just what their year's crop would yield. Many of them +became involved in debt. When they could not meet their obligations, the +merchants demanded that their lands be forfeited. On the other hand, the +planters, from time to time, tried to lessen the burden by paying their +creditors in depreciated paper money. + +When the merchants appealed to the Virginia courts to force payment of +debts they found them usually sympathetic with the debtors. Moreover, in +most cases they could not appeal to the British courts for there was a +law forbidding it in cases involving less than £300. For larger suits +the shoe was on the other foot, for when they were taken before the +Privy Council, the advantage was all with the merchants. Residing in +Great Britain, most of them in London, they could appeal in person to +present their cause. Since the prosperity of the kingdom was so +dependent upon its commerce, they always received a sympathetic hearing. + +Typical was the suit of the executors of Micajah and Richard Perry to +recover debts from the estate of Colonel William Randolph, who had had a +long-standing account with them. When the Virginia courts decided in +favor of the defendants, the executors of the Perrys appealed to the +King. The Privy Council referred the matter to a commission of four +merchants, three of whom gave it as their judgment that with compound +interest and insurance charges the defendants owed £2,460. So the +verdict of the Virginia court was reversed. + +The Council and Burgesses protested in an address to the King. They were +alarmed that this case had been decided without a legal trial by jury, +they said. It had never been the practice to charge "interest upon +interest" in "open running accounts." They thought it wrong that "the +reports of merchants" who were not under oath and were inclined to favor +one another, should be permitted to overrule the verdict of legal +juries. If the planters were to be loaded with whatever charges their +factors thought fit, it would greatly discourage trade and industry.[30] + +But they were unprepared for the extreme lengths to which the merchants +would go. At a meeting of the Council in October, 1731, they could +hardly credit their ears when Gooch read them a letter stating that they +were about to present a petition to Parliament concerning the colonies. +They wanted first a law prohibiting the Assemblies from passing any +acts affecting trade and navigation, second, a law making real estate +liable for debts, and third, a law permitting appeals from the Virginia +General Court to the Privy Council in suits involving £100 or more.[31] + +Gooch wrote at once to the Board denouncing this attempt to muzzle the +Assembly. "When I considered, my Lords, how long and happily the British +subjects have traded to America and acquired great riches under the +ancient establishment made in these points by the Crown, set forth in +the royal charters and instructions, without seeking to abridge the +people of the plantations of their birthright as Englishmen, or limiting +the Crown in the methods of government, I must confess I was somewhat +startled."[32] + +The Council also protested vigorously. It was impossible for the +Assembly to avoid all legislation affecting trade, they said in a letter +to the Board, since it might prohibit certain vitally necessary laws. If +the merchants objected to any act of Assembly, they could lay the matter +before the King. As for making the land of the planters liable for +debts, it was pointed out that there was no law making the lands of the +merchants liable to the demands of the colonists. Yet the factors were +as often in the planters' debt as the planters in theirs. It would +create uneasiness in the minds of a loyal people to find they had not +equal justice. And to allow appeals to the King in cases involving as +little as £100 would be a heavy burden; for the expense of the planter, +who would have to make a voyage to England to defend his rights, would +be as great as the sum involved.[33] + +It was no doubt to anticipate any action to forbid legislation in the +colony affecting trade that a clause was added to certain acts +suspending their operation until the King had given his assent. During +Gooch's administration the first such act appropriated £1,000 for the +erection of a lighthouse of brick and stone on Cape Henry, provided +Maryland appropriate a like amount and the King gave his assent. A duty +of one penny a ton was to be levied on all vessels passing the light. +Gooch urged the Lords of Trade to influence Lord Baltimore to recommend +the matter to the Maryland Assembly. But he was treading on dangerous +ground when he suggested that if the Marylanders balked, the Board +secure an act of Parliament "to bind both governments to do that good to +themselves and the trade of Great Britain."[34] Fortunately the Board +refused to take such a drastic step, and it was only in 1772 that the +lighthouse was erected.[35] + +Knowing that the King had vetoed the tobacco act of 1713, Gooch took +pains to prepare the minds of the Board of Trade to consider favorably +the new one he was contemplating. The government was being defrauded by +running tobacco into Great Britain without paying the duty there, he +wrote them. It was the practice for sailors to buy "mean and trash +tobacco," and sell it to agents who knew how to dispose of it. "Thus is +the market for the good tobacco damped by the fraudulent importation of +the bad." The remedy was to bring all the tobacco under strict +inspection by sworn officers, all the bad destroyed, and the weight of +every hogshead reported to the commissioners of the customs. + +The tobacco act of 1730 provided for warehouses to which all tobacco +must be brought in hogsheads for inspection, where it would be burnt if +of low grade, or stamped if good, and the owner paid in notes which +circulated as money. At the time the price of tobacco was low, and the +planters, especially the small farmers, were in dire need. Gooch +contended that the law would stimulate trade and bring relief. + +His arguments were set forth in a printed pamphlet entitled _A Dialogue +between Thomas Sweet-scented, William Orinoco, Planters, both Men of +Good Understanding, and Justice Love-Country_. + +Will opened the discussion: "I am sure I have heard a great many +speeches against it at the race-grounds and at the county courts.... +Why, pray is it not a clear case, don't we see our tobacco burnt?... +T'was constantly buzzed about as if by this law the rich intended to +ruin the poor." + +Justice: "None but the worst villains could suggest such a reflection." + +And so the arguments went, with Justice answering every objection. + +Gooch claimed that the law in operation benefited the poor. It was the +rich man with his slave labor who was responsible for most of the +"trash" which the inspectors burnt. The small farmer who planted, +tended, and cured his own tobacco produced the best.[36] In fact, he +added, "the greatest encouragement is given to the common people to make +tobacco that could be thought of, for ... they take as many notes for it +as they please, i. e. notes for fifty or a hundred pounds ... [which] +will be accepted as payment at any store or shop." In other words, it +gave them a far more convenient currency than their bulky tobacco. More +convincing to the small farmer than these arguments was the rise in the +price of tobacco which followed the passage of the act. But it must have +been obvious to thoughtful men that no regulation of the tobacco trade +could better the condition of the poor man so long as he had to compete +with slave labor. It was slavery which created a trash far more harmful +than poor tobacco--poor white trash. + +Gooch's success in securing the King's assent to the tobacco law was +matched by his success in persuading the Assembly to assist with men and +money in an expedition against New Granada on the northern coast of +South America. In May, 1740, an act was passed to impress men, and in a +few weeks about four hundred had been raised. A ragged, motley crowd +they must have been, for no one was taken who had any lawful occupation +or who had a right to vote.[37] But the officers were from the best +Virginia families, among them Lawrence Washington, half-brother of +George Washington. Later the Assembly voted £5,000 to cover the cost of +feeding and transporting the troops as far as Jamaica, where they were +to join the forces sent out from England. + +Former Governor Spotswood had been appointed to lead the colonials, but +when he died before the ships sailed, Governor Gooch, leaving the +government in the hands of the senior Councillor, Commissary Blair, took +over the command. The attack on Cartagena proved a failure. The British +ships could not get near enough to shell the town. When the troops tried +to storm the walls the ladders proved too short, and they were repulsed +with heavy losses. Gooch himself was wounded. + +Gooch was knighted in 1746, and made a major general in the British +army. He seems never to have recovered fully from his wound, and from +an illness contracted during the New Granada campaign. Complaining that +he had grown old and infirm, he asked the King for permission to "go +home" to recover his health. To the universal regret of the people of +Virginia, he left for England in the summer of 1749. He died December +17, in London. + +Gooch himself gave the key to his administration when he wrote: "The +condition of affairs in this colony may be summed up in two words, peace +and plenty." With many families becoming rich through the settlement of +the West and the growth of the tobacco trade, with many hundreds of +small farmers acquiring a degree of well-being by the purchase of a few +slaves, with no immediate threat from the Indians on the frontier, with +Governor and Council maintaining cordial relations, with the Governor +cooperating with the Assembly and not trying to dominate it, with rapid +strides being made toward the goal of self-government, the years of +Gooch's administration may aptly be termed the golden era of Virginia +colonial history. + +Many of the addresses of various bodies to the Virginia Governors lack +the ring of sincerity, because they were obtained by bribery or threats. +But the Council, in 1736, seem to have spoken from their hearts when +they told Gooch: "As for us, Sir, who have the honor to be the near +witnesses of the prudence, moderation, and justice of your +administration, we should be unjust to ourselves, as well as ungrateful +to your character, if we ... did not declare that we esteem the quiet +and tranquillity which this colony has enjoyed under your government as +one of the greatest public blessings." + +The Burgesses were even more articulate: "We are very sensible how much +the colony owes to your good conduct in the government, and that all +your actions are directed to a faithful discharge of your duty to his +Majesty and to promote our common good. And should we distrust so just +and upright a magistrate it would be discountenancing a virtuous +administration, and making no difference between that and the greatest +enormities, tyranny, and oppression. Or should we withhold our +confidence from a person who for so many years has never once abused it, +we might justly be reckoned an unworthy representative of a grateful +people." + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] Leonidas Dodson, _Alexander Spotswood_, 270, 271. + +[2] _Sainsbury transcripts_ 9: 74, 75. + +[3] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 402. + +[4] _Ibid._, 419. + +[5] _Sainsbury transcripts_, 9: 121. + +[6] _Ibid._, 134. + +[7] _Ibid._, xlix, 1. + +[8] _Executive journals of the Council_ 4: 40. + +[9] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 1. + +[10] _Executive journals of the Council_ 4: 114. + +[11] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1727-1740: 242. + +[12] Gooch to the Lords of Trade, Feb. 12, 1728; Aug. 9, 1728. + +[13] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 4: 292. + +[14] July 23, 1730. + +[15] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 4: 475. + +[16] Gooch to the Lords of Trade, Oct. 5, 1736. + +[17] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1742-1749: xxvii, xxviii. + +[18] Gooch to the Lords of Trade, June 8, 1728. + +[19] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 4: 279. + +[20] July 23, 1730. + +[21] _William and Mary Quarterly_ 2: 106-122. + +[22] CO5-1322, Report of Gooch. + +[23] _Executive journals of the Council_ 3: 234, 235. + +[24] _Sainsbury transcripts_ 9: 112. + +[25] June 8, 1728. + +[26] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, A. A. Lipscomb, ed. 1: 201. + +[27] CO5-1322, pp. 287, 317. + +[28] Oct. 22, 1731. + +[29] May 24, 1734. + +[30] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1712-1726: 422-424. + +[31] _Executive journals of the Council_ 4: 252. + +[32] July 10, 1731. + +[33] Council to the Lords of Trade, Jan. 1, 1732. + +[34] June 8, 1728. + +[35] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 6: 227. + +[36] Gooch to the Lords of Trade, Feb. 27, 1731. + +[37] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 5: 94-96. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT STAKE--LIBERTY AND A CONTINENT + + +When Robert Dinwiddie stepped ashore at Yorktown on November 20, 1751, +he was greeted by Secretary Thomas Nelson and two members of the +Council--Colonel William Fairfax and William Nelson. Hastening on to +Williamsburg, he was met on the road by Commissary William Dawson, John +Blair, and Philip Ludwell. When the little cavalcade reached the +outskirts of the town, they found the Mayor, Aldermen, and other +prominent citizens waiting to welcome them. At the Palace, Dinwiddie +took the oath of office. He and the members of the Council then went to +Wetherburn's tavern for dinner, where they were guests of the town. As +the cannons at the powder horn roared their approval, they lifted their +glasses to drink the "royal healths." + +The inauguration of Dinwiddie brought to an end the custom of appointing +military officers as Governors or Lieutenant Governors of the colony. +Nicholson, Andros, Spotswood, Hunter, Drysdale, and Gooch had all been +soldiers. One wonders why the policy had persisted so long, for there +would seem to be little in the training of an army officer to fit him +for the duties of a colonial administrator. The habit of issuing +commands and expecting instant obedience might easily cause failure in +dealing with a liberty-loving people. Yet in practice, it seems to have +been the personal character of the Governor, rather than his training, +which determined his conduct. Nicholson and Spotswood were by nature +dictators, Drysdale and Gooch had no desire for power for power's sake. + +Yet the Virginians were no doubt pleased with the appointment of a man +from civil life. Dinwiddie came from a family of Glasgow merchants, and +as a young man had been engaged in the pottery business. At the age of +twenty-eight he was made Collector of Customs in Bermuda, in which +office he won the approval of the Lords of Trade by uncovering serious +frauds in the collecting of customs in the West Indies. In 1738 he was +advanced to the important post of Surveyor General of the southern ports +of the North American continent. Additional responsibilities were +placed upon him a few years later, when he was made Inspector General of +the Customs. In 1749 he resigned this office, probably in order to +engage in trade. + +The painting of Dinwiddie in the National Portrait Gallery, London, +shows a rather stout, middle-aged man. The face which looks out from +beneath a large wig, despite the placid expression, shows strength in +the lines of the mouth and the steady gaze of the eyes. Dinwiddie, +throughout his career did not willingly provoke a conflict, but when the +conflict was started he fought stubbornly. Yet when necessity dictated +he knew how to yield. The first of these qualities made him an important +factor in preserving the most important part of North America for +British civilization. The other contributed greatly to the triumph of +self-government in Virginia. + +The new Lieutenant Governor's administration began auspiciously. In his +opening address to the Assembly he expressed his pleasure at being in +Virginia, where he had so many friends. He realized it would be +difficult to equal the record of his predecessor, but he hoped, with the +advice of the Council and the Burgesses, to serve the colony well. One +wonders whether he had in mind some of the former Governors of Virginia +when he pointed out that indolence, avarice, and ambition were +responsible for many public calamities. + +The spirit of good will to the Governor ripened into gratitude when he +sided with the Assembly in their protest against an action of the King +in Council. This was almost unprecedented, for a Governor was supposed +to defend anything the royal government did, no matter how harmful to +the colony or unjust. + +It seems that the Assembly, in 1748 and 1749, had made a laborious +revision of the laws. The completed work, in sixty-seven acts, they sent +to the King so that he could review them. But it was not anticipated +that he would either veto or sign any of them. So there was +consternation when Dinwiddie reported that the King in Council had +signed fifty-seven of the revised laws and vetoed ten. Of the latter, +two--one declaring slaves personal property and the other setting up the +General Court--were of great importance. Each House drew up an address +to the King pleading with him to reconsider his action. When Dinwiddie +promised to endorse and deliver them, Councillors and Burgesses alike +were grateful. Before dispersing they voted him a gift of £500, which +Dinwiddie, despite his instructions seems to have accepted.[1] + +But the honeymoon was of short duration. Before Dinwiddie left England +he was entrusted with a new seal for Virginia. It was this, no doubt, +which gave him the idea of adding to his income by charging a pistole +for signing patents for land and affixing the seal. Had he been aware of +the storm raised by the similar attempt by Lord Effingham sixty-four +years earlier, he would have known what was in store for him. The +Council, too, seem to have been forgetful in this matter, for when the +Governor asked their opinion, they advised him to go ahead.[2] + +When the Assembly met in November, 1753, Dinwiddie told them that a +large body of French regulars, accompanied by Indian allies, had marched +down from Canada into the Ohio region and had built a fort there. The +King had commanded him to lay before them a request for funds to defeat +their designs, and to purchase gifts for the friendly Indians. + +The Burgesses were fully aware of the danger. For the French to build a +chain of forts on the Monongahela and the Ohio to connect with those on +the Mississippi would make a barrier to further expansion of the English +colonies to the west. It would also constitute an ever present threat to +their frontier, since in future wars the way would be open to forays of +hostile Indians. Such men as Joshua Fry, Edmund Pendleton, John +Robinson, and Benjamin Harrison may have realized that the fate of +Virginia and of all English North America hung in the balance. + +But for the moment the Burgesses were more interested in preserving +their liberty than their safety. They began by considering the +complaints of several counties against the pistole fee. Dinwiddie +accused the Reverend William Stith, President of the College of William +and Mary, of inciting the people against the fee. Stith was his personal +enemy, he thought, because he had opposed his appointment as Commissary +of the clergy.[3] So he wrote to the Bishop of London suggesting that if +he would advise Stith "to be peaceable and quiet and teach the doctrine +of love," it would make him more easy in his government.[4] If it was +Stith who aroused the people against the pistole fee, he made a good +job of it. Henrico County protested, Chesterfield protested, Albemarle +protested, Cumberland, Amelia, Dinwiddie Counties protested. + + [Illustration: Governor Dinwiddie. Portrait in the National Portrait + Gallery of London. Reproduced by permission.] + + [Illustration: The General Court in the Old Capitol at Williamsburg. + Courtesy of Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.] + +The Burgesses were deeply concerned. In an address to the Lieutenant +Governor they declared that their duty in the discharge of the trust +reposed in them by the people required them to ask him by what authority +he demanded the fee. He replied that he had acted on his own authority, +with the advice of the Council. And he intimated that the taking of the +fee was a thing that did not concern them. + +The Burgesses were indignant. In an address of historic significance +they told Dinwiddie "in the strongest terms" that it was their undoubted +right to enquire into the grievances of the people. To question it was +to threaten the liberties of his Majesty's subjects and the constitution +of the government. "The rights of the subject are so secured by law that +they cannot be deprived of the least part of their property but by their +own consent. Upon this excellent principle is our constitution founded, +and ever since this colony has had the happiness of being under the +immediate protection of the Crown the royal declarations have been: +'That no man's life, member, freehold, or goods be taken away or harmed +but by established and known laws.'"[5] + +Well would it have been if the King and his advisers had pondered well +this declaration when it came before them, for it gave in unmistakable +language the principle in defense of which the American Revolution was +fought. And it would have been well for Dinwiddie had he bowed to the +wishes of the Burgesses at a time when their cooperation was needed to +save the British colonies from French aggression. + +But in the meanwhile he had placed the matter before the Board of Trade, +and the Board had asked the opinion of Attorney General Sir Dudley +Ryder.[6] When Dinwiddie received word that Sir Dudley thought the +assent of the Assembly unnecessary, he was resolved not to yield. The +fee relates solely to the disposal of the King's lands, he told the +Burgesses, which is a matter of favor from the Crown. + +The Governor's plea that the fee was necessary in order to bring +thousands of occupied, but unpatented acres, under the rent roll seems +to have been an afterthought. "On my arrival I found in the Secretary's +office a list of lands taken up near 1,000,000 acres, which, most of +them, should have been patented," he wrote the Board of Trade, "which is +an annual loss to the quit rents."[7] But he did not explain how the +charging of a pistole fee would have been an incentive to the holders of +these lands to have them patented. + +The Burgesses were by this time thoroughly aroused. The Governor said it +was only "some hotheaded young men" who had stirred up all the trouble, +but when it was resolved that his answer was unsatisfactory, there was +not one dissenting voice. The demand for the fee, they insisted, was +illegal and arbitrary, contrary to the charters of the colony, to King +William's express order, and tending to the subversion of laws and +constitution. They were determined to place the matter before the King +in a "dutiful and loyal address."[8] + +At the close of the session, after the Governor's speech proroguing +them, the Burgesses refused to budge from their seats until they had +passed still another resolution which breathed the spirit of revolution: +"That whoever shall hereafter pay a pistole as a fee to the Governor for +the use of the seal to patents for land shall be deemed a betrayer of +the rights and privileges of the people." This Dinwiddie thought tended +to "sowing sedition and rebellion among the people."[9] + +In the meanwhile, the Burgesses had drawn up the address to the King and +appointed Attorney General Peyton Randolph their agent to take it to +England. To defray his expenses and pay him for his services, they voted +him £2,500 out of the funds in the hands of the Treasurer. When this +came before the Council, they rejected it. The Treasurer then declared +that he would pay the money without their consent, but he refrained when +the Governor told him it would not be allowed in his accounts. + +"I am sorry to find them very much in a republican way of thinking," +Dinwiddie wrote to the Earl of Halifax, "and indeed they do not act in a +proper constitutional way, but making encroachments on the prerogative +of the Crown, which some former Governor submitted too much to them, and +I fear without a very particular instruction it will be difficult to +bring them in order."[10] + +When Randolph asked Dinwiddie for permission to go to England, he met +with a prompt refusal. "You have not acted agreeable to your duty and +your office," he told him. When Randolph insisted upon going, the +Governor assumed that he had vacated his office and appointed George +Wythe Attorney General in his place.[11] + +Soon after Randolph's arrival in England articles began to appear in the +gazettes intended to arouse sentiment against the pistole fee, which +Dinwiddie wrongly attributed to him. The fee was no less than a tax +levied on the people without their consent, they said. Foreign +Protestants and others were leaving the colony rather than pay it. To +this Dinwiddie replied that any thinking man could distinguish between a +fee and a tax. And he denied flatly that one person had left Virginia to +avoid the pistole fee.[12] But he was sorry that the affair had made so +much noise in the English coffee houses. + +The Board of Trade considered the pistole dispute most inopportune. At a +time when the French were challenging the right of Great Britain to the +vast trans-Allegheny region, it was unfortunate that the Governor should +have aroused the bitter resentment of the Assembly. "It is necessary +that harmony and mutual confidence be established between the Governors +and people in all the colonies," they wrote, "but especially in +Virginia, on the frontier of which the French are carrying on their +encroachments."[13] + +But they could not desert Dinwiddie entirely since the issue involved +the royal prerogative. The King rejected the address of the Burgesses, +and the Board confirmed the Governor's right to the fee. But they hedged +it about with several restrictions. There must be no fee for grants of +less than one hundred acres, or for lands granted for importing +settlers, or for lands west of the mountains. They reproved Dinwiddie +for proposing that the fee be established by act of Assembly, in +violation of the King's rights. The making out of surveys for land and +neglecting to pass patents was clearly "in the Governor's power to +prevent." "We expect you to do your duty ... even though no pecuniary +advantage should arise from it." And they recommended that he reinstate +Randolph as Attorney General. "This may quiet the minds of the people +and stop this unjust clamor."[14] + +Dinwiddie was far from happy about this report. The proposal to +establish the fee by act of Assembly had come from the Council, not from +him, he wrote in reply. As for not taking a fee for patents west of the +mountains, he wanted to know which mountains. He had taken no fee for +lands beyond the Alleghenies. The suggestion to reinstate the Attorney +General was especially displeasing. However, when Randolph arrived at +Williamsburg with many letters of recommendation from men of influence +in England, denying that he had written the attacks on the Governor in +the press, and promising "to conduct himself more regularly in future +and with more regard to his Majesty's service," he reinstated him.[15] + +One wonders just how many pistoles Dinwiddie pocketed for the use of the +seal in the six and a half years of his administration. A few months +after he had left Virginia for good there were no less than 1,360 +applications for patents waiting to be sealed. Governor Fauquier, +Dinwiddie's successor, stated that this was costing the Crown £1,000 a +year in quit rents. It would seem to indicate that Dinwiddie, ignoring +the positive orders of the Board of Trade, had appeased the people by +permitting 1,000,000 acres of occupied land to remain unpatented. Thus +the Governor's victory was a hollow one, and the Burgesses, without +acquiescing in the decision of the Board, were content to let the matter +drop so long as the fee was not collected. + +Fauquier, on his part, handled this hot potato with care. "Being +extremely desirous to keep peace and harmony in this country," he wrote +the Lords of Trade, "and that his Majesty's revenue should not suffer +... I have made a declaration in Council that I would be willing to +acquiesce in anything that should be thought reasonable to procure both +these advantages. This affair has formerly raised a great flame in this +country which is not yet quite subsided, and ... I am endeavoring to +quench it entirely that the Assemblies may the easier be prevailed upon +to give what is necessary."[16] + +In the meanwhile the storm of war had broken over the colonies. A +terrible war it was. It lacked the wholesale devastation of the atomic +bomb and the hydrogen bomb, but it was marked by infinite cruelties. +Dinwiddie described it vividly. "Think you see the infant torn from the +unavailing struggles of the distracted mother, the daughters ravished +before the eyes of their wretched parents, and then, with cruelty and +insult, butchered and scalped. Suppose the horrid scene completed, and +the whole family, man, wife, and children murdered and scalped by these +relentless savages, and then torn in pieces."[17] + +To Dinwiddie goes the credit of warning the British government that the +French were trying to confine the English to the region east of the +Alleghenies. In December, 1752, he wrote the Board of Trade that they +had built a string of forts from Canada to the mouth of the Mississippi, +that they had 5,000 soldiers at New Orleans, and 1,600 elsewhere in +America. When he heard that a force of French and Indians had built a +fort on the Allegheny River, and were preparing to descend on the Ohio, +he sent young George Washington to warn them to leave. This proving +ineffectual, he came to the Assembly for funds to finance an expedition +to drive them out. + +This was the first of a series of appeals for money which gave the +Assembly a golden opportunity to weaken the power of the Governor and +the royal prerogative. Yet it was an opportunity full of danger. If they +clogged their grants with such conditions that Dinwiddie would not +accept them, they ran the risk of having the colony overrun by the +enemy. At times the Governor was in despair. "The French could have cut +off every one of our men and marched down to Hampton without the least +danger," he wrote in July, 1754. + +When the Assembly met in February, 1754, Dinwiddie told them that +Washington had seen a large body of the enemy on the upper Allegheny. +Give me men and supplies to oppose them, he pleaded. The safety of +Virginia depends on you at this critical juncture.[18] In reply to this +appeal they did vote £10,000 but Dinwiddie was far from happy about it +because the bill named a committee of the two Houses to supervise its +expenditure. "This bill takes from me the undoubted right I have of +directing the application of the money," he complained. But since funds +could be had on no other terms he gave his assent. "I assure you it was +contrary to my inclination, but necessity has no law," he wrote James +Abercrombie.[19] + +So men were raised and equipped and sent out to the junction of the +Allegheny and the Monongahela. Here, under the command of George +Washington, they were fortifying themselves when they were attacked by +the French and Indians and forced to retire. Again Dinwiddie pleaded for +a grant large enough to meet the emergency. When the Assembly responded +by voting £20,000, he was delighted until he discovered a rider to pay +Peyton Randolph the £2,500 they had promised him for representing them +in England in the pistole affair. This was too much for Dinwiddie to +swallow, so he vetoed the bill.[20] + +In his perplexity the Governor now made a radical suggestion to the +Board of Trade. "I think it impossible to conduct any expedition in +these parts with a dependence on the Assemblies for supplies, without a +British act of Parliament to lay a poll tax on the whole subjects of +these provinces, to bring them to a sense of their duty to the King, to +awaken them from their insolence, to take care of their lives and +fortunes."[21] + +It is easy to imagine the storm of indignation this would have raised in +Virginia had the people known of it. Why, no such thing had been done in +the century and a half of the colony's existence. Charles I had not +dared tax the colonists without their consent; Charles II, though he +obtained a revenue in Virginia by threatening the Assembly, had not +acted without their consent. Over and over the people had sought +guarantees that they should enjoy the inherent right of all Englishmen +of being taxed only by their own representatives. + +Dinwiddie's suggestion undoubtedly reflected the changed attitude of the +British government. He would hardly have dared make it if he had thought +it would shock the British Ministry. On the other hand, the violent +reaction of the people of the colony to the pistole fee should have made +it clear to him that they would resist taxation by Parliament fiercely. +In other words, his action was revealing of how far apart Britain and +her colonies had grown, and prophetic of the clash that was to come. + +But now Dinwiddie was cheered by word that the King had promised +£20,000 and 2,000 stand of arms from the royal stores to aid in the war. +With this evidence that Great Britain was willing to do her part, he +again appealed to the Assembly. He was overjoyed when they granted +£20,000. "I parted with the Assembly on good terms. I shall try to keep +them in good humor," he wrote the Board. When he heard that two +regiments of British regulars were on their way to Virginia, he +confidently expected that the French would soon be driven from the Ohio +region. All Virginia was elated when the troops arrived at Alexandria in +their brilliant red coats. The Assembly voted an additional £22,000. + +Then came disaster. General Braddock, who commanded the British, knew +nothing about Indian fighting, and scorned the advice of those who did. +"These savages may, indeed, be a formidable enemy to your raw American +militia, but upon the King's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is +impossible that they should make any impression," he told Benjamin +Franklin. So his advanced regiment, as it was filing through the woods, +was attacked and cut to pieces. The Virginia contingent fought bravely, +but could not stem the tide. Braddock himself was killed. Colonel +Dunbar, in command of the other regiment, though his men had taken no +part in the battle and still outnumbered the enemy, marched them off to +Philadelphia, and left the Virginia frontier open. + +The dismay of the people when the news of this unexpected defeat reached +them was tempered by their pride in the heroism of the Virginia troops, +"who purchased with their lives immortal glory to their country and +themselves on the banks of the Monongahela." So when Dinwiddie asked for +more funds, the Assembly voted £40,000.[22] To raise this sum they +levied heavy taxes on the people and placed a five per cent duty on +imports. In times of peace no Governor would have consented to an import +duty on British goods, for it would have brought immediate protests from +the merchants. But Dinwiddie signed the bill and praised the Assembly +for its "unanimity" and "martial spirit."[23] + +When they met again in October, 1755, they forgot for the moment the +Indian terror and spent their time on a project to emit £200,000 in +paper and set up a loan office. To this the Governor would not assent, +and after a session of only twelve days, he dissolved them to take his +chances on a new election. The Board of Trade praised him. "Their +availing themselves of this time of danger and distress to establish a +paper currency, so destructive of credit, justifies your dissolving +them."[24] + +Dinwiddie was now so out of patience that he suggested once more that +Parliament pass the Assembly by and itself levy a tax on the people of +the colonies. He recommended a poll tax of twelve pence for two years, +and a permanent tax of two shillings on every one hundred acres of land. +"I know our people will be inflamed if they hear of my making this +proposal, as they are averse to all taxes," he wrote the Board of +Trade.[25] One wonders what the Americans would have done had the +British Government followed this suggestion. It might have alienated +their affection at the very moment when it was most needed. It would +probably have been as impossible to collect the taxes as it was to +enforce the Stamp Act a decade later. Fortunately, the Board of Trade +decided that this was not the proper time to start a controversy with +the colonies over this vital matter. + +The new House of Burgesses who met in March, 1756, while showing a +willingness to support the war, were just as independent, just as +jealous of their privileges as former ones. When some of their members +were absent from their seats while attending the General Court, they +sent their mace-bearer within the bar to bring them back. This Dinwiddie +resented as an indignity to the court. The orderly administration of +justice was just as important as the enacting of laws, he told the +House. + +Their audacity was shown at the same session in the matter of the +Acadian exiles. Governor Charles Lawrence, of Nova Scotia, on the advice +of his Council, had decided to distribute these unfortunates throughout +the British colonies. When the people of Virginia heard that a fleet +with over eleven hundred had arrived in their waters, they were deeply +concerned. No Governor had a right to unload on them such a number of +French Roman Catholics, they said. Their remaining in the colony at a +time when Great Britain and France were at war would be very dangerous. +So they passed a bill, to which the Governor assented, to ship the +exiles to Great Britain.[26] + +But while the Assembly was sitting, the Indians were making a series of +murderous raids in the Valley of Virginia. Washington, who was left in +command of the Virginia forces after Dunbar withdrew, wrote Dinwiddie in +April, 1756, to describe the plight of the people. "I see their +situation, know their danger, and participate in their sufferings, +without having it in my power to give them further relief than uncertain +promises.... The supplicating tears of the women, and moving petitions +from the men melt me into such deadly sorrow that I solemnly declare ... +I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy +provided that would contribute to the people's ease."[27] + +Nor were the Burgesses deaf to the sufferings of these poor people. +Although the burden of taxation was very heavy, they voted £60,000 for +the erection of forts and the sending of the militia into the Valley. +Part of this sum they provided for by the emission of treasury notes. +"In the situation I was obliged to give my assent or disband our forces +and leave our frontier unguarded and exposed to the incursions of a +merciless foe," Dinwiddie wrote the Board of Trade. But he assured them +that the merchants would not be losers since the notes bore interest at +five per cent, and would be redeemed in 1760. Virginia had voted in all +£150,000 for the war, he pointed out, which was much more than any other +colony had done.[28] + +At a short session in September, 1756, Dinwiddie told the Assembly of +the surrender of Oswego. All realized that it was a crushing blow, since +it cut off the English from the Great Lakes, made a deep impression on +the Indians, and opened New York to invasion. When the Governor asked +for men and money as Virginia's contribution to the Royal American +Regiment, which the Earl of Loudoun, Commander-in-Chief of the British +forces, was recruiting, they voted £8,000. This the Earl promised to +report to the British government "in the very handsome manner" it +deserved.[29] + +But when they met in April, 1757, they did not permit this compliment to +keep them from taking issue with Loudoun for laying an embargo on +commerce in order to put an end to the sending of supplies by the +colonists to the French. It was obvious to all that this would do more +harm than good, they said. Wheat stored in vessels ready to set out for +Great Britain was "likely to perish." And unless the planters could +sell their tobacco, it would be impossible for them to pay their taxes. +After all, men asked, what authority had Loudoun to give such an order? +The Burgesses petitioned Dinwiddie to rescind it so far as Virginia was +concerned. They were determined to vote no more supplies until he did +so.[30] Dinwiddie was forced to yield, and the fleet waiting in Virginia +waters cleared for Great Britain. + +As one vessel after another sailed out between Cape Henry and Cape +Charles, the Assembly acted quickly to support the war. They raised +£6,000 to send out rangers against the Indians, £25,000 to pay arrears +due officers and men of the Virginia forces, and issued £80,000 in +non-interest bearing notes, renewable in seven years.[31] At once the +old "heats and disputes" with the Governor were resumed. Dinwiddie was +opposed to paper money, but the Burgesses, knowing that they had the +whip hand, would not yield. "They took advantage of the emergency of our +affairs, when without money every operation must be stopped, and the +protection of the country, the lives and properties of these very people +[have] been exposed to the barbarous enemy," the Governor complained. "I +was obliged at last, much against my judgment, to assent."[32] + +In one vital matter the Burgesses themselves had to yield. The +expenditure of money appropriated during previous sessions had proved so +unsatisfactory that they left all new disbursements to the Governor. +They appointed three commissioners to examine such accounts as he should +turn over to them, but they were merely to assist, not control him.[33] + +Despite the one point of difference, Dinwiddie, in proroguing the +Assembly, praised them for their "dutiful obedience to his Majesty's +commands," and their compliance with what he himself had recommended. He +had told them earlier in the summer that his health had been failing and +that he had asked permission to resign his office and return to Great +Britain. Now he said goodbye. "I shall always retain a sincere regard +for the prosperity of this dominion," he said.[34] He sailed from +Yorktown in January, 1758. + +To Robert Dinwiddie goes a large part of the credit for saving the major +part of North America for British civilization. It was he who saw the +meaning of the encroachments of the French in the Ohio Valley; it was he +who sounded the alarm in both Great Britain and America. And when the +fateful struggle with France was under way, his appreciation of what was +at stake made him subordinate other issues to it. He broke his +instructions repeatedly because he thought it necessary in order to win +the war. + +This resulted in substantial gains for self-government in Virginia. In +voting funds, not only did the Assembly specify the uses to which they +should be put, but tried to supervise each disbursement. In sending the +Acadians to England and forcing Dinwiddie to raise Loudoun's embargo +they showed their spirit of independence. The issuing of paper money was +in direct conflict with the Governor's instructions. And the British +government dared not take steps to curb them so long as the French +threat remained. + +But there is abundant evidence that the King's Ministers were merely +biding their time. The old laissez-faire policy of Sir Robert Walpole +was giving way to a closer scrutiny of colonial affairs. When the Earl +of Loudoun was made Governor General of Virginia, he received more than +a hundred instructions. He must guard zealously the prerogative of the +Crown, he must permit no riders to acts of Assembly, he must accept no +gifts from the Assembly, he must not permit the issuing of paper money. +The twenty-fourth instruction is especially revealing of the accepted +view in Great Britain that American interests must be disregarded if +they clashed with those of the mother country. The Governor was not to +assent to any act putting duties on slaves to "the great discouragement" +of British merchants, or duties on felons, since this was contrary to +the act of Parliament for "preventing robbery, burglary, and other +felonies, and for the more effectual transportation of felons." + +It has often been said that had the French power in America not been +broken, the colonists would not have dared to rebel against Great +Britain. It would be more to the point that if the French threat had not +been removed the British government would not have dared to drive the +Americans into rebellion. So long as the war with France lasted the +colonial Assemblies were masters of the situation; when it was over the +assault on their liberty was not long delayed. + +Perhaps it is not too much to say that the war called the attention of +the British Government to the colonies. They could not have overlooked +such letters as that from Dinwiddie to Pitt on June 18, 1757: "I am +convinced if alterations are not made in the present constitutions of +the colonies, and have a general mode of government under his Majesty's +immediate directions, and a coalition of the whole, it will be +impracticable to conduct his Majesty's affairs with that spirit which +the present emergency requires."[35] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 99. + +[2] _Executive journals of the Council_ 5: 385. + +[3] Dinwiddie to the Lords of Trade, Jan. 22, 1754. + +[4] Jan. 22, 1754. + +[5] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 143, 144. + +[6] CO5-1328, pp. 85, 86. + +[7] June 16, 1753. + +[8] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 155. + +[9] Dinwiddie to Holdernesse, Dec. 29, 1753. + +[10] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_, ed. R. A. Brock, 1: 100, +101. + +[11] Dinwiddie to the Board of Trade, Jan. 29, 1754. + +[12] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_, ed. R. A. Brock, 1: 153. + +[13] CO5-1367, pp. 94-101. + +[14] _Ibid._ + +[15] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_, ed., R. A. Brock, 1: 507. + +[16] Sept. 23, 1758. + +[17] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 176. + +[18] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 176. + +[19] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_, ed. R. A. Brock, 1: 157. + +[20] _Ibid._, 328. + +[21] _Ibid._, 329. + +[22] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 301. + +[23] _Ibid._, 315. + +[24] Board of Trade to Dinwiddie, Feb. 17, 1756. + +[25] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_, ed. R. A. Brock, II: 341. + +[26] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 351. + +[27] _Writings of George Washington_, J. C. Fitzpatrick, ed. 2: 324, +325. + +[28] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_ 2: 464. + +[29] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: 413. + +[30] _Ibid._, 448. + +[31] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: xxviii. + +[32] Dinwiddie to the Lords of Trade, Sept. 12, 1757. + +[33] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1752-1758: xxviii. + +[34] _Ibid._, 492. + +[35] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_ 2: 642, 643. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE WIDENING RIFT + + +Francis Fauquier, who succeeded Dinwiddie as Lieutenant Governor, is +described as "a gentleman of most amiable disposition, generous, just, +and mild, and possessed in an eminent degree of all the social virtues." +When Thomas Jefferson was a student at the College of William and Mary, +he, together with Professor William Small and George Wythe, dined with +him frequently. "At these dinners I have heard more good sense, more +rational and philosophical conversations than in all my life besides," +Jefferson said many years later.[1] Fauquier, who was an accomplished +musician, delighted in joining with Jefferson and several others in +weekly concerts in the lovely ballroom of the Palace. He was a member of +the Royal Society, and, if we may judge from the presence in his library +of a set of Palladio, a student of architecture. + +When Fauquier arrived, on June 5, 1758, he found the colonists absorbed +in preparations to send strong forces to join General Forbes in his +expedition against Fort Duquesne. Ever since the French had established +themselves there it had been a nest from which swarms of Indians had +made raids on the frontier. "I found this colony zealous in his +Majesty's service, and very strenuous to support the common cause," +Fauquier wrote the Lords of Trade.[2] + +Secretary Pitt and General Abercrombie had written urging the Virginians +to exert themselves to the utmost. John Blair, President of the Council +and Acting Governor pending Fauquier's arrival, had called the Assembly +together and asked them to vote funds for a new regiment. The vote was +unanimous. They were eager to help in any attack on their "cruel +neighbors of Fort Duquesne." So now the colony resounded to the beat of +drums as officers brought in the recruits. Some ensigns raised ten, some +lieutenants twenty, some captains seventy. To supply the men with arms, +Blair stripped the magazine at Williamsburg and even took the muskets +from the Governor's Palace. Tents and kettles he ordered from +Philadelphia, pledging the credit of the colony to pay for them.[3] + +This was the situation when Fauquier landed, and it gave him reason to +hope that Fort Duquesne would be in English hands early in the autumn. +When long delays made this unlikely, he summoned the Assembly to ask for +more funds. But now he was confronted with a perplexing problem. It had +long been the practice for the House of Burgesses to make their Speaker +the Treasurer of the colony. Dinwiddie, probably because of a grudge +against John Robinson, who held these two offices, had recommended their +separation. The Board of Trade approved and directed Fauquier to see +that this was done.[4] But the Governor held back. He was not long in +finding that Robinson was the most popular man in Virginia, the idol of +the people whether rich or poor. Had he insisted that someone else be +made Treasurer, the Burgesses would not have voted a penny for the +expedition. Fearing that the Board's instruction might be whispered +around and come to Robinson's ear, he decided to take him into his +confidence and place the whole matter before him. The Speaker was much +gratified. "I am told by those who know his character that I have +attached him to me in the strongest manner by the openness of my +behavior," Fauquier wrote the Board.[5] So the supply bill went through +with a rush. But the Board must have realized that their authority in +the colony had sunk to a new low when the Governor not only ignored +their orders, but thought it necessary to apologize for them in order to +curry favor with the Speaker of the House. + +In the meanwhile, things were going well in the war. Under the able +leadership of Pitt, Great Britain had poured men and money into the +colonies, and replaced the incompetent Loudoun with the able General +Jeffrey Amherst. A blow of great importance for Virginia was struck when +a small force captured Fort Frontenac at the outlet of Lake Ontario. +This cut the French line of communication with the west and made Fort +Duquesne untenable. So this key position fell without firing a shot. As +Forbes' army approached, the garrison blew up the fort, and taking to +their canoes fell down the Ohio. + +Fauquier congratulated himself for his part in this success. He had kept +the Burgesses in good humor; he had obtained the funds needed to keep +the Virginia troops in the field. If he had been lax in defending the +King's prerogative, surely the end justified the means. So he was not a +little piqued when he received a reprimand from the Board of Trade. + +The trouble stemmed from the fact that tobacco provided a very poor +standard of value. When the crop was bountiful its purchasing power +fell, if the summer were dry and the leaves withered in the field, it +doubled or tripled. In the first case debts and taxes could be paid at a +low value, in the other the value might be so great as to threaten +widespread injustice and suffering. + +In 1748 by an act of Assembly the salary of the clergy had been fixed at +16,000 pounds of tobacco. This law had received the King's assent, and +according to the "ancient constitution," could not be repealed without +his approval. Yet, seven years later, when there had been a severe +drought, the Assembly passed an act permitting payment of all +obligations in money at the rate of two pence a pound. The law was to +continue in force for ten months only, and there was no clause +suspending its operation until the King had given his assent. + +The clergy were bitter. They thought it hard that when the price of +tobacco was low they were forced to accept it, but when it was high they +were to be paid in money at one third the market price of tobacco. In a +petition to the House of Burgesses they pointed out that their average +income was so inadequate that they found it difficult to support their +families. It was this which explained why so few graduates of Oxford and +Cambridge entered the ministry in Virginia, and why so few in the colony +thought it worth while to study divinity.[6] + +A delegation of four ministers called on Governor Dinwiddie to urge him +to veto the bill. But Dinwiddie, who was begging for funds and troops, +had no stomach for a conflict with the Assembly over this affair. "What +can I do?" he told them. "If I refuse to approve the act, I shall have +the people on my back." So he signed the bill. + +Unwilling to let the matter rest here, ten of the ministers, among them +the Reverend Patrick Henry, uncle of the statesman, appealed to the +Bishop of London. The unjust Two-penny Act would lower them in the eyes +of the people, it would discourage them in the discharge of their duty. +And, to clinch their argument, they pointed out that their cause was +also the cause of the King. "Our salaries have had the royal assent and +cannot be taken from us or diminished in any respect by any law made +here without trampling upon the royal prerogative."[7] + +Three years later, when again there was a "prodigious dimunition" in the +tobacco crop, the Assembly acted to give relief to debtors and taxpayers +by again making obligations payable in money at tuppence a pound. This +time the clergy made no appeal to the Burgesses, but Commissary Dawson, +John Camm, and Thomas Robinson went to the Palace to urge Fauquier to +veto the bill. Note that it has no suspending clause, they said. Note +that it alters a bill to which the King gave his assent. If you let it +pass, will you not be ignoring your instructions?[8] + +But Fauquier was as much in need of funds as Dinwiddie had been. He +answered that that was not the point to be considered. What was +important was what would please the people. So he gave the act his +approval. "The bill was a temporary law to ease the people from a burden +which the country thought too great for them to bear," he wrote the +Lords of Trade. "A suspending clause would have been to all intents and +purposes the same as rejecting it.... The country were intent upon it +... and I conceived it would be a very strong step for me to take ... to +set my face against the whole colony.... I am persuaded that if I had +refused it, I must have despaired of our gaining any influence either in +the Council or the House of Burgesses."[9] + +But the clergy were determined to bring the matter to an issue. +Commissary Dawson advised caution, but pressure from other ministers +forced him to call a convention. When they met they not only vented +their indignation in many denunciations of the Two-penny Act, but drew +up an address to the King entitled "The Representation of the Clergy." +In it they hammered on the point that their cause was his cause. The act +was as injurious to the royal prerogative as to the rights of the +Church. "It gives us great concern that an ancient, standing law of this +dominion, confirmed by the sanction of the royal assent, is no security +to our livings."[10] + +This appeal they entrusted to the Reverend John Camm with instructions +to place it in the King's hands. Camm, who later became Commissary, +President of the College of William and Mary, and a member of the +Council, was a man of great ability, but according to Fauquier, +turbulent and delighting "to live in a flame." On his arrival in England +he obtained an interview with the King and delivered the +"Representation." His Majesty referred it to the Privy Council, who, in +turn, handed it on to the Board of Trade. + +This suited Camm exactly, for his trump card was the Bishop of London, +and the Bishop's influence with the Board was great. His Lordship was +exasperated at the presumption of the Virginia Assembly. "To make an act +to suspend the operations of the royal act is an attempt which in some +times would have been called treason, and I do not know any other name +for it in our law," he told the Board. "To assume a power to bind the +King's hands, and to say how far his power shall go and where it shall +stop, is such an act of supremacy as is inconsistent with the dignity of +the Crown of England." It manifestly tended to draw the colonists from +their allegiance to the King for them to find that they had a higher +power to protect them. "Surely it is time for us to look about us, and +to consider the several steps lately taken in the diminution of the +prerogative and influence of the Crown." + +The Bishop denounced Governor Fauquier for signing the Two-penny bill. +"What made him so zealous in this cause I pretend not to judge, but +surely the great change which manifestly appears in the temper and +disposition of the people of this colony in the compass of a few years +deserves highly to be considered, and the more so as the Deputy +Governors and the Council seemed to act in concert with the people."[11] + +The Board was duly impressed. They denounced the Two-penny Act as a +usurpation and advised the King to declare it null and void. Not only +did the King do so, but he gave Fauquier a stunning rebuke. "We do ... +strictly command and require you for the future, upon pain of our +highest displeasure, and of being recalled from the government of our +said colony, punctually to observe and obey the several directions +contained in the 16th article of our said instructions, relative to the +passing of laws...."[12] + +Camm sent copies of these papers to Virginia, and when they were handed +around among his friends the clergy rejoiced. The King was on their +side, all would be well. Camm wrote to his attorney in Virginia to bring +suit in the General Court against the vestry of his parish for his +salary in tobacco. On the other hand, the people of the colony were +highly resentful against the clergy, and especially against the Bishop +of London. Colonel Landon Carter and Colonel Richard Bland wrote +pamphlets defending the Two-penny Act and denouncing his Lordship. To +the Bishop's contention that the act tended to draw the people from +their allegiance, it was answered that nothing was more apt to estrange +them than to deny them the right to protect themselves from distress. +His Lordship had called the act treason. "But were the Assembly to do +nothing? This would have been treason indeed." In case of an eventuality +which the Governor's instructions could not provide for, which could +bring ruin before relief could come from the throne, it was the duty of +the Assembly to deviate from the fixed rules of the constitution. The +preservation of the people could not possibly be treason.[13] + +In the meanwhile Fauquier had been waiting impatiently for his copies of +the King's veto and his instructions in the matter. Month after month +passed and nothing came. Finally, late in June, ten months after they +had been written, Camm appeared with them at the door of the Palace. +Fauquier took them, and then denounced him for slandering him in +England. Then he called out in a loud voice for his Negro servants, and +when they had assembled, pointed his finger at Camm. "Look at that +gentleman and be sure to know him again, and under no circumstances +permit him to revisit the Palace," he said.[14] + +As time passed the war of pamphlets was renewed. In 1763 Camm wrote +assailing Carter and Bland and trying to answer their arguments. But so +unpopular was the cause of the clergy that no one in Virginia would +publish what he wrote, and he had to have it done in Maryland. Bland +retorted in a letter in the _Virginia Gazette_, and Camm came back in a +letter which he called "Observations."[15] + +Interest now centered on a test case in which the Reverend James Maury +brought suit for his salary in tobacco in the Hanover County court, in +November, 1763. The court declared the Two-penny Act no law, since it +had been vetoed by the Crown, and ordered that at the next court the +jury should determine how much damages, if any, should be paid. Maury's +case seemed as good as won, and the attorney for the defendants, Mr. +John Lewis, retired from the case. In his place they engaged a young, +little-known lawyer, named Patrick Henry. + +It was on December 1, 1763, that a great crowd assembled at the Hanover +courthouse, filling the little room and overflowing into the yard. Among +them were twenty clergymen. But when Henry saw his uncle there, he +persuaded him to leave. John Henry, Patrick's father, presided. When +several gentlemen refused to serve on the jury, the sheriff was forced +to fill their places with men of the small farmer class. Several were +dissenters. + +The case was opened by Mr. Peter Lyons, attorney for the plaintiff. When +he had concluded, Henry rose to reply. At first he seemed hesitant and +awkward. But soon he warmed up to his subject. His eyes kindled, his +gestures were bolder, he seemed to grow more erect, his voice resounded +through the room. His audience were spellbound, and on every bench, at +the door, in every window people leaned forward, their eyes fixed on the +youthful orator. + +Henry contended that there was a contract between King and people. The +King owed the people protection; the people owed the King obedience and +support. But should either violate the contract, it released the other +from the obligation. The Two-penny Act was good and essential, and its +disallowance was a breach of the contract. It was an instance of +misrule, a neglect of the interests of the colony. The King, from being +the father of his people, became a tyrant who had forfeited the +obedience of the subjects. At this point Mr. Lyons cried out: "The +gentleman has spoken treason." And from various parts of the room arose +a murmur of "treason! treason!" + +But Henry turned to the ministers seated before him and denounced them +and the rest of the clergy in blazing words for trying to triple their +salaries at the expense of the people. "Do they manifest their zeal in +the cause of religion and humanity by practicing the mild and benevolent +precepts of the Gospel of Jesus?... Oh no! Gentlemen. Instead of feeding +the hungry and clothing the naked these rapacious harpies would ... +snatch from the hearth of their honest parishioner his last hoe-cake, +from the widow and her orphaned child their last milch-cow."[16] At this +the ministers got up and left the room. When the jury brought in a +verdict of one penny damages, the throng shouted their approval. Strong +arms lifted Henry aloft and bore him out of the courthouse. + +Henry's contention in essence was that the people of the colonies had a +right to govern themselves. And in this he was but finding legal +arguments for the existing state of affairs. The Assembly, after a +century and a half of battling with Kings and Governors, had made itself +to all intents and purposes supreme. In annulling the Two-penny Act the +King crossed lances with the representatives of the people and had come +off second best. The jury, sitting in the little country courthouse, +under the urging of an obscure lawyer, had defied him. Thus, two years +before the Stamp Act, Virginia inaugurated the policy of resistance. +Most of Henry's arguments were borrowed from the Carter and Bland +pamphlets, but whereas they pleaded, he secured positive action. In so +far as the Two-penny Act was concerned, the King's veto power was +annulled. + +Bland summed up the constitutional argument behind this action in a +pamphlet written at the time of the trial but published only eight +months later. "Under an English government all men are born free, are +only subject to laws made by their own consent.... If then the people of +this colony are free born, and have a right to the liberties and +privileges of English subjects, they must necessarily have a legal +constitution, that is a legislature, composed in part of the +representatives of the people, who may enact laws for the INTERNAL +government of the colony, ... and without such a representative I am +bold to say no law can be made."[17] + +But the stubborn Mr. Camm was determined not to give up. In April, 1764, +his cause came up in the General Court after a delay of five years. The +case against him was argued by Robert Carter Nicholas, who claimed that +when the Governor had approved a law it was legal, even though in so +doing he broke his instructions. A majority of the court[18] were +convinced and voted that the Two-penny Act of 1758 was valid despite the +King's veto.[19] Camm appealed the case to the Privy Council. It came +up in 1767, and was thrown out on a technicality. In this way they +avoided giving further offense to the colony without admitting the +validity of their claims. + +The controversy over the Two-penny Act came at a time when the Board of +Trade was at odds with the Virginia Assembly over the repeated issues of +paper money. Had Dinwiddie and Fauquier not assured them that without +these issues there would have been no funds with which to carry on the +war, they would certainly have put a stop to them. As it was, all they +could do was to urge that steps be taken to prevent the paper from +declining in value and to protect the interests of the British +merchants. + +Prior to 1757 each issue had borne five per cent interest, and taxes had +been voted for their redemption. But in April of that year the notes +were all called in and new ones issued in their place bearing no +interest. This, with a new issue of £80,000 brought the total to +£179,962.10.0. This was more than was needed to carry on the business of +the colony, and the value of the notes began to sink.[20] In 1748 an act +had been passed declaring that debts contracted in sterling could be +paid in Virginia currency at a twenty-five per cent advance, or one +pound five shillings for one pound sterling. But as the rate of exchange +was not long in rising above this figure, the merchants feared large +losses. + +The London merchants, speaking not only for themselves, but for those of +Bristol, Liverpool, and Glasgow, laid their complaint before the Board +of Trade. The issuing of large amounts of paper money could be most +injurious to trade by putting it upon an uncertain basis, they said. And +to pay debts contracted in sterling in depreciated colonial currency was +as unjust as it was unwise. So they asked the King to instruct the +Governor to urge the Assembly to amend the act of 1748 to make all debts +due to persons in Great Britain payable according to the real difference +in exchange.[21] + +It seems strange that the merchants and the Board of Trade did not know +that what they asked for had already been done. In 1755 the act of 1748 +had been amended so as to direct the courts in cases where contracts had +been made in sterling, to order payment in Virginia money at the rate of +exchange they thought just.[22] "The merchants do not know the law," +Fauquier wrote the Board. "Let the value of paper currency fall as much +as they please ... exchange will rise as fast, and they will obtain for +a sterling debt just as much of the paper currency as will purchase a +good sterling bill of exchange. And what injury is done them unless ... +the whole court combine in a barefaced villainy to defraud them?" At the +last court the exchange had been fixed at 35 per cent.[23] + +The amendment to the law of 1748 had had no clause suspending its +operation until the King had given his assent, and, like the Two-penny +Act, was a clear infringement on the royal prerogative. But since it had +merely anticipated the King's wishes, it drew no rebuke from him. None +the less, it was one more step toward autonomy, one more demonstration +that in internal affairs the Virginians were a self-governing people. + +The fixing of the rate of exchange quieted the merchants for the time +being, even though they looked on uneasily as Fauquier assented to +further emissions, for £57,000 in September, 1758; £52,000 in February, +1759; £10,000 in November, 1759; £20,000 in March, 1760; £32,000 in May, +1760; and £30,000 in March, 1762. The whole totalled nearly £413,000, +and William Hunter's printing press at Williamsburg was kept busy +stamping out notes of £10, £15, £3, 10 shillings, 3 shillings, etc. In +the meanwhile, only £51,156.10.0. had been retired and burnt, leaving +£362,000 in circulation.[24] + +Long before this figure had been reached, opposition to paper money had +grown within the colony itself. The law which protected the British +merchants did not apply to Virginia creditors, since their contracts +usually had been made in the local currency. So, as the flood of paper +continued to mount, the small farmer or shopkeeper who had borrowed from +his wealthy neighbor, could pay him back in depreciated notes. And as +they were legal tender, he had to accept them. "Debtors pursued their +creditors relentlessly and paid them without mercy." + +In 1762, though a bill to issue £30,000 in paper money passed the House +by a vote of 66 to 3, it hung fire in the Council. At the time there +were only six members in attendance, three of whom opposed any further +emissions, so Fauquier got the Speaker to hold back the bill while he +sent out a hurry call for the others. In the end the bill passed by a +vote of five to four. "On this occasion I have stretched my influence to +the utmost pitch," the Governor wrote the Board.[25] The four dissenting +Councillors--William Nelson, Thomas Nelson, Richard Corbin, and Philip +Ludwell Lee--all of them rich men, made a vigorous protest, which was +entered upon the Journal.[26] + +Not satisfied with this, Corbin took the step, unusual for a member of +the Upper House, of complaining to the Board of Trade against an act of +Assembly. He was astute enough to base his case, not on his personal +losses, but on the losses to the revenue and to the merchants. Taxes had +been paid in the depreciated currency. In turn this had made it +impossible to meet the needs of the government and at the same time sink +the outstanding notes. As for the merchants, though it was true that +sterling contracts were to be paid at the current rate of exchange, and +though the judges who determined it seemed to be impartial, the rate +might rise from five to fifteen per cent between the date of their +decision and the date of settlement, to their great loss.[27] + +When the British merchants heard that some of the most prominent men in +Virginia had sided with them in urging that an end be put to currency +inflation, they were encouraged to renew their complaints to the Board +of Trade. The Board, in turn, wrote Fauquier to urge the Assembly to +give them satisfaction. So the Governor, on May 19, 1763, addressed the +House, pointing out that common justice required that every man should +receive full payment for debts due him. And the support of the public +credit, so vital for a trading country like Virginia, made it absolutely +necessary to redeem the paper in circulation at the dates fixed by +law.[28] + +The Burgesses responded by adding to the fund for sinking the paper +money by laying additional taxes on slaves, wheel carriages, licenses, +etc.[29] But they would not budge from their determination to keep all +the notes legal tender. And they made a long and able reply to the +Governor, drawn up by Charles Carter, Edmund Pendleton, Wythe, and +Richard Henry Lee, justifying their proceedings and claiming that the +merchants had no just grounds for complaint. In it they inserted a +declaration of American rights which the British Ministry would have +been wise to take to heart. Their dependence upon Great Britain they +acknowledged as their greatest happiness and only security. But this was +not the dependence of a conquered people, but of sons sent out to +explore and settle a new world for the mutual benefit of themselves and +their common parent. It was the dependence of the part upon the whole, +which, by its admirable constitution, diffused a spirit of patriotism +which made every citizen, however remote from the mother kingdom, +zealous for the King and the public good.[30] + +But the merchants were far from being satisfied, and a group in Glasgow +sent another appeal to the Board of Trade. They thought that part of the +trouble came from the ease with which paper money could be +counterfeited. And they were sure that the hundreds of counterfeit +notes, passing from hand to hand in Virginia, partly accounted for the +enormous heights of exchange. But they supported the Assembly in +continuing the legal tender clause. To take it off might make the +currency debts "more fluctuating, uncertain, and less valuable." The +only effectual remedy was to forbid further issues of paper money, to +see that notes as they were brought into the treasury were duly burnt, +to order that circulating notes bear five per cent interest, and to +remedy any deficiency in the taxes.[31] When Parliament passed an act to +prohibit future emissions in the colonies, they seemed satisfied. + +But there was a strong underlying sentiment in the colony against +burning the notes. The soil of tidewater Virginia, after a century and a +half of cultivation, was beginning to wear out, and thousands of acres +were gradually reverting to forest land. This, with war taxes and an +occasional drought, had brought hard times. But the planters, instead of +tightening their belts, continued the old extravagant mode of living by +borrowing money. "I fear they are not prudent enough to quit any article +of luxury till smart obliges them," observed Fauquier.[32] So for many +cheap money meant salvation from ruin. + +These men made their influence felt in the House when a scheme for +borrowing £240,000 from the British merchants was passed in May, 1765. +Of this sum £100,000 was to be used for a new currency to replace old +notes, and £140,000 to be lent out at five per cent interest. But when +the bill came up to the Council it was bitterly opposed by Corbin and +finally defeated.[33] + +In the meanwhile, people were wondering why the rate of exchange did not +drop. They were not ignorant of the quantative law of currency, and they +knew that the amount of paper in circulation ought to have been reduced +each year. So they were surprised to find it remaining between sixty and +sixty-five per cent. Behind this apparent contradiction of economic law +there must be some mystery.[34] + +The mystery was explained in May, 1766, when a bomb exploded which shook +the colony from the capes to the Alleghenies. That month the beloved +John Robinson, Speaker and Treasurer, died. Fauquier had called him "the +darling of the country." The _Gazette_ lamented his loss and praised +"the many amiable virtues which adorned his private station." + +So there was universal astonishment when the examiners of his accounts +found a deficit of £100,000. Robinson had not taken the money for his +own use. Even had he been dishonorable enough to do so, there would have +been no need for it, since he was one of the richest men in the colony. +What he had done was to lend his friends thousands of pounds from the +public funds.[35] In this he was guilty of two serious breaches of his +duty. Since the Assembly had refused to establish a public loan office, +he must have known that he had no right to do so on his own +responsibility. And there could be no excuse for his disregard of the +law which required that he burn the paper money as it came in. + +But when his friends came to him in distress begging loans to save them +from ruin, he did not have the strength of character to refuse them. +Thousands of pounds went out to men in all parts of the colony, among +them members of some of the oldest and most distinguished +families--William Byrd III, Charles Carter, Jr., George Braxton, Henry +Fitzhugh, Lewis Burwell, etc. Robinson's estate was large enough to +cover all these loans, but it took many years for his executors to +recover even part of what was due him. + +Robert Carter Nicholas, Robinson's successor as Treasurer, was bitter in +condemnation of what he had done. "The seeming mysteries of our exchange +now begin to unfold themselves," he wrote in a letter to the _Gazette_. +"It comes out that a great part of the money squeezed from the people +for their taxes, instead of being sunk ... was thrown back into +circulation." The Assembly had given their word that they would protect +the interests of the British merchants by burning the paper promptly on +the dates of their retirement. What must the world think when these good +intentions had been in part defeated by a strange kind of misconduct? +What made it worse was the need the colony had for the friendship of the +merchants at a time when the great men in England had their eyes fixed +upon all the Assemblies. "The consequences are as glaring as the sun in +the meridian."[36] + +Nicholas saw to it that the law was obeyed. As the notes came in they +were burnt. As a result the exchange began to drop until in a few months +it became normal. The day of easy money was over, and the host of +debtors faced ruin. For many months the pages of the _Gazette_ were +crowded with notices of slaves and plantations for sale. + +In the meanwhile, the century and a half old struggle between mother +country and colonies was rapidly approaching a crisis. The issue had +long been postponed because of the inactivity of the King's ministers, +who were content to close their eyes to what was going on across the +Atlantic. But the time was at hand when the question of whether the +Americans should be governed from London or should govern themselves had +to be settled. + +This was in part due to the fact that as time passed Parliament had +grown less and less representative of the people. In Great Britain there +was no provision, as there is in the Constitution of the United States, +for periodic reapportionments of the people's representatives to keep +step with changes in population. For centuries most of the Commons had +been elected under a very restricted franchise by certain old boroughs. +Though with the passing of the decades many of these boroughs, once +centers of population and wealth, had fallen into decay, they still sent +their representatives to the House of Commons. Perhaps the most +notorious was Old Sarum, a city of Norman times, whose castle and +cathedral and crowded houses overlooked the Salisbury plain, but which +for centuries had been deserted. Unless the ghosts of men long dead were +to have a voice in running the nation, it was absurd for these old ruins +to be represented in the Commons. In practice the rotten borough system, +as it was called, tended to perpetuate the ascendency of the landed +proprietors. + +And the country squires wanted no change. They thought the British +Government the best in the world, and were determined to defend their +privileges. It never occurred to them that duty required that they +should try to alleviate the miseries of the poor people; they were too +intent on enjoying their great manor houses, their formal gardens, their +stately dinners, their fox hunts, to heed the voices which were pleading +for social and political reform.[37] + +But it would be a mistake to assume that Great Britain had become static +in intellectual, social, and institutional matters. On the contrary, the +first seven decades of the eighteenth century was a period of tremendous +activity. It was the period of Richardson and Fielding in literature, of +the great religious revival led by Wesley and Whitefield, of renewed +interest in Shakespeare, of the birth of industrial Britain, of the bold +defiance of authority by John Wilkes. Had Parliament truly reflected the +spirit of the age, had it not revered the old system of government as +the best attainable by man, it would have attuned itself to these +changes. + +If the Commons were out of step with the march of events in Great +Britain, they were far more so with developments in the colonies. They +knew nothing of the influence of the vast natural resources and the +limited supply of labor in lifting the level of the common man and +giving him a sense of self-respect, nothing of the democratizing power +of the frontier. And what little they saw they disliked. No doubt some +would have applauded Samuel Johnson when he said of the Americans: "Sir, +they are a race of convicts, and ought to be thankful for anything we +allow them short of hanging." + +With such irreconcilable differences between the ruling group in Great +Britain and the people of the colonies the conflict was inevitable. The +King, the Privy Council, the Board of Trade, the Commons construed the +many instances of colonial disobedience as attacks on the foundations +of the established order, as revolutionary innovations. To Americans +they seemed no more than the assertion of rights inherent in all free +men. And though many of their claims had no precedent in English +experience, they began to speak of them as ancient and necessary for the +existence of representative government. + +That the clash came when it did was in part due to the passing of the +laissez-faire period in the British Government. New figures had made +their appearance at Whitehall, who had no patience with the old slipshod +way of doing things. They wanted a consolidated empire, ruled from +London, rather than a loose federation of semi-independent states. To +them it seemed intolerable that the colonial Assemblies should defy the +King at will. "Must we and America be two distinct kingdoms, and that +now immediately?" asked George Grenville. + +The French and Indian War revealed much concerning conditions in the +colonies which surprised and alarmed the Ministry. They had found it +impossible to get the colonies to act in unison, they had defied the +King's wishes repeatedly, the Governors were kept busy explaining why +they had to disregard one instruction after another, they were disgusted +at the pouring out of paper money, and they must have been influenced by +the warnings that the Americans were too much of a republican way of +thinking. The advice to have Parliament lay a general tax on the +colonies had come, not only from Dinwiddie, but from various parts of +America. + +The determination of the Ministry to follow this advice was based +ostensibly on the reasonableness of requiring the colonies to bear their +share of the burden of the expense of the war. It may be argued that +Virginia and some of the others, because of the disruption of trade, the +very heavy taxes, the devastation on the frontiers, and their heavy +losses in men, had already paid more than their share. But that there +was something deeper, more vital, behind the resolve to tax than a mere +matter of finance, is obvious. It was a demonstration of policy, a +manifesto that Great Britain was determined to govern her colonies. + +When word reached America that the Ministry planned to tax the colonies +by a stamp Act, there was general dismay. There were many grave faces +among the Burgesses as they took their seats in November, 1764. Some of +the ablest men in Virginia, among them Peyton Randolph, Edmund +Pendleton, George Wythe, and Richard Henry Lee, drew up a protest to +the King and Parliament. They begged the King to protect the people of +the colony in the enjoyment of their ancient right of being governed in +internal affairs by laws derived from their own consent, with the +approbation of their sovereign or his substitute. This right, as men and +descendants of Britons, they had possessed ever since they left the +mother kingdom to extend its commerce and dominion. + +To the House of Lords they pointed out that, as their ancestors had +brought with them to America every right and privilege they could claim +in the mother kingdom, their descendants could not justly be deprived of +them. It was a fundamental principle of the British Constitution, +without which freedom could nowhere exist, that the people are not +subject to any taxes except by their own consent or by those who were +legally appointed to represent them. + +They reminded the Commons that this principle had been recognized ever +since the founding of the colony. During the reign of Charles II, when +the British Government sought a revenue to support the government of +Virginia, they had tacitly admitted that Parliament had no right to levy +the tax. Instead they drew up a bill in England and sent it over to be +acted on by the Assembly.[38] + +As they penned this protest the thoughts of Wythe and the others must +have reverted to the part played by the control of taxation in winning +self-government for the colony. They spoke of their rights as ancient, +yet they must have known that the Virginia of their day was far freer +than it had been under the Stuarts. And there could be no doubt as to +how this great change had come about. They and their fathers and their +great-grandfathers had used the control of the purse to whittle the +royal prerogative until little was left. For Parliament to strike this +weapon from their hands would be to nullify the gains of many decades +and leave them defenseless. + +When the bill to tax the Americans came before the Commons, on February +7, 1765, a lengthy debate followed. It was on this occasion that Colonel +Isaac Barré retorted to Charles Townshend's assertion that the Americans +had been "planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence." "Your +oppressions planted them in America," he shouted. "They grew up by your +neglect of them.... They protected by your arms! They have taken up +arms in your defence."[39] But when the Virginia memorial was presented +it was rejected by an overwhelming majority.[40] The bill passed the +Commons by 205 votes to 49, and the House of Lords without a division. +The measure required the colonists to use stamps, purchased from the +British Government through royal agents, on newspapers, almanacs, +pamphlets, advertisements, and various kinds of legal documents. + +It was with heavy hearts that the Assembly met in May, 1765. Edmund +Pendleton, when news of the passage of the Stamp Act reached him, had +exclaimed, "Poor America!" As he, George Wythe, Richard Bland, Robert +Carter Nicholas, Henry Lee, Peyton Randolph, and other leading statesmen +took their seats, they had no thought of resistance. They proceeded with +routine business--the authorizing of a ferry over the Potomac, giving +rewards for killing wolves, opening a road through the Swift Run Gap, +preventing escapes from debtors' prisons, etc. Probably none of the +aristocrats from the tidewater paid any attention to young Patrick Henry +when he joined the House late in the session. When most of the bills had +passed the third reading many of the members left, and mounting their +horses rode out of town, leaving only thirty-nine to wind up business. + +This was Henry's opportunity. Opening an old law book he wrote down +seven resolutions. Then, rising, he introduced them in the House. In +substance the first four declared that Virginians from the first +settlement had possessed all the privileges of the people of Great +Britain, that these privileges had been confirmed to them by two royal +charters, that the taxation of the people by themselves was the +distinguishing characteristic of British freedom, and that the people of +the colony had never forfeited the right to be governed by their own +Assembly in the articles of taxation and internal policy. + +When Henry came to the fifth resolution there must have been a gasp of +surprise. It held that any attempt to vest the power to tax the colonies +in any other body than the Assembly was illegal, unjust, and +unconstitutional, and tended to destroy British as well as American +liberty. Henry did not introduce the other two resolutions, probably +because of the uproar which the reading of the fifth occasioned. + +A violent debate ensued. George Wythe, John Robinson, Peyton Randolph, +and others thought the language too extreme. But what Fauquier described +as "the young, hot, and giddy members," were carried along by Henry's +eloquence. "Tarquin and Caesar each had his Brutus, Charles I his +Cromwell, and George III...." At this point he was interrupted by the +Speaker who declared that he had spoken treason. Henry denied that he +advocated treason. If he had said anything wrong, it should be +attributed to his concern over his country's dying liberty.[41] + +The first four resolutions passed by safe margins, but the fifth barely +got by, by a vote of twenty to nineteen. In alarm the more conservative +members sent out a hurry call for such absent Burgesses as were still in +or near Williamsburg. When several had come in an attempt was made to +have the resolutions struck off the journal. They succeeded with the +fifth, Fauquier reported, "which was thought the most offensive," but +failed with the other four.[42] + +Perhaps Henry, himself, as he left Williamsburg, wearing a pair of +leather breeches and leading his bony nag by the bridle, did not realize +that his resolutions would be the alarm bell of revolution. The +_Maryland Gazette_, the _Newport Gazette_, the _Boston Gazette_, and +other papers published them, not only the four which passed in the +House, but the other three as well. And the sixth and seventh were +radical indeed. They declared that the people of the colony were not +bound to obey any laws to tax them other than those passed by the +Assembly, and that any person who should uphold such laws "by speaking +or writing" should be deemed an enemy of the colony. It was the policy +of resistance. + +Virginia was now aflame. It was rumored that groups of men from all +parts of the colony were preparing to march on Williamsburg to seize and +destroy the stamps as soon as they arrived. Many justices declared that +they would resign rather than use the stamps in the processes of their +courts, and it seemed certain that others would follow their example. +From Westmoreland came word that a mob had burned in effigy the stamp +distributor for Virginia, Colonel George Mercer, a native Virginian who +had served in the French and Indian War.[43] Fauquier waited anxiously +for his arrival with the stamps, praying that adverse winds would delay +him until the session of the General Court was over and the crowds of +merchants, persons involved in suits, debtors, witnesses, and others had +left town. + +But the Fates were against him. Mercer arrived on October 30, and at +once went to his father's house. Having word of this, a crowd of men, +some of them leading citizens in their home counties, started off to +find him. As they approached the Capitol they met him and asked him +whether he intended to retain his office as stamp distributor. To this +he gave an evasive answer, and continued to the coffee house nearby +where Governor Fauquier, Speaker Robinson, and several members of the +Council were seated on the porch. The crowd, which had followed him, +pressed toward them and a cry was heard, "Let us rush in." But when +Fauquier and the others advanced to repel them, someone called out, "See +the Governor, take care of him." Upon this they fell back. And when +Mercer promised that he would give his answer at the Capitol the next +day at five, they seemed satisfied and permitted him to walk through +them side by side with the Governor to the Palace.[44] + +In the meanwhile, word of Mercer's arrival had spread through the +countryside, so that the next day hundreds of persons poured into town. +As five o'clock approached a vast crowd assembled in the Capitol yard. +There Mercer spoke to them. His appointment had been unsolicited, he +said. He had not, as had been rumored, urged the passage of the Stamp +Act. "And now," he added, "I will not, directly by myself or deputies +proceed in the execution of the act ... without the assent of the +General Assembly of this colony." At this there was a great shout of +approval, and those near him raised him aloft and bore him out through +the gate to a nearby tavern. As they entered, the huzzas were redoubled, +while drums rattled, and horns blared. That night the town was +illuminated and bells rang out. The following night the occasion was +climaxed by "a splendid ball."[45] + +As for the stamps, they never touched land. They were transferred to a +warship, "it being the place of the greatest, if not the only security +for them." If the mob could have laid their hands on them they would +certainly have gone up in flames. + +Now in various parts of the colony men met to organize what they called +Sons of Liberty. The merchants of Norfolk, native-born Scotsmen many of +them, had a double grievance, since the Sugar Act threatened their trade +and the Stamp Act their liberty. In March about thirty leading citizens +met at the house of Mayor Calvert, where "they brought daylight on" +debating the best way to resist both acts. At their call the people +crowded into the courthouse to protest. "We will ... defend ourselves in +the full enjoyment of ... those inestimable privileges of freeborn +British subjects of being taxed only by representatives of their own +choosing.... If we quietly submit to the execution of the said Stamp +Act, all our claims of civil liberty will be lost, and we and our +posterity become absolute slaves."[46] + +A few days later, when word went round that a certain Captain William +Smith had been responsible for the seizure of several vessels in the +Elizabeth River, he was arrested by a group of leading citizens. +Hurrying him to the County Wharf, they tarred and feathered him, set him +in the ducking stool, and pelted him with stones and rotten eggs. They +next marched him through the town with drums beating, ducked him again, +and at last threw him headlong into the water. Had not a passing boat +pulled him out, more dead than alive, he would have been drowned.[47] + +At Hobb's Hole, Essex County, a merchant named Ritchie barely escaped +similar treatment. A number of men, hearing that he had boasted that he +could secure stamps and was determined to clear his ship with them, +marched on the town and drew up along the main street. They brought +Ritchie out and threatened to strip him to the waist, tie him to the +tail of a cart, and then fix him in the pillory. This was too much for +him. Reluctantly he swore on "the holy Evangels" that no vessel of his +would clear "on stamped paper." Thereupon most of the crowd dispersed, +and those living nearby went to the tavern "where they spent the evening +with great sobriety."[48] + +The people of the colony were encouraged in their resistance to the +Stamp Act by articles in British gazettes and magazines, which were +reprinted in the _Virginia Gazette_. A writer in the _Gentleman's +Magazine_ contended that the act violated the British constitution, +which "declared that no Englishman is to be taxed without his own +consent." "I know very well I shall be told that though the Americans +are not immediately represented in the English Parliament, they are +nevertheless represented virtually.... But why, in the name of common +sense, if the mother country judged herself the virtual representative +of all her various dependencies, did she grant a provincial legislature +to her colonies, and from the time of their first existence invest this +legislature with the sole power of internal taxation?" For the colonists +to yield, he thought, would be to confess themselves slaves.[49] + +And when the Virginians read the _Gazette_ they noted with satisfaction +that the disruption of trade was causing great distress in England. A +dispatch from Birmingham stated that unless the Stamp Act were repealed +twenty thousand persons would be out of work.[50] The merchants of +London petitioned the Commons for relief. Their trade with the colonies, +which was of such great importance to the nation, faced utter ruin, they +said. They could not collect debts due them in America, because the +Sugar Act and the Stamp Act had thrown the colonies into confusion and +brought on many bankruptcies. Unless these acts were repealed a +multitude of workers would become a burden on the community or else seek +their bread in other countries.[51] + +It was late in May, 1766, that a vessel arrived in Virginia waters +bearing the news that the Stamp Act had been repealed. As horsemen +galloped along the roads and boatsmen in their shallops ascended the +great rivers, the word was passed from mouth to mouth. Everywhere there +was joyous celebration. At Great Bridge the people listened to a +patriotic sermon in St. Giles Church, and then went to the Banqueting +Room, where they raised their glasses in a series of toasts--to the King +and Queen, Colonel Barré, and others. At Hampton there was a banquet at +the Bunch of Grapes, followed by a ball at the King's Arms Tavern, while +outside there was a great bonfire.[52] The people of Williamsburg waited +for their celebration until the convening of the court when the town +was crowded. Then every house was illuminated, and there was "a ball and +elegant entertainment at the Capitol," marked by "much mirth" and the +drinking of toasts.[53] + +With the French and Indian War brought to a successful conclusion, with +the problem of currency inflation settled, with the Stamp Act repealed, +it seemed that Fauquier might look forward to a period of harmony and +prosperity. But fate soon struck a cruel blow. In the summer of 1767 the +Governor became ill with a very painful disorder. And though, under the +care of Dr. Matthew Pope, of York, he became better, he never fully +recovered his health.[54] He died in the early hours of March 3, 1768. +In his will he directed that if the nature of his illness should not be +understood by his physicians, an autopsy be held on his body, so that he +might become more useful to his fellow creatures in death than he had +been in life. He desired, also, that he be buried "without any vain +funeral pomp."[55] + +Francis Fauquier was an able, just, tactful Governor, who tried to do +his duty both to the King and to the colony. His was an extremely +difficult task. His sympathies seem to have been with the people. Living +among them, knowing their views, he must have deplored the policy of the +Ministry in trying to deprive them of the cherished right of +self-government. Great Britain's strongest link with America was not the +link of government, not even the economic link, but the link of +affection. And nothing tended more to strengthen it than the appointment +of such a man as Fauquier to be Lieutenant Governor of the largest of +the colonies. It would have been a lasting grief to Fauquier had he +lived to see the final separation of mother country and colonies. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 14:231. + +[2] CO5-1329, June 11, 1758. + +[3] CO5-1329, Blair to Lords of Trade, June 20, 1758. + +[4] _Official records of Robert Dinwiddie_ 1: 375. + +[5] CO5-1329, June 28, 1758. + +[6] Charles Campbell, _History of Virginia_, 508. + +[7] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: xlii-xlvi. + +[8] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser. 19: 16. + +[9] CO5-1329, Jan. 5, 1759. + +[10] CO5-1329. Read May 23, 1759. + +[11] _Ibid._, "Thomas London on the Clergy Bill," June 14, 1759. + +[12] G. M. Brydon, _Virginia's Mother Church_ 2: 318, 319. + +[13] Charles Campbell, _History of Virginia_, 509-511. + +[14] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser. 19: 19. + +[15] _Ibid._, 21. + +[16] W. W. Henry, _Life, letters, and correspondence of Patrick Henry_ +1: 39-41. + +[17] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser. 19: 33. + +[18] Blair, Tayloe, Byrd, Thornton, and Burwell. + +[19] CO5-1330, Fauquier to the Lords of Trade, May 9, 1764. + +[20] CO5-1330, Glasgow Merchants to Board of Trade, Jan. 10, 1764. + +[21] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1758-1761: 40, 41. + +[22] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_ 6: 478-483. + +[23] CO5-1329, Jan. 5, 1759. + +[24] _Ibid._, June 1, 1763. + +[25] CO5-1330, April 8, 1762. + +[26] _Legislative journals of the Council_ 3: 1281. + +[27] CO5-1330. + +[28] _Ibid._; _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: xxvii. + +[29] W. W. Hening, _Statutes at large_, 7: 639. + +[30] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: xxx-xxxiv. + +[31] CO5-1330, Jan. 10, 1764. + +[32] _Ibid._, Fauquier to the Lords of Trade, Nov. 3, 1760. + +[33] _Journal of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: 350. + +[34] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., June 27, 1766. + +[35] D. J. Mays, _Edmund Pendleton_ 1: 174-208. + +[36] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., June 27, 1766. + +[37] Charles M. Andrews, The American Revolution, _American Historical +Review_ 31: 219-232. + +[38] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1761-1765: liv-lviii. + +[39] _Parliamentary history of England_, ed. T. C. Hansard, 16: 38, 39. + +[40] L. P. Gipson, _The coming of the Revolution_, 81. + +[41] William Wirt, _Sketches of Patrick Henry_. The eyewitness account +by a French traveler throws doubt on the long accepted statement that +Henry replied to the Speaker's charge: "If this be treason make the most +of it." _American Historical Review_ 25: 745. + +[42] CO5-1330, June 5, 1765. + +[43] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser. 18: 162n. + +[44] CO5-1330, Fauquier to the Lords of Trade, Nov. 3, 1765. + +[45] _Virginia Gazette_, Oct. 25, 1765. Supplement. + +[46] _Virginia Gazette_, April 4, 1766. + +[47] CO5-1331, J. Morgan to Fauquier, April 7, 1766. + +[48] _Tyler's Magazine_ 16: 111-114. + +[49] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., Apr. 4, 1766. + +[50] _Ibid._ + +[51] _Ibid._, Apr. 25, 1766. + +[52] _Ibid._, June 13, 1766. + +[53] _Ibid._, June 20, 1766. + +[54] _Ibid._, July 16, 1767. + +[55] _William and Mary Quarterly_, First Ser., 8: 173-177. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +INDEPENDENCE + + +It was in October, 1768, when news reached Virginia that Norborne +Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, had kissed the King's hand as Governor +General. The unrest in the colony had convinced the Privy Council that +the government "should no longer be administered by a substitute." So +when Sir Jeffrey Amherst declined "going over to America," it was +decided to appoint one who would go. For the first time since the death +of Nott, Virginia had a resident Governor General. The people of the +colony regarded this as a singular honor. When Botetourt arrived in +Williamsburg, he found the members of the Council, the Speaker of the +House, the Attorney General, and other prominent men waiting to receive +him at the gate of the Capitol yard. After they had gone in to the +Council Chamber, where the new Governor administered the oath, they +stepped over to the Raleigh Tavern for supper. Then Botetourt was +escorted to the Palace through the illuminated Duke of Gloucester Street +and the Palace Green.[1] + +If the British Government had hoped to please the people of Virginia in +sending them a Governor General, they were not disappointed. "All ranks +vied with each other in testifying their gratitude and joy that a +nobleman of such distinguished merit and abilities is appointed to +preside over and live among them."[2] But it was not so much his rank as +his personality which won all hearts. He was easily accessible, affable +to the humblest visitor, sympathetic with the people's grievances. + +The new Governor was at once confronted with grave issues. In May, 1767, +Charles Townshend had secured an act of Parliament placing duties on +glass, lead, painters' colors, and tea imported into the colonies. It +was expressly stated that the revenue was to be used to pay the salaries +of British officials in America. Another act was passed to enforce the +trade laws, and still another to suspend the New York Assembly for its +defiance of the Billeting Act. + +Again all America seethed. It is obvious, men told each other, that the +British Government will not be content until they have made slaves of +us. At first they claimed that they were seeking nothing more of us than +a revenue. Now they openly avow that these new duties are to be used to +make British officials in America independent of the Assemblies. That +would be the final triumph of royal authority. + +So when Botetourt dissolved the old Assembly and called for a new +election, the people selected their ablest and most patriotic men. Among +them were George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Richard +Henry Lee, Henry Lee, and Edmund Pendleton. When they met, in May, 1769, +Governor Botetourt entered an elegant coach which had been presented to +him by King George III, on it the insignia of royalty, drawn by six +milk-white horses, and drove from the Palace to the Capitol. After the +usual address to the Assembly and the replies of the Council and the +Burgesses, Botetourt entertained many of the members at dinner. + +In the previous February the Governor had written the Lords of Trade +warning them of the temper of the people. "I must not venture to flatter +your Lordships that they will ever willingly submit to being taxed by +the mother country. The reverse is their creed. They universally avow a +most ardent desire to assist upon every occasion, but pray to be allowed +to do it in consequence of requisition."[3] + +It seems strange, then, that he should have been surprised to hear that +the Burgesses had passed several resolutions asserting the rights of the +people. They declared that the sole right of imposing taxes "is now, and +ever hath been" constitutionally vested in the House of Burgesses; that +the people have the right to petition the sovereign for redress of +grievances; and that trials for crimes committed in the colony should be +tried in the Virginia courts.[4] + +The next day the Governor summoned the Council and Burgesses to the +Council Chamber, where he said he had heard of the resolutions, that he +predicted they would have an ill effect, and that according to his duty, +he dissolved them. + +But the Burgesses would not be silenced. Filing out of the Capitol, they +went to the nearby Raleigh Tavern for an unofficial session. After they +had elected Peyton Randolph moderator, they discussed the serious +problems facing the colony. They then appointed a committee to draw up a +plan for an association, and adjourned until the next day. + +The report of the committee, which was signed by eighty-eight men is a +document of the greatest importance in the history of the clash between +the American colonies and Great Britain. It spoke of the "grievances and +distresses" with which the people were oppressed, of the evils which +threatened their ruin and the ruin of their posterity by reducing them +"from a free and happy people to a wretched and miserable state of +slavery." They denounced "the restrictions, prohibitions, and +ill-advised regulations in several late acts of Parliament," and +declared that the "unconstitutional act imposing duties on tea, paper, +glass, etc. for the sole purpose of raising a revenue in America is +injurious to property, and destructive to liberty."[5] Those who signed +the association promised to discourage luxury and extravagance, agreed +not to import goods taxed by Parliament or any of a long list of +commodities, until the hated duties were removed. + +After all had affixed their signatures, they gathered around the punch +bowl to drink a series of toasts--to the King, the Queen and the Royal +Family, Lord Botetourt, A Speedy and lasting Union between Great Britain +and her Colonies, The Constitutional British Liberty in America and all +true Patriots, the Supporters thereof, the Duke of Richmond, the Earl of +Shelburne, Colonel Barré, the late Speaker, etc. At last, either because +the liquor or the toasts gave out, the meeting came to an end.[6] + +It was while the Assembly was in session that Secretary Hillsborough +wrote Botetourt assuring him that the King's ministers would soon +propose the repeal of the obnoxious duties. Whereupon the Governor +called an Assembly and laid the joyous news before them. But the +Burgesses must have seen the joker in the announcement when they noted +that the repeal would be based, not on any illegality in the duties, but +on the fact that they had been laid "contrary to the true principles of +commerce."[7] + +Yet Botetourt was all optimism. "I will be content to be declared +infamous if I do not to the last hour of my life ... exert every power +with which I am or ever shall be legally invested ... to obtain and +maintain for the continent of America that satisfaction which I have +been authorized to promise by the confidential servant of our gracious +sovereign." Some months later, when the Virginians learned just how the +Ministry had carried out this promise, Botetourt had reason to think +that he had been led into deceiving them. It is true that all the duties +had been taken off save that on tea. But so far from considering this a +favor, the colonists resented it as a bait to make them acknowledge the +right of Parliament to tax them. The resentment of the people was all +the greater because of their disappointment. Hillsborough's promise had +made them lax in enforcing the association, so in June, 1770, they +organized a new one. A long list of imported goods were to be boycotted, +industry was to be encouraged, prices were not to be advanced. To see +that the agreement was carried out committees were to be organized in +every county to examine invoices and expose violators. + +It was unfortunate for Virginia that Botetourt's administration was +short. He died October 15, 1770. "Truly and justly to express the many +great virtues and amiable qualities which adorned this noble lord, as +well in his public as private character, would demand the skill of the +ablest penman," stated the death notice in the _Gazette_. "Virginia, in +his fall, sorely laments the loss of the best of Governors and the best +of men."[8] + +A few days later a sorrowful procession moved from the Palace to Bruton +Parish Church, amid the tolling of the bells in the church, the college, +and the Capitol. In front of and beside the hearse were eight mourners +carrying staffs draped in black, around them were the pallbearers--six +Councillors and the Speaker of the House. Then followed the Governor's +servants, the clergy, the professors of the college, the Williamsburg +officials preceded by the city mace, and many others, all having white +hatbands and gloves. After the service in the church the procession +moved to the Wren Building where the lead casket, covered with a crimson +velvet cloth, was placed in a vault below the floor of the chapel.[9] + +As a token of affection the Assembly employed Richard Hayward, of +London, to make a marble statue of Botetourt, which arrived in 1773 and +was set up in the piazza of the Capitol. Later it was mutilated by a +crowd of vandals as an expression of their hostility to all things +British. In 1801 the College of William and Mary acquired it and removed +it to the campus in front of the Wren Building, where it stands today an +object of veneration for faculty, students, and alumni. + +The grief of the people at the loss of Botetourt would have been all the +greater had they known who was to be his successor. At the time John +Murray, Earl of Dunmore, was Governor of New York, where he was regarded +with contempt. At a feast of the Sons of St. Andrew he got drunk, acted +like "a damned fool," and "sank himself" so low with vile language that +the entire company was abashed. When word reached him that he was to be +transferred to Virginia, he expressed resentment. "Damn Virginia!" he +cried. "Why is it forced on me? I asked for New York. New York I love +and they have robbed me of it." At a farewell dinner given in his honor, +"he took too cheerful a glass," and got into a fight.[10] + +The people of Virginia were probably not aware of Dunmore's character, +for they greeted him cordially upon his arrival in Williamsburg, late in +September, 1771. In the evening the city was illuminated, with a candle +in every window, as a testimony of joy at his Excellency's safe +arrival.[11] + +The time was auspicious, for there was a lull in the controversy with +the mother country. Though the duty on tea had not been removed, there +was general hope that all differences could be adjusted. It is true that +Dunmore aroused suspicion by trying to create new fees with which to pay +his secretary, but his promptness in relinquishing them soon dissipated +it. "A ball and elegant entertainment" at the Capitol given by the +Burgesses in his honor testified to a spirit of cordiality. + +It was just this lull which alarmed some of the younger leaders in +Virginia. As long as the tax on tea remained they realized that the +danger to liberty persisted. So when the Assembly met in the spring of +1773, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and others +held private consultations in the Raleigh Tavern on how to awaken the +people, not only of Virginia, but of all the colonies, to the need of a +common defense.[12] + +A momentous series of meetings they proved to be, for out of them came +the intercolonial system of committees of correspondence and the +Continental Congress. "We were all sensible that the most urgent of all +measures was that of coming to an understanding with all the other +colonies to consider the British claims as a common cause to all, and to +produce a unity of action," Jefferson stated afterward. "And for this +purpose that a committee of correspondence in each colony would be the +best instrument for intercommunication. And that their first measure +would probably be to propose a meeting of deputies from every colony, at +some central place, who should be charged with the direction of the +measures to be taken by all."[13] + +On March 13, the resolution to appoint the committee of correspondence +for Virginia was introduced in the House of Burgesses by Dabney Carr, +and adopted unanimously. To the committee were appointed some of the +first men in the colony--Peyton Randolph, Thomas Jefferson, Richard +Henry Lee, Patrick Henry, Edmund Pendleton, etc. + +William Lee, writing from London, said that this action "struck a +greater panic into the Ministers" than anything since the passage of the +Stamp Act. And well it might, for soon the entire country was covered +with committees, who kept in close touch with each other, formulated +public opinion, and prepared the way for revolutionary action. + +The need for these bodies became glaringly evident when the British +Government adopted a policy of repression which aroused the spirit of +resistance to the highest pitch. At the time the East India Company was +on the verge of bankruptcy. In order to save it the government agreed to +remit the long-standing duty of twelve pence a pound on tea entering +Great Britain. When the tea was re-exported to America the price, even +after the three pence duty there had been paid, would be nine pence less +than formerly. George III approved of the plan heartily, and confidently +expected the colonists to swallow the pill of Parliamentary taxation, +now that it was coated with the sugar of reduced prices. + +Never was a man more mistaken. The Americans, after struggling for a +century and a half to win liberty, were not going to sell it for a cup +of tea. When the East India Company ships arrived, angry mobs forced +some to turn back with their cargoes, some were boarded and the tea +destroyed. When the brigantine _Mary and Jane_ arrived in Norfolk with +nine chests of tea, a crowded meeting at the courthouse demanded that +they be sent back. When the importers complied they received a vote of +thanks.[14] The York County committee, headed by Thomas Nelson, debated +whether a ship which came in with two chests of tea should not be burnt, +but contented themselves with forcing her to leave without the expected +cargo of tobacco. + +Tea was banned in every patriotic household. One evening at Nomini Hall, +Mrs. Robert Carter made "a dish of tea" for her husband. "He smelt, +sipt, looked." "What is this?" he asked. Then "splash" he emptied the +cup in the fire.[15] But what chiefly aroused the ire of the British +Ministry was the so-called Boston Tea Party, when fifty or sixty men, +disguised as Indians, boarded the tea ships and threw box after box in +the harbor, while a large crowd looked on and applauded. + +This provoked the British Government into making their most serious +blunder--the passage of what the Americans called the "Intolerable +Acts." The port of Boston was closed; the Massachusetts government was +altered to increase the power of the Governor; in certain cases accused +persons might be sent to England for trial; the Governors were +authorized to requisition buildings for the use of royal troops; the +boundaries of the province of Quebec were extended to the Mississippi on +the west and the Ohio on the south. + +The American patriots now realized that they must act with vigor and +firmness or lose all that they held most dear. The King and Parliament +were determined to force the issue. When the Virginia Assembly met in +May, 1774, Henry, Jefferson, Richard Henry Lee, and several others met +in the Council Chamber in the Capitol to agree on some measure to arouse +the people to a sense of the danger. After some discussion it was +decided to propose to the Burgesses that they make June 1, the date set +for the closing of the port of Boston, a day of general fasting and +prayer. The resolution was introduced by Robert Carter Nicholas, and +passed without opposition.[16] + + [Illustration: Lord Dunmore. From the copy in the possession of the + Virginia Historical Society of the original portrait by Sir Joshua + Reynolds.] + + [Illustration: The Governor's Palace, Williamsburg. Courtesy of + Colonial Williamsburg, Inc.] + +The resolution stated that it was necessary to have a day of "fasting, +humiliation, and prayer, devoutly to implore the divine interposition +for averting the heavy calamity which threatens destruction to our civil +rights, and the evils of civil war; to give us one heart and mind firmly +to oppose, by all just and proper means, every injury to American +rights; and that the minds of his Majesty and his Parliament may be +inspired from above with wisdom, moderation, and justice to remove from +the loyal people of America all cause of danger from a continued pursuit +of measures pregnant with ruin." Dunmore thought the resolution +reflected on the King and Parliament, and so made it necessary for him +to dissolve the Assembly.[17] + +But on June 1, in all parts of Virginia, the people dropped their daily +tasks to assemble in the churches. Every face reflected the universal +alarm, as the eastern aristocrat, the frontiersman in his buckskin +clothes, the great landholder, and the small planter knelt in prayer. In +Williamsburg the citizens and as many of the Burgesses as had remained +in town, assembled at the courthouse and moved in solemn procession to +the church to listen to a sermon by the chaplain of the House.[18] There +had been no such solemn occasion since the French and Indian War, and it +came as an electric shock to the people.[19] + +In the meanwhile, events of great importance were taking place in +Williamsburg. When Dunmore dissolved the Assembly, the Burgesses, +instead of dispersing, met as they had done five years before in the +Raleigh Tavern. Here, as they sat in the beautiful Apollo Room, they +renewed the association to boycott English goods; proposed to the +committees of correspondence in every colony that they appoint deputies +to a continental Congress; and suggested that each county in Virginia +should elect representatives to a convention to meet at Williamsburg on +August 1.[20] + +Despite their revolutionary activities, the members of the Assembly +maintained cordial relations with the Governor. When Lady Dunmore joined +her husband earlier in the spring, she was greeted with cheers by the +people of Williamsburg. On May 26, the Burgesses gave a ball and +entertainment in the Capitol in her honor. My lady seems to have been a +most graceful dancer. When she and the Governor visited Norfolk where a +ball was given them, the city authorities sent to Princess Anne County +for Colonel Moseley to come "with his famous wig and shining buckles" to +dance the minuet with her. So when the fiddles struck up away she went +"sailing about the room in her great, fine hoop-petticoat, and Colonel +Moseley after her wig and all."[21] + +Most of the Burgesses of the Assembly of 1774 had hardly rested from +their journey home when they had to repack their saddlebags, mount their +horses, and set out again for Williamsburg to attend the provincial +convention. When they had assembled they once more renewed the +association, and then proceeded to the election of delegates to the +Continental Congress. Randolph was chosen because it was thought he +would preside, Washington because he might be called on to command the +army, Henry and Richard Henry Lee because of their eloquence, Bland, +Harrison, and Pendleton because of their ability as political leaders. + +As these men turned their faces toward Philadelphia, their minds must +have reverted to the series of violations of the rights of the people +which had brought on the crisis. The questions George Washington asked +himself no doubt were in the minds of all. "Does it not appear as clear +as the sun in its meridian brightness that there is a regular, +systematic plan formed to fix the right and practice of taxation upon +us?... Does not the uniform conduct of Parliament for some years past +confirm this?... Is not the attack upon the liberty and property of the +people of Boston ... a plain and self-evident proof of what they are +aiming at? Do not subsequent bills ... convince us that the +administration is determined to stick at nothing to carry its +point?"[22] + +Congress met in the "plain and spacious rooms" on the lower floor of +Carpenter's Hall which had been completed four years before. After some +debate they adopted a Declaration of Rights and Grievances, stating the +American case against taxation without representation and demanding the +repeal of the "unpolitic, unjust, cruel, and unconstitutional" +Intolerable Acts. They then framed a "Continental Association" to be +enforced by local committees. + +The Association proved remarkably successful. To this Dunmore himself +bore testimony. To the Earl of Hillsborough he wrote in December, 1774: +"The Associations ... recommended by the people of this colony, and +adopted by what is called the Continental Congress, are now enforcing +throughout this country with the greatest rigor. A committee has been +chosen in every county whose business it is to carry the Association of +the Congress into execution, which committee assumes an authority to +inspect the books, invoices, and all the secrets of the trade and +correspondence of the merchants, to watch the conduct of every +inhabitant without distinction, and send for all such as come under +their suspicion into their presence, to interrogate them ...and to +stigmatize, as they term it, such as they find transgressing what they +are hardy enough to call the laws of Congress."[23] + +The American patriots were greatly encouraged by the support they +received from many of the ablest men in Great Britain. These men were +shocked at the disregard by Parliament of the principle that no man +should be taxed without his own consent. Pitt declared that if America +fell the British Constitution would fall with her. When troops were sent +to Boston, the Duke of Richmond blurted out: "I hope from the bottom of +my heart that the Americans may resist and get the better of the forces +sent against them." + +Today one wonders how the King and Parliament could have turned a deaf +ear to the ringing words of Edmund Burke in his famous address on +"Conciliation with the Colonies." "As long as you have the wisdom to +keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of +liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the +chosen race and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their +faces toward you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will +have; the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be +their obedience. Slavery they can have anywhere--it is a seed that grows +in every soil.... But, until you become lost to all feeling of your true +interest and your national dignity, freedom they can have from none but +you.... Deny them this participation of freedom, and you break that sole +bond which originally made, and must still preserve, the unity of the +Empire.... It is the spirit of the English Constitution which, infused +through the mighty mass, pervades, feeds, unites, invigorates, vivifies +every part of the Empire, even down to the minutest members."[24] + +In the revolutionary changes in Virginia it was the House of Burgesses, +not the Council, who took the lead. Washington, Henry, Jefferson, +Pendleton, Richard Henry Lee, George Mason were all Burgesses. In fact +the members of the Council were placed in a most embarrassing position. +Appointed by the King to aid and advise the royal Governor, they owed a +double allegiance--to Crown and country. To them the breach was a +tragedy, the choice of allegiance a difficult one. So for the most part +they played a negative role. In the Council meetings they usually voted +with the Governor. But as the crisis grew more acute they drifted away +from him to join their countrymen in resisting the assaults on their +liberty. + +John Page, Junior, in Council supported Dunmore in dissolving the +Assembly in May, 1774; yet he remained in town and joined the Burgesses +in the procession to the church on the fast day.[25] On the other hand, +Robert Carter, though he had refused to drink a cup of tea, would not +permit any of his family to observe the day. "By this I conclude he is a +courtier," wrote Fithian in his _Diary_. But he did not long remain a +"courtier." "The enemies of government are so numerous and so vigilant +over the conduct of every man that the loyalists have been so +intimidated that they have entirely shrunk away," wrote Dunmore in July, +1775. "Even the Council ... approves everything done by the Burgesses." +The only members he could rely upon were Ralph Wormeley, Gawin Corbin, +and the Reverend John Camm.[26] The rest, while not subscribing to the +Association, adhered strictly to it. + +But John Randolph, the Attorney General, remained faithful to the King +to the end. His opposition to the resolutions denouncing the Stamp Act, +the boycott, and the calling of the provincial and Continental +Congresses brought down on him the wrath of the patriots. Dunmore stated +that he was insulted, his life threatened, and his home destroyed.[27] +In 1775 he sailed for England with his family, never to return. + +In the fall of 1774 Dunmore brought on himself the hatred of the +Virginia frontiersmen by his conduct in a war with the western Indians. +Placing himself in command of one force, and General Andrew Lewis of +another, he gave the order to advance. Lewis defeated the famous chief +Comstock in the bloody battle of Point Pleasant, but Dunmore, ignoring +the chance to deliver a crushing blow, made a treaty of peace with the +Indians. + +The frontiersmen, as they turned their faces homeward, cursed the +Governor as a traitor, who spared the Indians because he planned to use +them against the Virginians should they go to war with Great Britain. +Nor were their suspicions groundless, for a few months later Dunmore +wrote the Earl of Dartmouth that if the King would send him "a small +body of troops" and arms and ammunition, he could raise "such a force +among Indians, Negroes, and other persons" as would soon reduce Virginia +to obedience.[28] + +But at this moment obedience was far from the minds of the people. On +March 20, 1775, the second Provincial Congress met in St. John's Church, +Richmond. The place was but a straggling village, but it was more +centrally located than Williamsburg, and further away from the British +warships in the York River. The delegates were unanimous in approving +the proceedings of the Continental Congress, and in thanking the +Virginia representatives for their services. But it soon became evident +that they were divided on the vital question of preparing for war. When +Henry introduced resolutions for putting the colony in a state of +defense by arming and disciplining a force of militia, some of the +leading members drew back. War was unthinkable, they said. The country +was too weak, too defenseless, too open to invasion. The only hope was +for reconciliation, for the mediation of America's friends in +Parliament. + +This brought Henry to his feet. "What has there been in the conduct of +the British Ministry for the last ten years to justify hope? Are fleets +and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? These are the +instruments of subjugation sent over to rivet upon us the chains which +the British Ministry have been so long forging. What have we to oppose +them? Shall we try argument? We have been trying that for the last ten +years.... Shall we resort to entreaty and supplication? We have +petitioned, we have remonstrated, we have supplicated; and we have been +spurned from the foot of the throne.... If we wish to be free we must +fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight!... Is life so dear or peace so +sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, +Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, +give me liberty or give me death."[29] Henry's eloquence carried the +day, yet so fraught with danger was the issue, that his motion was +carried by a majority of five only. + +A few days later Dunmore wrote to Dartmouth denouncing the proceedings +of the Convention. "The most dangerous, as well as the most daring +attempt is the resolution which is adopted for raising a body of armed +men, horse and foot as well. The plan for imbodying, arming, and +disciplining of which is by these resolutions published as the final +order for putting the same into execution." + +Almost overnight Virginia was converted into an armed camp. Everywhere +there was the sound of drums, the sharp commands of drillmasters, +marching and countermarching. Even in Williamsburg the streets were full +of men with arms in their hands. In the Valley of Virginia, Fithian +jotted down in his _Diary_ on June 6: "Here every presence is warlike, +every sound is martial! Drums beating, fifes and bagpipes playing.... +Every man had a hunting-shirt, which is the uniform of each company. +Almost all have a cockade and bucktail in their hats to represent that +they are hardy, resolute, and invincible natives of the woods of +America."[30] + +These warlike preparations drove Dunmore to take a step, which aroused +the fury of the patriots. In Williamsburg there still stands a little +octagonal building which was used as a magazine in colonial days. Here +were stored twenty barrels of powder and several guns. To keep the +independent companies from seizing the powder the Governor ordered a +party of sailors to take it on board an armed schooner nearby in the +James River. Before daybreak, on April 20, they made off with most of +it, and it was later put on board the _Fowey_ man-of-war.[31] + +Despite the gloom of early dawn the removal of the powder was observed, +and the beating of drums gave the alarm. The independent companies got +under arms, the people assembled, and the Governor was threatened with +violence unless he returned the powder. The mayor and other city +officers, leaving the troops nearby, went to the Palace with an address +which Dunmore thought amounted to a peremptory demand for the powder. +Should he refuse they could not answer for the dreadful consequences. + +The Governor not only refused, but prepared to resist any attack with +the aid of several British officers and a few men from the warships. Had +not Peyton Randolph and Robert Carter Nicholas persuaded the angry +troops to disperse, the war in Virginia would have begun with an assault +on the Palace. As it was, parties of armed men continued to pour into +Williamsburg, and word came that several hundred cavalry were at +Fredericksburg, ready to march, and that Patrick Henry was leading a +force up from the south. In alarm the Governor sent Lady Dunmore and his +children to one of the warships, and threatened to arm the slaves and +reduce Williamsburg to ashes.[32] + +The more conservative leaders among the Virginians, who were still +hoping for a compromise with Great Britain, were able, though with great +difficulty, to restrain the troops. At Fredericksburg the men pledged +themselves to be in readiness at a moment's notice to defend the laws, +the liberties, and the rights of Virginia and any sister colony, and +then dispersed.[33] Henry's force got within fifteen miles of +Williamsburg, and halted only when Richard Corbin, the Receiver General, +paid for the powder from the royal funds by handing him a bill of +exchange for £330. + +Fate decreed that hostilities should begin, not in Virginia, but in +Massachusetts. The Virginia delegates were just preparing to leave for +the second Continental Congress when the news of the skirmish at +Lexington and Concord arrived. New England was already at war. The +question in everyone's mind was, would the rest of the country follow? +Washington's answer was to wear his military uniform. Along the road he +and the other Virginia delegates were cheered on by crowds of +enthusiastic people, amid the blaring of bands and the firing of guns. + +It was with difficulty that some of the conservative members of Congress +prevented a declaration of independence. And though a petition to the +King was agreed on, the taking over of the New England army around +Boston and appointing Washington commander in chief, was in effect a +declaration of war. Yet, as Washington was leaving for the east to draw +the sword, Pendleton returned to Virginia to resume his post as Speaker +in a last attempt to re-establish the old government. + +He was welcomed to Williamsburg like a conquering hero. A detachment of +cavalry met him at the Pamunkey River and escorted him the rest of the +way. Two miles from the city they were joined by a company of infantry. +At sunset, as they entered Williamsburg, they were received by the +ringing of bells and the cheers of the crowds in the streets. At dark +every house was illuminated. + +Dunmore thought "this pompous military exhibition" had been planned "to +raise the importance of the members of this new created power, the +Congress, before the people." And the "appearance of numbers of the +Burgesses in the clothes of the American troops, wearing a shirt of +coarse linen or canvas over their clothes and a tomahawk by their +sides," added fuel to the fire.[34] + +The Assembly had been in session but three days when several overzealous +young men broke into the magazine to take out some of the arms. They +stumbled against a cord which had been attached to a gun pointed at the +entrance, which went off wounding two of them. This aroused the people +to action, and the next day at noon an angry crowd, among them several +Burgesses, entered the magazine and carried off about 400 stand of arms. +A committee of the House of Burgesses persuaded the people to return the +arms, and then set a military guard around the magazine. "So the custody +of the magazine and public stores is thus wrested out of the hands of +the Governor," complained Dunmore.[35] + +At the opening of the Assembly the Governor began by urging the +acceptance of the resolutions which Lord North had pushed through +Parliament in February, as the basis for reconciliation. These +resolutions promised that if any colony would raise of its own authority +the cost of its own government, Parliament would not tax that colony. In +other words, if the Americans guaranteed to pay into the hands of the +King's Governors funds sufficient to make them independent of the +Assemblies, Parliament would not take their money from them to do so. +The Burgesses must have been indignant when Dunmore told them that he +had strong hopes a consideration of this offer would bring to an end the +disputes with the mother country.[36] + +The reply of the Burgesses, which was almost certainly written by +Jefferson, is notable because of the clearness with which it exposed the +unconstitutionally of the British position. They had viewed the proposal +with pain and disappointment, for it merely changed the form of +oppression without lightening its burden. "The British government has no +right to intermeddle with the support of civil government in the +colonies. For us, not for them, has government been instituted here.... +We cannot conceive that any other legislature has a right to prescribe +either the number or pecuniary appointment of our officers." The claim +of Parliament of the right to tax the people of the colony had no +precedent. Even the act of 1680 giving the King a perpetual revenue was +passed, not by Parliament, but by his Majesty "with the consent of the +General Assembly."[37] + +The Burgesses were not willing to purchase exemption from an unjust +taxation by saddling the people with a perpetual tax to be disposed of +by the King or Parliament. "We have a right to give our money as the +Parliament does theirs, without coercion.... It is not merely the mode +of raising, but the freedom of granting our money for which we have +contended, without which we possess no check on the royal prerogative." + +Upon receiving assurance that no harm was intended his family, Dunmore +had brought them back to the Palace. But on June 8, before daybreak, he, +Lady Dunmore, the children, his secretary, and some of the servants +stole out and went on board the _Fowey_. "My house was kept in continued +alarm and threatened every night with an assault," Dunmore explained. +"Surrounded as I was by armed men ... and situated so far from any place +where men-of-war can approach, ... I could not think it safe to continue +in that city."[38] + +The Assembly urged the Governor to return, but he refused. So on the +night of June 24, a large body of men forced their way into the Palace +by bursting open a window, and carried off several hundred stand of arms +which had been kept in the hall. Some days later another group entered +the building, went from room to room breaking into cabinets, and +carried off arms of various sorts.[39] + +And now Williamsburg became an armed camp. Bands of horse and foot, in +uniforms and each company displaying their distinctive badge flocked in. +Some of them lodged in the Capitol, the cavalry encamped on the Palace +Green.[40] One wonders whether these men knew that a century earlier +Nathaniel Bacon had assembled his men on or near this spot, or whether +any of them realized that they had fought for the same cause as they, +the cause of liberty? + +With Dunmore on the _Fowey_ and the Assembly in Williamsburg, the +remainder of the session was rather futile. There was renewed bickering +over the removal of the powder, the Burgesses drew up a long address to +the Governor criticizing his administration, and accusing him of +misrepresenting conditions in Virginia in one of his letters to the Earl +of Dartmouth. The Assembly adjourned on June 24, until October 12, and +on that date, when only thirty-seven members showed up, adjourned again +until March 7, 1776. This time less than a fourth of the Burgesses +attended, and immediately adjourned to May 6, when several members met, +"but did neither proceed to business nor adjourn, as a House of +Burgesses." And so died the Virginia Assembly after more than a century +and a half of existence, in which it had fought and won the good battle +for liberty. It now remained for other bodies to defend and preserve +that liberty for future generations.[41] + +Even while the Assembly was in session the government, in reality, had +passed into the hands of the conventions and the committees of safety. +As early as December, 1774, Dunmore wrote that the royal government had +been "entirely overthrown." "There is not a justice of peace in Virginia +that acts except as a committeeman. The abolishing of the courts of +justice was the first step taken, in which the men of fortune and +pre-eminence joined equally with the lowest and meanest. The General +Court ... is in much the same predicament."[42] All that was needed to +take the government completely out of the hands of the Governor and the +Assembly was an executive head. And this was supplied by the third +convention which met in Richmond in July, 1775, by the appointment of a +"general committee of safety." + +To this body were appointed some of the ablest men in the +colony--Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, Richard Bland, Thomas +Ludwell Lee, and others. It was given almost dictatorial powers, for it +had the supervision of military affairs, appointing officers, collecting +supplies, and naming paymasters; it corresponded with the county +committees, arrested Loyalists, held inquiries.[43] + +The convention, having created a body to take over the functions +formerly exercised by the Governor and Council, itself practically +replaced the dying Assembly. It prepared for the defense of the colony +by raising two regular regiments and several thousand minutemen, +reorganizing the militia, and setting up works for the manufacture of +arms and powder. It authorized the Treasurer to issue £350,000 of paper +money. It levied taxes on tithables, coaches, land, licenses, legal +papers, etc.[44] + +A state of war now existed. If they could have laid hands on Dunmore, +the patriots no doubt would have kept him in confinement. And on one +occasion he barely escaped. It was in July that he went in a barge to a +farm which he owned on a creek about seven miles from Williamsburg. He +and Captain Montague, of the _Fowey_, had just finished dinner when the +servants rushed in to warn them that the Americans were coming. They had +barely time to run to their boat and push off. Two of their men were +captured, and another, jumping into a canoe, paddled desperately with +bullets whizzing past his head.[45] + +As early as May, 1775, Dunmore wrote Dartmouth that he could not +maintain even an appearance of authority without "a force to support +it." Dartmouth replied that he was sending him 3,000 stand of arms, 200 +rounds of powder and ball for each musket, and four light brass cannon. +"I see that Gage has ordered sent you a detachment of the Fourteenth +Regiment. I hope with the Negroes, Indians, etc., you can reduce +Virginia.... It is the King's firm resolution that the most vigorous +efforts should be made, by sea and land, to reduce his rebellious +subjects to obedience."[46] + +Dunmore was soon in control of Virginia waters. The sloop of war _Otter_ +arrived late in June, the _Mercury_, carrying twenty guns, on July 10, +to be followed by the _Liverpool_, a frigate of twenty-eight guns; the +_Kingfisher_, and the _Dunmore_. But the Governor was never able to +raise a land force capable of contending with the Virginians. With the +arrival of seventy men from St. Augustine and one company from Rhode +Island to add to the marines, he could muster about 200 men. This small +force he hoped would be a nucleus for an army of Tories and Negroes, and +on November 7 he issued a proclamation declaring martial law, summoning +all "loyal" citizens to join him, and offering freedom to any slaves who +would take up arms for the King.[47] + +In the meanwhile, he had moved with his little fleet into the Elizabeth +River. It was necessary for him to find provisions, and he counted upon +the Scottish merchants of Norfolk and other Tories in the lower counties +to supply him. When the local committee of safety denounced all who sent +food out to the ships as enemies of liberty, he threatened to bombard +the city. + +The Norfolk printer, John Holt, ignoring the guns of the warships which +pointed out over the town, continued to issue his gazette and to urge +the people not to give up their liberty. On September 30 a party of +British rowed ashore, marched to the printing office, and carried off +the press, the type, the ink, the paper, and two of the printers. As +they embarked they gave three huzzas, in which a crowd of Negroes +joined. "I am now going to have a press for the King," Dunmore said.[48] + +On November 16, Dunmore took possession of Norfolk, where he raised the +royal standard. To his great satisfaction the Scottish merchants and +their clerks, some Negroes, and others took the oath. He then began to +fortify the city with earthworks.[49] He would have done better to build +forts at different points on the long, circuitous road by which alone +Norfolk could be approached, between the Dismal Swamp and the heads of +several branches of the Elizabeth River. Not until it was too late did +he fortify Great Bridge where the Southern Branch flowed between two +marshes, each crossed by a long causeway. + +In the meanwhile, the Virginia troops had been concentrating at +Williamsburg, under the command of Colonel Woodford. They now crossed +the James, marched through Suffolk, and headed for the Great Bridge. +Many of the men were from the western counties, and were armed, not with +muskets, but with rifles. They were deadly shots, as the British soon +found to their sorrow. When the Virginians reached Great Bridge, the +British, instead of waiting for them to attack their almost impregnable +position, themselves took the initiative. The regulars led the way over +the causeways and the bridge, followed by the Tories and Negroes.[50] +"Reserve your fire until they are within fifty yards," the Virginia +officers ordered. Then the shirtmen, aiming as coolly as though they +were shooting deer, let fly. The regulars were cut to pieces, the Tories +and Negroes refused to fight, so with the coming of darkness the British +left their posts and streamed back to Norfolk.[51] + +When Dunmore heard of this defeat he raved like a madman, and even +threatened to hang the boy who brought the news. With the shirtmen +advancing on the city, flight was all that was left him. Soon the +streets were jammed with panicky soldiers, men, women, and children, +hastening to the wharves to take refuge on the warships or the fleet of +merchantmen. They were none too soon, for on December 11, the +Virginians, reinforced by a body of North Carolinians under Colonel +Howe, entered the city. + +But having gained Norfolk, the two commanders now debated what they +should do with it. If a large force of British attacked it by land and +sea it could not be defended, and the garrison would be captured.[52] On +the other hand, for the enemy it would be invaluable as a base for +attacks on any point in eastern Maryland, Virginia, or North Carolina. +Howe wrote the Virginia convention, hinting for permission to burn the +city. + +Dunmore's folly gave him an excuse for doing so without waiting for a +reply. Food and water were becoming scarce on the crowded ships in the +river, many of the refugees became ill, several died. So Dunmore +threatened to bombard the city if the patriots cut off supplies, and +moved the warships to a position close by. But now the riflemen, firing +from warehouses near the wharves, began picking off his men whenever +they appeared on deck. On the afternoon of January 1, 1776, the warships +opened fire, and several boatloads of soldiers rowed up to the wharves +and set fire to the adjacent buildings.[53] + +It was a striking evidence of the sacrifices which the colonial +Virginians were willing to make in the cause of liberty that twice they +applied the torch to one of their towns to prevent the enemy from using +it as a base. The burning of Jamestown by Bacon and his men foreshadowed +the burning of Norfolk by the revolutionary troops a century later. +Seizing upon the fires set by the British as an excuse, the soldiers +went from house to house to spread the flames. In all nearly nine +hundred houses were destroyed. A month later, by command of the +convention, the Americans burned down what was left of the city, 416 +houses in all.[54] + +The burning of Norfolk was a drastic step indeed. All who witnessed the +plight of the people as they trudged along the roads leading out of the +city to seek refuge in nearby farms must have condemned it as an act of +useless cruelty. But in the end it probably saved more suffering than it +entailed. Had the city been spared, the British would almost certainly +have occupied it and held it throughout the remainder of the war, just +as they held New York. It would have been a haven for Tories from all +the adjacent states, the British would have made it a great naval and +military base, from it expeditions would have been launched up the great +Virginia rivers as Berkeley had launched expeditions from the Eastern +Shore. + +Since the Virginians had no fleet of warships capable of driving Dunmore +out of their waters, they decided to starve him out. They even +threatened to move the entire population of parts of Norfolk and +Princess Anne Counties to prevent provisions from reaching him. In May +he gave orders for the fleet to leave the Elizabeth River and proceed to +Gwynn's Island, in the Chesapeake Bay, near the mouth of the +Rappahannock River. Here he established a camp. But when General Andrew +Lewis set up batteries on the mainland and opened fire, the place became +untenable. One shot struck the _Dunmore_ and wounded the Governor. "Good +God! that ever I should come to this!" he shouted. A few days later his +fleet sailed down the bay and out through the capes. With it went the +last vestige of British authority in Virginia.[55] + +Now the question of independence was in the minds of all. The small +planter as he set out his tobacco crop debated it with himself; the +blacksmith talked it over with his client as he shod his horse; it was +the topic of conversation in the church yard before the sermon began; +the members of the convention debated it as they rode along the muddy +roads. In May, 1775, Dunmore wrote: "It is no longer to be doubted that +independence is the object in view."[56] But in this he was wrong. The +colonists did not want independence. They were Englishmen, most of them, +speaking the English language, living under English law, attached to +English institutions. They had hardly ceased to speak of England as +"home." They looked to the British navy for protection, they were keenly +alive to their economic dependence upon the mother country, they were +weak and disunited. The colonies went into the war hugging the hope that +there might yet be reconciliation, with Washington referring to the +British soldiers as the Ministerial troops, and the American chaplains, +in public services, praying for the King. + +The colonies, in taking up arms, sought only to maintain existing +conditions. The King and the Ministry were the real revolutionists, not +the Americans. It was Washington who wrote in 1769, that "at a time when +our lordly masters in Great Britain will be satisfied with nothing less +than the deprivation of American freedom, something should be done to +avert the stroke and maintain the liberty which we have derived from our +ancestors." Washington by no means considered himself a rebel. He was +championing the British constitution and American rights under it +against the illegal aggressions of a reactionary Ministry. + +But the war had not been long in progress before the people saw that +they must preserve their freedom at the bayonet's point, or make abject +submission. When, in the summer of 1775, Richard Penn and Arthur Lee +went to England with the last effort of Congress for reconciliation, the +so-called Olive Branch, they were rebuffed. The King and his Ministers +refused to see them. While they were in London a proclamation was read +at Palace Yard and Temple Bar by heralds, prohibiting all intercourse +with the colonies. + +Moreover, the ties of reverence and affection gave way rapidly before +the anger and bitterness of war. The news that the King was purchasing +troops from certain German rulers for use against them aroused the +Americans to fury. Angry men gathered everywhere, in the coffee houses, +on the village greens, or around the courthouses to discuss the burning +of Portland in the midst of a Maine winter, or the arming of the slaves +by Dunmore. + +It was at this moment that Tom Paine's _Common Sense_ made its +appearance. Although this pamphlet was bombastic, radical, and filled +with absurdities, it fell in with the trend of the day, and so tended to +crystallize thought in favor of independence. More than 100,000 copies +were sold, and it was estimated that every third person in the colonies +read it. "Where, some say, is the King of America? I'll tell you friend. +He reigns above, and doth not make havoc of mankind like the royal brute +of England. A government of our own is our natural right. Ye who oppose +independence now, ye know not what ye do: ye are opening a door to +eternal tyranny." + +Reluctantly the leaders of thought in Virginia came to the conclusion +that the British government was forcing them into independence. +Jefferson wrote John Randolph in November, 1775, that he loved the union +with Great Britain, "but by the God that made me I will cease to exist +before I yield to a connection on such terms as the British Parliament +propose, and in this I think I speak the sentiments of America." + +Yet the Virginia convention, in August, 1775, had declared: "We again +and for all, publickly and solemnly declare, before God and the world, +that we do bear faith and true allegiance to his Majesty George the +Third, our only lawful and rightful King."[57] + +But before the meeting of the convention of May 6, 1776, sentiment had +changed. Jefferson said that nine out of every ten persons were now for +independence.[58] In February, Benjamin Harrison had hinted strongly +that the time was ripe for separation. In January Washington had written +Joseph Reed that "a few more such flaming arguments" as Falmouth and +Norfolk would not leave many to oppose a separation. On April 12 John +Page predicted that independence would be voted in the approaching +convention; two days later Carter Braxton expressed the opinion that +independence was not only desirable but inevitable; Pendleton, though +greatly disturbed at the prospect of separation, thought that no other +course was possible. + +There was great excitement in Williamsburg when the delegates arrived to +take their seats in the Hall of Burgesses for the opening of the +convention. The crowds which filled the gallery must have pointed out +each distinguished member as he entered--the aged Richard Bland; George +Mason, his black hair now showing a touch of gray; Patrick Henry, in the +plain garb he always wore; Richard Henry Lee, who had been called from +Congress by the illness of his wife; James Madison, a small delicate +young man, widely known as a scholar and political thinker; Edmund +Pendleton, six feet in height, lithe, and handsome; Robert Carter +Nicholas, Henry Lee, Edmund Randolph.[59] + +On the question of independence there were three opinions. Nicholas was +opposed to separation, for he thought there was still hope for +conciliation. Henry wished Congress to establish independence through a +declaration. Pendleton argued for a statement by the convention and by +Congress that independence already existed by the action of King and +Parliament. + +In the end Pendleton was directed to prepare a resolution on +independence. So, on May 15, Thomas Nelson, Junior, rose and read two +resolutions which Pendleton had drawn up: + + Forasmuch as all the endeavors of the United Colonies, by the most + decent representations and petitions to the King and Parliament of + Great Britain to restore peace and security to America under the + British government, and a reunion with that people upon just and + liberal terms, instead of a redress of grievances, have produced, + from an imperious and vindictive administration, increased insult, + oppression, and a vigorous attempt to effect our total destruction. + By a late act, all these colonies are declared to be in rebellion, + and out of the protection of the British Crown; our properties + subjected to confiscation; our people, when captivated, compelled + to join in the murder and plunder of their relations and + countrymen; and all former rapine and oppression of Americans + declared legal and just. Fleets and armies are raised, and the aid + of foreign troops engaged to assist in these destructive purposes. + The King's representative in this colony hath not only withheld all + the powers of government from operating for our safety, but, having + retired on board an armed ship, is carrying on a piratical and + savage war against us, tempting our slaves by every artifice to + resort to him, and training and employing them against their + masters. In this state of extreme danger, we have no alternative + left but an abject submission to the will of those overbearing + tyrants, or a total separation from the Crown and government of + Great Britain, uniting and exerting the strength of all America for + defence, and forming alliances with foreign powers for commerce and + aid in war: Wherefore, appealing to the SEARCHER OF HEARTS for the + sincerity of former declarations, expressing our desire to preserve + the connection with that nation, and that we are driven from that + inclination by their wicked councils, and the eternal laws of + self-preservation: + +Resolved, unanimously, That the delegates appointed to represent this +colony in the General Congress, be instructed to propose to that +respectable body to declare the United Colonies free and independent +states, absolved from all allegiance to, or dependence upon the Crown or +Parliament of Great Britain; and that they give the assent of this +colony to such declaration, and to whatever measures may be thought +proper and necessary by the Congress for forming foreign alliances, and +a confederation of the colonies, at such time, and in the manner as to +them shall seem best; Provided, the power of forming government for, and +the regulations of the internal concerns of each colony, be left to the +respective colonial legislatures. + +Resolved unanimously, That a committee be appointed to prepare a +DECLARATION OF RIGHTS, and such a plan of government as will be most +likely to maintain peace and order in this colony, and secure +substantial and equal liberty to the people. + +The people of Virginia everywhere applauded this final breach with Great +Britain. In Williamsburg the "Union flag of the American states" was +raised over the Capitol. The troops, under General Lewis, wheeled and +marched in a nearby grove in the presence of the members of the +Committee of Safety and of the convention and a crowd of citizens. After +the resolutions of the convention had been read to the troops, a toast +was proposed to "The American Independent States," which was drunk to +the shouts of the crowd and the firing of the artillery. Then followed +toasts to "The Grand Congress of the United States and their Respective +Legislatures," and to "General Washington and Victory for the American +Arms." With coming of night the people illuminated the town amid +demonstrations of joy "that the domination of Great Britain was now at +an end."[60] + +The resolutions of the convention were tantamount to a Virginia +declaration of independence. Though it was thought wise to act in +concert with the other colonies, the convention did not wait for +Congress, but proceeded to draw up a constitution for an independent +state, with Governor, Senate, House of Delegates, and judiciary. One +hundred and sixty-nine years, almost to a day, after Captain Christopher +Newport planted the English flag on the Jamestown peninsula, English +authority in Virginia was overthrown. + +As the delegates rode home after the convention had concluded its work, +the minds of some must have gone over the developments of those +seventeen decades, the heritage of self-government which their ancestors +had brought with them from England, the struggle to defend their liberty +against the assaults of despotic Kings and despotic Governors, the +spirit of self-reliance fostered by life in the New World, and now the +attempts of a reactionary government in Great Britain to turn back the +hands of the clock and deprive them of the rights they had won. It had +been James I and Charles I, and even George III who, in their dealings +with the colonies, had insisted upon "obedience," but the colonists +insisted upon another word, the word "liberty." Now that they had won +liberty, it remained to be seen whether they could preserve it against +the attacks of the British armies and navy. And none could foresee that +at Yorktown, but a few miles away, British armed might in America was +destined to be broken, as its political power had already been broken at +Williamsburg. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., Oct. 27, 1768. + +[2] _Ibid._ + +[3] CO5-1332, Feb. 18, 1769. + +[4] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., May 18, 1769. + +[5] _Ibid._ + +[6] CO5-1332, Botetourt to Hillsborough, May 19, 1769. + +[7] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1766-1769: 227. + +[8] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D. Oct. 18, 1770. + +[9] _Ibid._, Supplement. + +[10] William Smith, _Diary_, Dec. 1, 1770; July 9, 1771. + +[11] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., Sept. 17, 1771. + +[12] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 1: 7. + +[13] _Ibid._ + +[14] T. J. Wertenbaker, _Norfolk: historic southern port_, 55. + +[15] _Journal of Philip Vickers Fithian_, ed. H. D. Farish, 257. + +[16] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 1: 9. + +[17] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1773-1776: 124. + +[18] _Virginia Gazette_, P. and D., June 2, 1774. + +[19] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 1: 11. + +[20] _Ibid._, 10. + +[21] _Lower Norfolk County Antiquary_ 5: 32-35. + +[22] _Writings of George Washington_, ed. Jared Sparks, 2: 389. + +[23] Dunmore papers, No. 22. + +[24] _Burke's speech_, ed. S. C. Newsom, 105, 106. + +[25] Dunmore papers, Dunmore to Dartmouth, March 14, 1775. + +[26] _Ibid._, No. 28. + +[27] _Ibid._, No. 30. + +[28] _Ibid._, No. 26. + +[29] William Wirt, _Life of Patrick Henry_, 139-141. + +[30] _Philip Vickers Fithian, journal_, eds. Albion and Dodson, 24. + +[31] Dunmore papers, no. 26. + +[32] _Ibid._ + +[33] _The Virginia Gazette_, Pinckney, May 11, 1775. + +[34] Dunmore papers, No. 28. + +[35] _Ibid._ + +[36] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1773-1776: 174, 175. + +[37] _Ibid._, pp. 219-221. + +[38] Dunmore papers, No. 28. + +[39] _Ibid._ + +[40] _Ibid._, No. 29. + +[41] _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, 1773-1776. + +[42] Dunmore papers, No. 22. + +[43] _Proceedings of the Convention_, etc.; C. R. Lingley, _Transition +in Virginia_. + +[44] _Ibid._ + +[45] _Dunmore papers_, No. 29. + +[46] _Ibid._, No. 22. + +[47] T. J. Wertenbaker, _Norfolk: historic southern port_, 57, 67. + +[48] Dunmore papers, No. 32. + +[49] _American Archives_, Fourth Ser. 4: 343. + +[50] _Richmond College historical papers_ 1: 101. + +[51] _Ibid._, 115-121. + +[52] _Ibid._, 138, 139, 148. + +[53] _Lower Norfolk County Antiquary_ 2: 80. + +[54] _American Archives_, Fourth Ser. 4: 540; _Virginia Magazine_ 23: +414. + +[55] _Ibid._, Fifth Ser. 1: 150, 151, 431, 432. + +[56] Dunmore papers, No. 27. + +[57] _American Archives_ 4: 391. + +[58] _The writings of Thomas Jefferson_, ed. A. A. Lipscomb, 4: 255. + +[59] H. B. Grigsby, _The Virginia convention of 1776_. + +[60] _Virginia Gazette_, Purdie, May 17, 1776. + + + + +ESSAY ON SOURCES + + +Any political history of Virginia in the colonial period must be based +chiefly on the documents in the British Public Record Office. During +many months of work in this office the author made more than eight +hundred pages of notes and transcripts which he has used freely in the +writing of this volume. The notations CO1-3, CO5-1318, etc., in the +footnotes all refer to the Public Record Office. + +It is especially fortunate that these documents have been preserved, +since of the copies left in Virginia, when there were copies, most have +been destroyed. Among the scores of manuscript volumes on Virginia in +the Record Office, thirty-two are devoted to the correspondence of the +Board of Trade, seventeen to the correspondence of the Secretary of +State, twenty-two to Entry Books, letters, commissions, warrants, etc., +for the period from 1680 to the American Revolution alone. + +In this vast collection are found the instructions to governors; +memorials concerning the clergy, the revenue, the College of William and +Mary; addresses of the Assembly to the Throne; reports of special agents +of the Crown; accusations against governors; nominations to office; the +journals of the Council and of the House of Burgesses. + +During the second half of the nineteenth century William Noel Sainsbury, +Assistant Keeper of the Records, made no less than twenty volumes of +abstracts of these documents, which have been deposited in the Virginia +State Library. They cover the long period from the founding of the +colony to 1730. The McDonald Papers, also transcribed from the documents +in the Public Record Office, and also deposited in the Virginia State +Library, parallel the Sainsbury abstracts, but they are fuller and give +some papers overlooked by Sainsbury. The author spent the summer of 1908 +in Richmond to study these papers, but they merely whetted his desire to +see the original collection. So June, 1910, found him in the chilly old +building off Chancery Lane, London, immersed in the musty but +fascinating mass of documents. + +Virginia historians today no longer have to make the journey across the +Atlantic, for the United States Government has had transcriptions made +of the papers relating to our colonial history for the Library of +Congress. Moreover, the journals of the House of Burgesses and the +journals of the Council have been published. Many other documents in the +Public Record Office have been published in part or in full in the +_Calendar of State Papers_, _Colonial Series, America and West Indies_, +and in historical magazines. + +The Coventry papers relating to Virginia, Barbados, and other colonies, +at Longleat, the magnificent residence of the Marquess of Bath, which +have been microfilmed by the American Council of Learned Societies, +throw a flood of light on Virginia history, especially upon Bacon's +Rebellion. They contain letters from Bacon to Berkeley, from Berkeley to +Bacon, and from Philip Ludwell to Lady Berkeley, reports from the +Virginia agents who were seeking a charter for the colony, Berkeley's +account of the evacuation of Jamestown, and many other valuable +documents. They give new and overwhelming evidence that Bacon and his +followers rose in arms, not only to protect the people from the Indians, +but to right their wrongs under Berkeley's government. + +The American Council of Learned Societies was also responsible for the +microfilming of the Sackville manuscripts belonging to the Earl of +Dorset. They contain letters to the British Government from the Virginia +House of Burgesses and from the Council in 1631, and throw a gleam of +light on an obscure period. + +The correspondence of Lord Dunmore and Lord Dartmouth, in the British +Public Record Office, is vital to any account of the early years of the +Revolution in Virginia. In his letters Dunmore reports on the committees +of correspondence, the boycott, the plight of the Tories, his conflict +with the Assembly, the arming of the patriots, his flight from +Williamsburg, his seizure of Norfolk, etc. This correspondence is +available to scholars in microfilm in the Library of Congress. + +W. W. Hening (ed.), _The Statutes at Large_ (1809-1823), in thirteen +volumes, are indispensable to the historian. In addition to the Virginia +laws it publishes a few extremely important documents. + +The county records throw light on local government and the use of the +patronage by the governors to control the Assembly. It is unfortunate +that many documents in the county courthouses were destroyed in the +Revolution and the War between the States. Yet the records of Surry, +York, Essex, Rappahannock, Accomac, Elizabeth City, and other counties +have been preserved. + +Peter Force (ed.), _Tracts and Other Papers_ (1836), has many valuable +documents relating to early Virginia history. The accounts of Bacon's +Rebellion are of especial interest. Edward Arber (ed.), _The Works of +Captain John Smith_ (1910), is a main source for the founding and early +history of Jamestown. But Smith's tendency to glorify himself and the +probability that he colored his account to further the designs of King +James I and the court party have caused many historians to distrust much +that he has written. + +Alexander Brown, _Genesis of the United States_ (1890), gives many +documents on early Virginia history which had long been inaccessible to +scholars. Other publications of documents or early histories are Susan +M. Kingsbury (ed.), _The Records of the Virginia Company of London_ +(1906-1935); J. C. Hotten (ed.), _Original Lists of Emigrants to +America, 1606-1700_ (1874); _Lower Norfolk County_ Antiquary; Lyon G. +Tyler (ed.), _Narratives of Early Virginia_ (1907); Charles M. Andrews +(ed.), _Narratives of Insurrections_ (1915); Clayton C. Hall (ed.), +_Narratives of Early Maryland_ (1910); and Edmund Goldsmid (ed.), +_Hakluyt's_, _The Principal Navigations_ (1885-1890). + +R. A. Brock (ed.), _The Official Records of Robert Dinwiddie_ +(1883-1884); while of great value, is incomplete, since many letters in +the British Public Record Office have been omitted. R. A. Brock (ed.), +_The Original Letters of Alexander Spotswood_ (1882-1885), from the +manuscript collection in possession of the Virginia Historical Society, +is also far from complete. + +Among the historical magazines which have published documents relating +to Virginia the most important are _The Virginia Magazine of History and +Biography_, _William and Mary College Quarterly_, _Tyler's Quarterly +Historical and Genealogical Magazine_, and the _Massachusetts Historical +Society, Proceedings_. + +Three narratives, Henry Hartwell, James Blair, and Edward Chilton, _The +Present State of Virginia and the College_; Robert Beverley, _The +History and Present State of Virginia_; and Hugh Jones, _The Present +State of Virginia_, have all the value of primary sources. The Hartwell, +Blair, and Chilton history was written in 1697 and first published by +John Wyat at the Rose, in St. Paul's churchyard, London, in 1727. It was +republished in 1940, with an able introduction by Hunter D. Farish. +Beverley's volume appeared in 1705, and a new edition was published in +1947. Hugh Jones' history came out in 1724, was reprinted in 1865 in a +limited edition, and republished in 1956. The last edition, edited by +Richard L. Morton, has a valuable introduction, and more than a hundred +pages of illuminating notes. + +There are a number of histories of Virginia. William Stith, _The History +of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia_ (1747), is little +more than a rehash of Captain John Smith's story. John Burk, _The +History of Virginia_ (1822), though more critical, is out of date since +the author did not have access to a mass of documents now available to +the historian. The same criticism applies to Charles Campbell, _History +of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia_ (1860). Henry Howe, +_Historical Collections of Virginia_ (1845), brings together many facts, +traditions, and biographical sketches. It also gives brief descriptions +of contemporaneous life in the various counties. John Fiske's _Old +Virginia and her Neighbors_ (1900), is interesting, but untrustworthy. +Edward D. Neill, _Early Settlement of Virginia and Virginiola_ (1878), +_The English Colonization of America during the Seventeenth Century_ +(1871), _History of the Virginia Company of London_ (1869), _Virginia +Vetusta_ (1885), and _Virginia Carolorum_ (1886), are based on primary +sources and are still valuable. John Esten Cooke, _Virginia: A History +of the People_ (1884), is interesting but full of mistakes. + +Other works on early Virginia history are Alexander Brown, _The First +Republic in America_ (1898), T. J. Wertenbaker, _Virginia under the +Stuarts_ (1914); Mary Newton Stanard, _The Story of Virginia's First +Century_ (1928); Matthew Page Andrews, _The Soul of a Nation_ (1943), +and _Virginia, the Old Dominion_ (1937); William Foote, _Sketches of +Virginia_ (1850); Robert R. Howison, _A History of Virginia_ (1848); +Conway W. Sams, _The Conquest of Virginia_ (1924); and Wesley Frank +Craven, _Dissolution of the Virginia Company_ (1932). + +In 1957 the Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation published +a series of booklets on seventeenth-century Virginia history under the +able editorship of Dr. Earl G. Swem. Among them are E. G. Swem and John +M. Jennings, _A Selected Bibliography of Virginia_, 1607-1699; William +W. Abbot, _A Virginia Chronology_, 1585-1783; Samuel M. Bemiss (ed.), +_The Three Charters of the Virginia Company of London_; Wesley Frank +Craven, _The Virginia Company of London_; Charles E. Hatch, Jr., _The +First Seventeen Years at Jamestown_, 1607-1634; Thomas J. Wertenbaker, +_Bacon's Rebellion_ and _The Government of Virginia in the Seventeenth +Century_; Richard L. Morton, _Struggle against Tyranny and the Beginning +of a New Era_; Martha W. Hiden, _How Justice Grew_. Dr. Wilcomb E. +Washburn, _Virginia under Charles I and Cromwell_, takes issue with most +Virginia historians by coming to the defense of Governor John Harvey who +was kicked out of Virginia because of his despotic rule, abuse of the +courts, and disregard of law. + +Among the special studies relating to the political history of Virginia +are Philip A. Bruce, _The Institutional History of Virginia_ (1910); +Julian A. C. Chandler, _The History of Suffrage in Virginia_ (1901); +Oliver P. Chitwood, _Justice in Colonial Virginia_ (1905); Percy S. +Flippin, _Financial Administration of the Colony of Virginia_ (1915); +Armistead C. Gordon, _The Laws of Bacon's Assembly_ (1914); Albert O. +Porter, _County Government in Virginia_ (1947); Mary N. Stanard, _The +Story of Bacon's Rebellion_ (1907); R. T. Barton, _Colonial Decisions_ +(1909); Edward Ingle, _Virginia Local Institutions_ (1885); Elmer I. +Miller, _The Legislature of the Province of Virginia_ (1907); Lyon G. +Tyler, _The Cradle of the Republic_ (1906); Moncure D. Conway, _Omitted +Chapters_ (1888); H. J. Eckenrode, _The Revolution in Virginia_ (1916); +Hugh Blair Grigsby, _The Virginia Convention of 1776_ (1855); Charles R. +Lingley, _The Transition in Virginia from Colony to Commonwealth_ +(1910); Charles S. Sydnor, _Gentlemen Freeholders, Political Practices +in Washington's Virginia_ (1952); Curtis P. Nettels, _George Washington +and American Independence_ (1951). + +Biographies of prominent Virginians seem to come in pairs. There are two +biographies of William Claiborne, Norton C. Hale, _Virginia Venturer_ +(1951), and John H. Claiborne, _William Claiborne of Virginia_ (1917); +two biographies devoted to the Lee family, Burton J. Hendrick, _The Lees +of Virginia_ (1935), and Cazenove G. Lee, Jr., _Lee Chronicle_ (1956); +two short studies of James Blair, Daniel E. Motley, _Life of Commissary +James Blair_ (1901), and Edgar L. Pennington, _Commissary Blair_ (1936); +two biographies of Edmund Pendleton, Robert L. Hilldrup, _The Life and +Times of Edmund Pendleton_ (1939), and David J. Mays, _Edmund Pendleton_ +(1952); there are several biographies of Captain John Smith. + +Philip A. Bruce, _The Virginia Plutarch_ (1929), gives brief biographies +of Sir William Berkeley, Nathaniel Bacon, Alexander Spotswood, William +Byrd II, Patrick Henry, and others. Among other biographies are Richmond +C. Beatty, _William Byrd of Westover_ (1932); Thomas J. Wertenbaker, +_Torchbearer of the Revolution, The Story of Bacon's Rebellion and Its +Leader_ (1940); Leonidas Dodson, _Alexander Spotswood_ (1932); Louis K. +Koontz, _Robert Dinwiddie_ (1941); Louis Morton, _Robert Carter of +Nomini Hall_ (1941); Kate Mason Rowland, _Life and Correspondence of +George Mason_ (1892); William Wirt Henry, _Patrick Henry_ (1891); A. T. +S. Goodrick, _Edward Randolph_ (1898-1909); Thomas Jefferson, +_Autobiography_. + +There are numerous Virginia local histories, among them W. Asbury +Christian, _Richmond, Her Past and Present_ (1912); (1931); Ralph T. +Whitelaw, _Virginia's Eastern Shore_ (1951); John B. Bodie, _Seventeenth +Century Isle of Wight County, Virginia_ (1938); Marshall Wingfield, _A +History of Caroline County, Virginia_ (1924); and Herbert C. Bradshaw, +_History of Prince Edward County, Virginia_ (1955). + +_The Virginia Gazette_ is a major source for the history of Virginia in +the eighteenth century. The scattered numbers still in existence have +been photostated and copies deposited in some of the larger libraries. +Their usefulness has been greatly enhanced by the preparation of an +Index by Lester J. Cappon and Stella F. Duff. + +Virginia historians will always be grateful to Dr. Earl G. Swem for his +_Virginia Historical Index_, covering _The Virginia Magazine of History +and Biography_, volumes 1-38; _William and Mary College Quarterly_, +first series, volumes 1-27; second series, volumes 1-10; Hening's +_Statutes at Large_, and other publications. + + + + +Index + + Acadians: ejected, 204 + + Allerton, Isaac: + bribed with seat in Council, 20, 119; + refuses oath of allegiance, 126 + + Amherst, General Jeffrey: replaces Loudoun, 210 + + Andros, Sir Edmund: + Governor, 127; + despotic in New England, 127; + mild in Virginia, 129; + quarrels with Blair, 131; + suspends Blair from Council, 131; + resigns, 132 + + Appomatox Indians: hostile, 86 + + Argall, Samuel: + Governor, 6; + cruelty of, 7 + + Aristocracy: + effect of slavery on, 152, 153; + libraries, 153; + mansions, 153; + intermarriages, 153; + dominate General Court, 153, 154 + + Armistead, Col. John: + Councillor, 119; + refuses oath of allegiance, 126 + + Association: + to boycott British goods, 239; + successful, 240, 241 + + Attainder: bill of in 1677, 29 + + Auditor: + duties of, 33; + William Byrd, 34; + Philip Ludwell, 34 + + + Bacon, Nathaniel: + early life of, 84; + quarrels with Berkeley, 84; + knew Lawrence and Drummond, 84; + his overseer murdered, 86; + frontiersmen make leader, 87; + denounces Berkeley, 87; + defeats Occaneechees, 87; + elected Burgess, 88; + captured, 88; + submits, 88, 89; + reappointed Councillor, 89; + blames Assembly, 90; + escapes, 90; + takes Jamestown, 90; + made general, 90; + pleads with Burgesses, 91; + master of Virginia, 92; + conversation with Goode, 92, 93; + at Middle Plantation, 92; + plans of, 93; + captures Jamestown, 93, 94; + burns Jamestown, 94; + secret burial of, 94; + people mourn, 94 + + Bacon, Nathaniel, Sr.: ousted from Council, 71 + + Bacon's Laws: + aimed at Berkeley, 91; + credit due Bacon, 91; + a victory for democracy, 91, 92 + + Ballard, Thomas: expelled from Council, 20 + + Baltimore, Lord: + visits Virginia, 38; + refuses oath, 38; + Harvey aids, 43; + settles Maryland, 43; + recognizes Commonwealth, 69 + + Barré, Col. Isaac: denounces Stamp Act, 225, 226 + + Bennett, Richard: + favors Parliament, 58; + sent to get Puritan ministers, 60; + commissioner for Parliament, 64; + Governor, 67; + Cromwell continues, 70 + + Berkeley, Lady Frances: + marriage, 76; + insults Jeffreys, 100, 101; + heads faction, 101, 102 + + Berkeley, Lord John: brother of Sir William, 80 + + Berkeley, Sir William: + limits franchise, 27; + appointed Governor, 54; + early life, 54; + arrives, 55; + popular, 55, 56; + favors jury trial, 56; + gift of houses to, 57; + salary, 57; + fights for King, 57; + defeats Indians, 58; + expels Puritan preachers, 61; + prosecutes Puritans, 62; + proclaims Charles II, 62; + defies Parliament, 63; + to resist Parliamentary forces, 65, 66; + surrenders, 66; + under Commonwealth, 68; + elected Governor, 73; + reappointed by Charles II, 75; + dictatorial, 76; + greed, 76; + marriage, 75; + distrusts self-government, 76; + use of patronage, 77; + corrupts Assembly, 77; + the Long Assembly, 77, 78; + accused by Charles City, 77, 78; + grants of land, 78, 79; + people hate, 78; + favorites of, 79; + asks free trade, 80; + denounces Navigation Acts, 80, 81; + makes Bacon Councillor, 84; + despotism of, 84; + sends force against Indians, 86; + Indian policy, 86; + people in arms, 87; + calls an election, 88; + captures Bacon, 88; + forces Bacon's submission, 88, 89; + overawes Burgesses, 89; + submits to Bacon, 90, 91; + starts civil war, 92; + flees to Eastern Shore, 92; + executes patriots, 95, 96, 99; + illegal seizures, 98; + quarrels with Jeffreys, 98, 99; + ordered to England, 99; + picks Burgesses, 99, 100; + sails, 101; + death, 101 + + Berry, Sir John: committee on Bacon's Rebellion, 92 + + Beverley, Peter: court of oyer and terminer, 170 + + Beverley, Robert: + Green Spring faction, 101, 102; + Assembly minutes seized from, 103; + testifies against Nicholson, 148 + + Bill of Ports: + Burgesses reject, 128; + Spotswood secures, 162-165; + patronage from, 163, 164; + Gooch secures, 191, 192 + + Blair, Archibald: hates Spotswood, 172, 173 + + Blair, Rev. James: + defends Harrison, 22; + founds college, 31; + Commissary, 130; + church reform plans, 130, 131; + Quarrel with Andros, 131; + Andros ousts from Council, 131; + restored, 131; + ousts Andros, 132; + for Nicholson, 133; + Nicholson angers, 136; + accuses Nicholson, 147, 148; + called King maker, 149; + called hypocrite, 171; + visits England, 175; + to be "Prime Minister," 175, 176 + + Blair, John: + meets Dinwiddie, 194; + calls Assembly, 209; + prepares expedition, 209, 210 + + Bland, Gyles: executed, 99 + + Bland, Col. Richard: + defends Two-penny Act, 214; + for self-government, 216; + to submit to Stamp Act, 226; + General Committee of Safety, 249; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Botetourt, Lord: + Governor General, 232; + welcomed, 232; + popular, 232; + warns British government, 233; + promises repeal of Townshend Acts, 234, 235; + death, 235 + + Braddock, General: defeat of, 203 + + Braxton, Carter: predicts independence, 255 + + Buck, Rev.: Minister at Jamestown, 5 + + Buckner, John: sets up press, 117 + + Burgesses, House of: + bribed by Governors, 19, 20; + represent people, 25; + privileges, 26; + franchise, 26; + wages, 27, 28; + county pays, 28; + Speaker, 28; + committees, 29; + guards elections, 29; + as a court, 29; + control of taxation, 29-31; + act of 1680, 30; + rule under Commonwealth, 67, 68; + elect Governor, 70; + Berkeley corrupts, 77; + end of Long Assembly, 87, 88; + Bacon's victory in, 88; + Bacon's Laws, 91, 92; + pro-Berkeley in 1677, 99; + protest appeals to England, 114; + James II scorns petition, 114; + protest fees, 115; + sole right to tax, 115; + dispute King's authority, 115, 116; + reject royal bills, 127; + rile Edward Randolph, 128; + refuse aid to New York, 128; + £500 for New York, 128, 129; + name Treasurer, 128, 129; + Nicholson wheedles, 138; + Spotswood bribes, 163, 164; + new election, 164; + oppose Spotswood, 165; + Spotswood rebuffs, 165, 166; + judges elections, 166; + strike at Governors' power, 167; + Spotswood denounces, 168; + deride Spotswood, 171; + charges against Spotswood, 173; + praise Drysdale, 177, 178; + contempt of punished, 179; + praise Gooch, 180; + growth of, 182; + salaries, 183; + power of grows, 184; + aristocrats in, 184; + praise Gooch, 193; + protest pistole fee, 197; + fee called arbitrary taxation, 197; + appeal to King, 198; + audacity of, 204; + eject Acadian exiles, 204; + vote £60,000, 205; + emit treasury notes, 205; + reply to Fauquier, 219; + declaration of rights, 220; + protest Stamp Act, 224, 225; + Henry's resolutions, 226; + Botetourt opens, 1768, 233; + reassert sole right to tax, 233; + meet unofficially, 233, 234; + Botetourt promises repeal, 235; + call convention, 239; + take lead in Revolution, 242; + many in uniform, 246; + last session, 248 + + Burke, Edmund: on "Conciliation," 241 + + Burwell, Lewis: + land holdings, 135; + Nicholson threatens, 143 + + Burwell, Lucy: + Nicholson in love with, 142-145; + returns gifts, 144, 145 + + Butler, Nathaniel: his "Unmasking of Virginia," 11 + + Butts, Thomas: + refuses to certify grievances, 165; + House asks arrest, 165, 166 + + Byrd, William I: + auditor, 34; + makes rent roll, 135; + respect due to, 152 + + Byrd, William II: Receiver General, 168; + Spotswood ousts, 169; + opposes new court, 170; + Spotswood denounces, 171; + agent for Burgesses, 173 + + Byrd, William III: 221 + + + Camm, Rev. John: + takes clergy protest to King, 213; + sues for salary, 214; + Fauquier denounces, 214; + case thrown out, 216; + supports Dunmore, 242 + + Capitol: + plan, 146; + burns, 182; + rebuilt, 183; + soldiers lodge in, 248; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Carter, Landon: defends Two-penny Act, 214 + + Carter, Robert: + Speaker of House, 28; + Treasurer, 130; + influence of, 140; + charges against Nicholson, 147, 148; + haughty, 171; + President, 1726, 179; + slaves of, 184 + + Carter, Robert, of Nomini Hall: + refuses tea, 238; + not a "courtier," 242 + + Charles City County: + grievances of, 32; + accuse Berkeley, 77; + grievances neglected, 78; + illegal voting in, 100 + + Charles I: + will not restore Company, 13; + calls Assembly, 15; + offers to buy tobacco crop, 15; + needs money, 16; + illegal taxes, 36; + tobacco contract, 44; + executed, 62 + + Charles II: + Berkeley proclaims, 63; + restoration, 73; + proclaimed in 1660, 74; + reappoints Berkeley, 75; + Arlington-Culpeper grant, 82; + on causes of Bacon's Rebellion, 97; + sends troops, 97; + angered at Assembly, 103; + gold from Louis XIV, 107; + despotism in Virginia, 108-113; + prohibits printing, 117 + + Charter: + granted Virginia Company, 4, 5; + sought by Virginians, 17, 18; + Assembly asks, 83; + again asked, 1689, 123; + to confirm Assembly, 123, 124 + + Cheeseman, Major: Berkeley's brutality to, 95 + + Chicheley, Sir Henry: + leads force against Indians, 86; + Deputy Governor, 106; + rules impartially, 106 + + Civil War in England: + influence on colonies, 3; + affects Virginia, 36 + + Claiborne, William: + agent against Baltimore, 38; + settlement on Kent Island, 43; + battle with Marylanders, 43; + commissioner for Parliament, 64; + negotiates for peace, 65, 66; + Secretary, 67 + + Clergy: + thank Spotswood, 163; + Two-penny Act, 211; + protest, 211, 212; + address to King, 212 + + Cocke, William: in Indian Company, 171 + + Cole, William: election of thrown out, 166, 167 + + Committees of Correspondence: 236, 237, 239 + + Committees of Safety: take over courts, 248 + + Commons, House of: + opposes James I, 3; + in Civil War, 36 + + Commonwealth: + Virginia surrenders to, 66; + Virginia constitution under, 66, 67; + rule of, 70; + anarchy, 73; + influence of on Virginia, 75 + + Constitution of State of Virginia: drawn up, 257 + + Continental Congress: + proposed, 236, 237, 239; + delegates to, 240; + Declaration of Rights, 240; + makes Washington commander, 245 + + Convention, Provincial: + in 1774, 240; + at Richmond, 1775, 243; + Henry's address, 243, 244; + prepare for war, 244; + take over government, 248, 249; + in 1776, 255; + instruct for independence, 255, 256 + + Conway, Edwin: baits Spotswood, 165 + + Corbin, Gawin: baits Spotswood, 165, 172 + + Corbin, Richard: + protests paper money, 219; + complains to Board of Trade, 219; + pays for powder, 245 + + Council of Virginia: + powers of, 4; + quarrels of, 4, 5; + under constitution of 1621, 21; + patronage of, 21; + powers of, 23-25; + as cabinet, 23; + as Upper House, 23, 24; + as supreme court, 24; + prestige of, 24, 25; + Virginia House of Lords, 25; + conflict with Harvey, 41-47; + arrest Harvey, 46; + Burgesses oust, 71; + power of from England, 72; + dissolve Assembly, 1659, 72; + lose fat jobs, 134; + Nicholson abuses, 140, 141; + six accuse Nicholson, 147-150; + represent aristocracy, 151, 152; + titles of, 152; + respect for, 152; + Nott defers to, 154, 155; + appeal for peace, 155; + Burgesses back, 155; + a threat to Liberty, 159; + land holdings of, 162; + preserve judicial power, 169-171; + for large land grants, 178; + negative role in Revolution, 242 + + County courts: + undemocratic, 21; + Governor's power over, 22; + duties of, 31; + Governor appoints, 78; + taxation by, 78; + Bacon's Laws, 92 + + Coventry, Attorney General: issues _quo warranto_ against Company, 12 + + Cromwell, Oliver: + neglects Virginia, 70; + death, 72 + + Cromwell, Richard: + Lord Protector, 72; + resigns, 72 + + Culpeper, Lord Thomas: + despotism under, 18; + limits franchise, 27; + grant to, 82; + Governor, 102; + Cavalier, 109; + delays sailing, 109; + brings peace, 110; + forces act for "perpetual revenue," 110-112; + returns to England, 112; + robs soldiers, 113; + hangs rioters, 113; + Effingham succeeds, 113 + + Curtis, Edmund: + commissioner to Virginia, 64; + negotiates surrender, 65 + + + Dale, Sir Thomas: + Governor, 6; + brings harsh laws, 6; + cruelty of, 7 + + Dawson, Commissary William: + meets Dinwiddie, 194; + denounces Two-penny Act, 212 + + Day of Prayer: June 1, 1774, 238, 239 + + Debts: + due merchants, 189; + appeals to Privy Council, 189, 190 + + De la Warr, Lord: + Governor, 5, 6; + ill, 6; + leaves Virginia, 6; + humane, 7; + sails with Magna Carta, 8; + death, 8 + + Democracy: + New World favorable for, 3; + yeomen build up, 3; + Quary warns of, 35; + gains under Commonwealth, 75; + Glorious Revolution, 122; + small slave holders for, 185 + + Dennis, Captain Robert: + heads commission to Virginia, 64; + lost on the _John_, 64 + + Digges, Cole: + election thrown out, 166, 167; + named to new court, 170; + Indian Company, 171 + + Digges, Edward: Governor, 71 + + Dinwiddie, Robert: + Lieutenant Governor, 194; + career, 195; + backs Assembly, 195; + pistole fee, 196-200; + calls Virginians republicans, 198, 199; + cautioned by King, 199, 200; + horrors of Indian war, 201; + warns British, 201; + sends Washington to the Ohio, 201; + asks funds, 201; + vetoes bill with rider, 202; + wants Parliament to tax, 202, 204; + expends funds, 206; + resigns, 206; + sounds alarm bell, 207; + suggests union of colonies, 208 + + Drummond, Sarah: property confiscated, 104 + + Drummond, William: + hates Berkeley, 80; + influences Bacon, 84; + Bacon consults, 88; + burns own house, 94; + Berkeley's brutality to, 95 + + Drysdale, Hugh: + popular, 18; + Lieutenant Governor, 175, 176; + arrives, 1722, 177; + character, 177; + opposes huge land grants, 178; + upholds House, 178, 179; + death, 179 + + Dunbar, Colonel: retreat of, 203 + + Dunmore, Earl of: + Governor, 236; + conduct in New York, 236; + treaty with Indians, 243; + seizes powder, 244; + threatened, 245; + suggests "compromise," 246, 247; + on the _Fowey_, 248; + escapes capture, 249; + asks troops, 249; + controls water, 250; + in Elizabeth River, 250; + seizes press, 250; + seizes Norfolk, 250, 251; + evacuates Norfolk, 251; + threatens bombardment, 251, 252; + at Gwynn's Island, 252; + leaves Virginia, 253; + says Virginia wants independence, 253 + + Dunmore, Lady: + ball in honor of, 239; + flees Williamsburg, 245, 247 + + Duquesne, Fort: + Forbes to attack, 209; + French evacuate, 210 + + Durand, William: persecuted for dissent, 62 + + Dutch: + trade to Virginia, 68, 69; + trade protected, 69; + wars with, 81 + + + Effingham, Lord Howard: + despotism of, 18, 118; + Governor, 113; + character, 113; + ends appeals to Assembly, 114; + uses patronage for political ends, 118; + favors Roman Catholics, 119; + leaves Virginia, 120 + + Elections: + Nicholson interferes in, 138; + foul play at, 172 + + Embargo: + opposed in England, 59; + enforced in 1650, 63 + + English, William: + denounces Harvey, 44, 45; + arrested, 45; + released, 47 + + + Fauquier, Francis: + Lieutenant Governor, 209; + erudite, 209; + tact, 210; + reprimanded, 211, 213; + upholds Two-penny Act, 212; + London criticises, 213; + denounces Camm, 214; + thinks Henry extreme, 227; + protects Mercer, 228; + death, 231 + + Fees: + Bacon's Laws fix, 92; + bill to limit vetoed, 167; + pistole controversy, 196-200 + + First Stuart Despotism: influence on colonies, 3 + + Fithian, Philip: sees drilling in Valley, 244 + + Forbes, General: + to attack Fort Duquesne, 209; + takes fort, 210 + + Fouace, Rev. Stephen: + Nicholson jealous of, 143; + flees Virginia, 144; + testifies against Nicholson, 148 + + _Fowey_: powder taken to, 244 + + Franchise: + changes in, 26; + under Commonwealth, 70; + all freemen have in June, 1676, 88; + Bacon's Laws widen, 91; + Spotswood tries to restrict, 166; + act to limit, 181 + + French and Indian War: + horrors of, 201; + Washington warns French, 201; + Braddock's defeat, 203; + raids in Valley, 205; + influence on Revolution, 207, 208 + + + Gates, Sir Thomas: + Governor, 6; + brings cruel laws, 6 + + General Assembly: + Magna Carta authorizes, 8; + under Constitution of 1621, 9; + meets, 1619, 9, 10; + acts of in 1619, 10; + right to tax, 10; + Charles I ignores, 13; + meets unofficially, 14; + Charles I summons, 15; + oppose reviving Company, 17; + powers of grow, 34, 35; + accuses Harvey, 47; + reapportions taxes, 56; + gift to Berkeley, 57; + permits free trade, 59; + recognizes Charles II, 62; + surrenders to Parliament, 66; + ousts Governor and Council, 71; + elects Berkeley Governor, 73; + powers of, 74; + proclaim Charles II, 1660, 74; + Berkeley corrupts, 77; + Long Assembly, 77, 78; + protest grant, 82; + ask charter, 85; + Bacon demands election, 87, 88; + in 1677 picked by Berkeley, 99, 100; + bill of attainder, 100; + protest seizure of records, 103; + Charles II assails, 108, 109; + King to initiate bills, 108; + no appeals to, 109, 113, 114; + "perpetual revenue" to King, 110-112; + attempt to repeal revenue act of 1680, 156; + Quary on, 156, 157; + Queen Anne vetoes revenue act, 157; + Jenings dissolves, 159; + bill of ports, 162-165; + Queen's death dissolves, 164; + Spotswood angers, 164; + bills to limit Governor's power, 167; + use of rider by, 167, 168; + thwart Spotswood, 172; + protest debt ruling, 189; + gift to Dinwiddie, 195, 196; + war an opportunity for, 201; + vote £10,000, 201; + expenditure of funds, 201, 202; + vote £20,000 with rider, 202; + support war, 203; + ask paper money issue, 203, 204; + aid to Royal American Regiment, 205; + Governor spends funds, 206; + right of to govern, 216; + last sessions, 248 + + General Committee of Safety: ablest men on, 249 + + General Court: + court of appeals, 113, 114; + Nicholson's violence in, 139; + Nicholson packs juries, 139, 140; + on Burgesses' salary, 166 + + Glorious Revolution: 3, 119-121; + effect on liberty, 122; + effect on Virginia, 122, 123, 132 + + _Godspeed_: sails for Virginia, 1 + + Gooch, William: + says frontiersmen disobedient, 3; + character, 177; + Lieutenant Governor, 179; + popular, 179; + courtesy of, 179, 180; + praised by Burgesses, 180; + voted gifts, 180; + new bill of ports, 180, 181, 191, 192; + for limiting franchise, 181, 182; + for westward expansion, 182; + resists merchants, 186; + for duty on liquors, 187; + denounces merchants, 190; + _A Dialogue_, 191; + leads expedition, 192; + wounded, 192; + resigns, 192; + dies, 1749, 193; + peace and plenty, 193 + + Gosnold, Bartholomew: + member of Council, 4; + dies, 4, 5 + + Governor: + office established, 5; + King appoints, 18; + vary greatly, 18; + qualities of, 18; + powers of, 19; + bribe Burgesses, 19; + nominate Councillors, 20; + use of patronage, 19-21; + calls Assembly, 21; + veto, 22; + hold over courts, 22; + heads Church, 22, 23; + Council restricts, 25, 171; + Burgesses elect under Commonwealth, 70; + many military officers, 194 + + Great Bridge: + Dunmore fortifies, 250; + battle of, 251 + + Green Spring: + plundered, 98; + faction meets at, 101, 102 + + Green Spring faction: + Lady Berkeley heads, 101; + to recover losses, 102; + suppress King's pardon, 102; + pillaging by, 104, 105 + + Grenville, George: wants consolidated empire, 224 + + Grievances: + against Harvey, 47; + against Berkeley, 77; + against law of ports, 165 + + Grymes, John: + Deputy Auditor, 162; + conceited, 171; + hates Spotswood, 172, 173 + + Gwynn's Island: Dunmore at, 252 + + + Habeas Corpus: + settlers claim, 2; + denied by Effingham, 118 + + Hamilton, Lord George: + Earl of Orkney, 159; + Governor General, 159; + career of, 159; + patron of Spotswood, 160 + + Hansford, Thomas: executed patriot, 95 + + Harrison, Benjamin: + Nicholson abuses, 22; + Blair defends, 22; + criticizes Secretary's office, 33; + Councillor, 133, 140; + land holdings, 135; + charges against Nicholson, 147, 148 + + Harrison, Nathaniel: proposes reconciliation, 175 + + Harrison, Rev. Thomas: + Puritan minister, 60; + banished, 61 + + Hartwell, Henry: on Governor's patronage, 20, 21 + + Harvey, Sir John: + egocentric, 18; + expelled, 35; + Governor, 37; + arrives, 38; + despotic, 39; + misuse of courts, 39, 40; + persecutes Pott, 39, 40; + conflict with Council, 41-47; + appeals to King, 41, 42; + strikes Stevens, 42; + aids Baltimore, 43; + urges tobacco contract, 44; + detains petition, 44; + people's grievances against, 44; + arrests Pott, English, and Martian, 45; + appeals to Council, 45; + Council arrest, 46; + leaves for England, 47; + reappointed, 48; + returns to Virginia, 48, 49; + revenge of, 49, 50; + restores Mathews' property, 50; + prosecutes Panton, 51, 52; + recalled, 51; + prosecuted, 51, 52; + escapes from Virginia, 52; + significance of expulsion, 52, 53 + + Harwood, Thomas: + agent of Assembly, 47; + hastens to London, 48 + + Henry, Patrick: + Two-penny Act, 215; + denounces clergy, 215, 216; + says people must govern, 216; + resolutions of, 226, 227; + accused of treason, 227; + alarm bell of Revolution, 229; + committee of correspondence, 237; + marches on Williamsburg, 245; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Hill, Col. Edward: + Green Spring faction, 101; + defies King, 104; + Treasurer, 129 + + Holt, John: his press seized, 250 + + Hopkins, William: + contempt of House, 179; + forced to apologize, 179 + + Howe, Col.: + at Norfolk, 251; + hints at burning, 251 + + Hunter, Col. Robert: + Governor, 158; + French capture, 158 + + + Independence: + not wanted, 253; + forced by British, 253, 254; + _Common Sense_, 254; + sentiment for grows, 254, 255; + Virginia instructs for, 255, 256; + people celebrate, 256 + + Indiana Company: + fort at Christanna, 171; + King dissolves, 171; + ask compensation, 171 + + Indians: + attack Jamestown, 4; + massacre by, 57, 58; + war with Susquehannocks, 85; + frontier forts, 86; + threaten Charles City, 86; + attack feared in 1689, 120, 121; + raids in Valley, 204, 205; + Dunmore's War, 242, 243; + Point Pleasant, 243 + + Intolerable Acts: 238 + + + James I: + on kingly power, 2, 3; + conflict with Parliament, 3; + charter to Virginia Company, 4; + assails London Company, 11; + offers compromise, 12 + + James II: + scorns Burgesses' petition, 114; + repeals act of Assembly, 115, 116; + revives a law, 116; + favors Catholics, 119; + deposed, 120 + + Jamestown: + founded, 2; + first Assembly at, 9; + capitol at, 25, 26; + Lord Baltimore at, 38; + Charles II proclaimed at, 74; + Bacon's Assembly, 88; + Berkeley occupies, 93; + Bacon captures, 93; + burnt, 94; + William and Mary proclaimed, 121; + statehouse burns, 1698, 146 + + James, Thomas: + missionary to Virginia, 60; + driven out, 61 + + Jefferson, Thomas: + friend of Fauquier, 209; + committee of correspondence, 237; + answers British "compromise," 247; + prefers independence to slavery, 254; + on independence, 254 + + Jeffreys, Col. Herbert: + ousts Councillor, 20; + Lieutenant Governor, 97; + insulted, 100, 101; + promises reforms, 101; + ill, 102; + ousts Beverley, 104; + indicts Philip Ludwell, 104, 105; + dies, 105; + wife imprisoned, 105 + + Jeffries, Jeffrey: agent for charter, 123, 124 + + Jenings, Edmund: + Councillor, 126; + acting Governor, 157, 158; + career of, 158; + dissolves Assembly, 159; + suspended from Council, 179 + + The _John_: + sails to Virginia, 64; + sinks, 65 + + Johnson, Edward: on God's revenge on Virginia, 61 + + Johnson, Samuel: denounces Americans, 223 + + + Kemp, Matthew: insulted in House, 179 + + Kemp, Richard: + advises Harvey to leave, 46; + carries off Mathews' property, 50; + prosecutes Panton, 50, 51; + Secretary, 51; + escapes to England, 52; + acting Governor, 57 + + Kendall, George: + member of Council, 4; + expelled, 4; + executed, 5 + + Knowles, Rev. John: + missionary to Virginia, 60; + driven out, 61 + + + _Laissez faire_: 177; + passing of, 224 + + Land: + Berkeley's grants, 78, 79; + rent roll, 135; + must cultivate to hold, 162; + law defied, 162; + Drysdale opposes large grants, 178; + much unpatented, 198 + + Lawrence, Thomas: + cheated by Berkeley, 79, 80; + influence on Bacon, 84; + Bacon consults, 88; + burns own house, 94; + fate unknown, 95 + + Laws, Military: + severe, 6, 7; + cruelly enforced, 7 + + Lee, Arthur: repulsed in England, 254 + + Lee, Henry: convention of 1776, 255 + + Lee, Philip Ludwell: protests paper money, 219 + + Lee, Richard Henry: 219; + protests Stamp Act, 224; + committee of correspondence, 237; + Continental Congress, 240; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Lewis, Gen. Andrew: + at Point Pleasant, 243; + bombards Gwynn's Island, 252 + + Liberty: + taxation and, 2; + threatened in England, 2; + Glorious Revolution aids, 122; + new charter to guarantee, 124; + Nicholson assails, 146, 147; + Council threatens, 159; + victory for, 181; + Virginians called republican, 198; + Bland argues for, 216; + Burke on, 240; + won, 257 + + Lightfoot, John: + Nicholson upbraids, 141; + charges against Nicholson, 147, 148 + + Littlepage, Richard: + refuses to certify grievances, 165; + House asks arrest of, 165 + + London, Bishop of: calls Two-penny act treason, 213 + + Loudoun, Earl of: + praises Burgesses, 205; + embargo defied, 205, 206; + Governor, 207 + + Ludwell, Philip: + auditor, 34; + marries Lady Berkeley, 76; + insults Jeffreys, 100; + Green Spring faction, 101; + indicted, 104, 105 + + Ludwell, Philip, Jr.: + accuses Nicholson, 138; + Nicholson challenges, 145; + auditor, 168; + Spotswood ousts, 169; + leaves new court, 170; + Spotswood denounces, 171 + + Ludwell, Thomas: + seeks charter for Virginia, 1; + fears rebellion, 80; + reports disasters, 81; + agent for Virginia, 82; + presides over Council, 104 + + + Madison, James: convention of 1776, 255 + + Magna Carta of Virginia: + drawn up, 8; + De la Warr sails with, 8; + Yeardley takes to Virginia, 8; + Assembly authorized, 8, 9 + + Mandeville, Lord Henry: + heads commission on Virginia, 13; + reappoints Yeardley, 13 + + Martin, John: member of Council, 4 + + Martin, Nicholas: + denounces Harvey, 44, 45; + arrested, 45 + + Maryland: + Baltimore founds, 43; + surrenders to Parliament, 67; + Virginia seeks to annex, 69 + + Mason, George: + general committee of safety, 249; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Mathew, Thomas: says Berkeley cheated Lawrence, 79 + + Mathews, Samuel: + resists Harvey, 42, 43; + opposes founding of Maryland, 43; + opposes tobacco contract, 44; + compares Harvey with Richard III, 45; + arrests Harvey, 46; + King orders arrest of, 48; + sent to England, 49; + his property seized, 50; + favors Parliament, 56; + Governor, 71; + recalled, 71; + re-elected, 72; + dies, 73 + + Maury, Rev. James: + sues for salary, 214; + Patrick Henry attorney against, 215 + + Menefie, George: + Harvey questions, 45; + accused of treason, 46; + withholds Harvey's commission, 47 + + Mercer, Col. George: + stamp distributor, 227, 228; + crowd threatens, 228; + will not distribute, 228 + + Merchants, British: + oppose free trade, 68, 69; + conflict with planters, 185; + Royal African Company, 186; + oppose duty on slaves, 186; + taxed, 186; + Virginians angered at, 188; + Virginians in debt to, 188, 189; + petition Parliament, 189, 190; + protest paper money, 217; + renew complaints, 219; + for legal tender, 220 + + Meriwether, Nicholas: Spotswood removes, 164 + + Milner, Col. Thomas: Nicholson praises, 126 + + Molasses Act: resented in Virginia, 188 + + Moryson, Francis: + seeks charter for Virginia, 1; + agent for Virginia, 81; + committee on Bacon's Rebellion, 97 + + + Navigation Acts: + Berkeley protests against, 80; + impoverish Virginia, 81 + + Nelson, Thomas: protests paper money, 219 + + Nelson, William: protests paper money, 219 + + New Granada: + expedition against, 192; + failure, 192 + + New Kent: Bacon invades, 87 + + Newport, Capt. Christopher: member of Council, 4 + + Nicholas, Robert Carter: + defends Two-penny Act, 216; + Treasurer, 222; + burns notes, 222; + to submit to Stamp Act, 226; + day of prayer, 238; + prevents storming of Palace, 245; + constitution of 1776, 255 + + Nicholson, Sir Francis: + on ideal Governor, 18; + use of patronage, 20, 21; + power over courts, 22; + calls Virginians republicans, 35; + Lieutenant Governor, 124; + character, 124, 125; + abuses clergymen, 124, 125; + in New York, 125; + cautious, 125; + defends prerogative, 126, 127; + aids college, 127; + Governor General, 133; + program of, 133, 134; + violent temper, 134; + offends Councillors, 134; + rent roll, 135; + offends vestries, 136; + tries to control Church, 136; + threatens Burgesses, 137; + gives aid to New York, 137; + wheedles Burgesses, 138; + browbeats voters, 138; + abuses Burgesses, 138; + threatens Speaker, 139; + violent in General Court, 139; + packs juries, 139; + heckles Council, 140; + abuses Wallace, 142, 143; + loves Lucy Burwell, 142-145; + threatens Fouace, 143, 144; + derided in England, 144; + challenges Philip Ludwell, Jr., 145; + founds Williamsburg, 146; + despotism resented, 146, 147; + charges against, 147-150; + denies charges, 148, 149; + Quary defends, 149; + "addresses" praise, 149; + removed, 150 + + Norfolk: + protests Stamp Act, 229; + Dunmore seizes, 250; + evacuated, 251; + Americans enter, 251; + Dunmore threatens, 251, 252; + Americans burn, 252 + + Northern Neck: granted to favorites, 83 + + Norwood, Col. Henry: criticizes courts, 79 + + Nott, Col. Edward: + Governor, 150; + mild, 151; + defers to Council, 154; + Assembly weakens patronage, 155; + veto, 156; + death, 157 + + Nuthead, William: his printing press closed, 117 + + + Ohio Region: French in, 196 + + Opechancanough: captured, 58 + + Ordinance and Constitution: Virginia government under, 9 + + Oyer and Terminer, Court of: + Spotswood sets up, 169; + non-Councillors in, 170 + + + Page, John, Jr.: keeps day of prayer, 242 + + Page, Matthew: + Councillor, 133; + charges against Nicholson, 147, 148 + + Palace: + mob threatens, 245, 247; + raided, 247, 248 + + Pamunkeys: + hostile, 86; + flee from Bacon, 87 + + Panton, Rev. Anthony: + accuses Harvey, 49; + fined and banished, 50, 51; + vindicated, 52 + + Parke, Daniel: announces Berkeley's death, 102 + + Parliament: + expedition against Virginia, 64; + Virginia surrenders, 66; + less representative, 222; + rotten boroughs, 222, 223; + out of step with age, 223; + ignorant of colonies, 223 + + Paper money: + Assembly issues, 205; + new issues, 206; + to finance war, 217; + rate of exchange, 218; + continues issues, 218; + to finance war, 217; + rate of exchange, 218; + continues issues, 218; + illegal loans, 221 + + Patronage: + props Governor's power, 19, 20, 21; + Bacon's Laws restrict, 92; + Effingham uses, 118; + Nicholson uses, 137, 138; + bill to limit vetoed, 167; + no Burgess to hold office, 181; + victory for liberty, 181 + + Pendleton, Edmund: 219; + protests Stamp Act, 224; + to submit, 226; + committee of correspondence, 237; + Continental Congress, 240; + lionized, 246; + General Committee of Safety, 249; + for independence, 255; + convention of 1776, 255 + + Pierce, William: + King orders arrest, 48; + sent to England, 49 + + Pistole Fee: + for use of seal, 196-200; + counties complain of, 196; + Stith opposes, 196; + Attorney General upholds, 197; + Burgesses appeal to King, 198; + Dinwiddie says not a tax, 199; + King restricts use of, 199, 200; + results of, 200; + Fauquier cautious of, 200 + + Pitt, William: supports Americans, 241 + + Poll tax: + hated, 31; + people protest, 83; + Bacon's men protest, 90; + crushes poor in 1677, 103; + liquor duty eases, 187 + + Pott, Francis: + circulates petition, 44; + arrested, 45; + released, 47; + leaves for England, 47; + arrested in England, 48 + + Pott, Dr. John: + acting Governor, 37; + poisons Indians, 37, 38; + Harvey persecutes, 39, 40; + pardoned, 40; + aids in arresting Harvey, 46 + + Powder Horn, Williamsburg: + powder seized, 244; + trap wounds two, 246 + + Prerogative of King: + whittled away, 34, 35; + James II stretches, 116; + weakened, 123; + Two-penny Act, ignores, 212 + + Press: free prohibited, 116, 117 + + Purifie, Thomas: warns Harvey, 46 + + Puritans: + in Virginia, 58; + Berkeley persecutes, 59; + strong on Hampton Roads, 60; + send for ministers, 60; + ministers driven out, 61; + ordered to conform, 61 + + + Quartering of troops: ended in Virginia, 117 + + Quary, Col. Robert: + describes powers of Council, 24, 25; + on decline of prerogative, 35; + warns English government, 123; + defends Nicholson, 149 + + Quit rents: + paid to King, 31; + tax on land, 115; + proposed to quadruple, 115; + Nicholson's rent roll, 135; + Dinwiddie reports loss, 198 + + + Randolph, Edmund: convention of 1776, 255 + + Randolph, Sir John: Tory, leaves Virginia, 242 + + Randolph, Peyton: + takes Burgesses' protest, 198; + ousted as Attorney General, 199; + reinstated, 200; + protests Stamp Act, 224; + to submit, 226; + moderator, 234; + committee of correspondence, 237; + Continental Congress, 240; + prevents storming of Palace, 245 + + Ratcliffe, John: member of Council, 4 + + Rebellion: + Secretary Ludwell fears, 80; + Virginia "ripe for," 82; + Berkeley fears, 83; + outbreaks in 1674, 83, 84; + Virginia ready for, 85; + led by Bacon, 87-96; + influence of Bacon's rebellion, 95, 96; + causes of, 96; + threatened in 1677, 100; + in 1689, 120, 121 + + Richmond, Duke of: supports colonists, 241 + + Rights, Declaration of: committee to prepare, 256 + + Robinson, John: + Speaker and Treasurer, 28; + Fauquier wins support, 210; + death, 221; + illegal loans of, 221 + + Rolfe, John: cures tobacco, 15 + + + Sandys, Sir Edwin: + Puritan, 8; + Treasurer of London Company, 8; + gets new charters, 8; + Virginia Magna Carta, 8; + sent to Tower, 11; + fights to save charter, 12; + advises restoring Company, 13; + champions English liberty, 15 + + Sandys, George: asks revival of Company, 17 + + Second Stuart Despotism: influence on colonies, 3, 106-121 + + Secretary of State: duties of, 33 + + Sheriffs: + political use of by Berkeley, 78; + Bacon's Laws, 91; + Effingham uses, 118; + Nicholson uses, 137, 138 + + Slavery: + effect on aristocracy, 152; + cheapens tobacco, 184; + small planters buy, 184, 185; + slave plots, 186; + duty on slaves vetoed, 186, 187; + Virginia resents vetoes, 187; + Dunmore recruits slaves, 250 + + Smith, Capt. John: + imprisoned, 4; + hanging threatened, 5; + sole Councillor, 5 + + Smith, Col. Joseph: + accused by court, 178; + Burgesses reprimand, 178; + Drysdale removes, 179 + + Smith, Col. Lawrence: sued for quit rents, 135 + + Sons of Liberty: 229 + + Speaker: + prestige, 28; + Nicholson threatens, 139; + made Treasurer, 210; + Fauquier ordered to separate, 210 + + Spencer, Nicholas: fears mutiny in 1677, 100 + + Spotswood, Col. Alexander: + able, 18; + on Burgesses salary, 27, 28; + Lieutenant Governor, 159; + career, 160; + Orkney his patron, 160; + explores west, 161; + instructions, 161; + act for ports, 162-165; + jobs handed out, 163, 164; + House angers, 165; + to limit franchise, 166; + Council balks, 166; + vetoes bills, 167; + denounces Burgesses, 168; + court of oyer and terminer, 169-171; + defends new court, 170, 171; + foul play at elections, 172; + defeated, 172; + charges against, 173; + seeks flattering addresses, 173; + answers charges, 174; + Board of Trade upholds, 174; + to live in Virginia, 174; + Tubal Cain, 175; + reconciled to Council, 175; + administration of, 176 + + Stamp Act: + dismay at, 224; + Barré denounces, 225; + ready to resist, 227; + Mercer distributor, 227, 228; + stamps not landed, 228; + Norfolk protests, 229; + criticized in England, 230; + English merchants protest, 230; + repealed, 230 + + Statehouse: + at Jamestown, 24; + burned, 1698, 129 + + Stegg, Thomas: + aids Kemp escape, 52; + favors Parliament, 58; + commissioner for Parliament, 64; + lost on the _John_, 65 + + Stith, Rev. William: incites against pistole fee, 196 + + _Susan Constant_: sails for Virginia, 1 + + Susquehannocks: + fort besieged, 85; + torture victims, 85 + + + Taxation: + by first Assembly, 10; + Burgesses control, 29-31, 115; + perpetual revenue to King, 30, 110-112; + call fees taxes, 115; + protest pistole fee, 197; + in colonial history, 225; + role in self-government, 225; + Jefferson on, 247 + + Tea: + tax on, 236; + resistance to tax, 237, 238; + banned, 238; + Carter refuses, 238 + + Thompson, Rev. William: + missionary to Virginia, 60; + driven out, 61 + + Thrale, John: defends Nicholson, 148 + + Tobacco: + staple of Virginia, 15; + Dutch buy, 59; + cutting riots, 113; + Spotswood's bill of ports, 162-165; + prices rise, 163; + George I vetoes bill of ports, 168; + Gooch's bill of ports, 180-181, 191, 192; + slaves cheapen, 184; + Gooch argues for bill of ports, 191; + _A Dialogue_, 191; + poor standard of value, 211 + + Tobacco cutting riots: 113. + + Tories: few in Virginia, 242 + + Townshend Acts: + anger America, 232; + unconstitutional, 234 + + Treasurer: + Burgesses name, 128, 129; + usually also Speaker, 210; + separation ordered, 210; + illegal loans by, 221 + + + Utie, John: + opposes tobacco contract, 44; + arrests Harvey, 46; + King orders arrest, 48; + sent to England, 49 + + + Vestries: + govern parishes, 32; + Bacon's Laws, 92; + Nicholson attacks power of, 136 + + Virginia Company of London: + charter of 1606, 1, 4; + set up despotism, 5; + members consider going to Virginia, 7; + James I attacks, 11; + _A True Answer_, 11; + blamed by commission, 11; + rejects King's offer, 12; + appeals to Parliament, 12; + charter revoked, 12; + reasons for, 13; + restoring of opposed, 17 + + + Wallace, Rev. James: + sermon enrages Nicholson, 141, 142; + testifies against Nicholson, 148 + + Washington, George: + warns French on Ohio, 201; + expedition to Ohio, 202; + commands in Valley, 205; + Continental Congress, 240; + wears uniform to Congress, 245; + commander-in-chief, 245; + predicts independence, 254, 255 + + West: + expansion into, 182; + aids democracy, 184 + + West, Capt. Francis: Governor, 37 + + West, John: + acting Governor, 47; + sent to England, 49 + + William III: joint monarch, 121, 122 + + Williamsburg: + capitol at, 146; + Nicholson founds, 146; + celebrates Stamp Act repeal, 230; + day of prayer, 239; + powder seized, 244; + an armed camp, 248; + celebrates independence, 256, 257 + + Wingfield, Edward: + member of Council, 4; + ousted, 5; + accuses other Councillors, 5 + + Wormeley, Ralph: supports Dunmore, 242 + + Wyatt, Sir Francis: + receives constitution, 9; + Governor, 51 + + Wythe, George: 219; + protests Stamp Act, 224 + + + Yeardley, Capt. George: + Governor, 6; + brings Magna Carta, 9; + calls first Assembly, 10; + reappointed, 13; + pleads for Assembly, 14; + death, 36 + + * * * * * + +Transcriber's Corrections + +Following is a list of significant typographical errors that have been +corrected. + +- Page 7, missing close quote added according to original source text by +Brown (of the Court."). + +- Page 23, missing close quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation (King in +Council."). + +- Page 47, "Harvery" changed to "Harvey" (forced Harvey to deliver). + +- Page 90, "hubub" changed to "hubbub" (hearing the hubbub). + +- Page 123, "aproved" changed to "approved" (he approved of it). + +- Page 126, missing open quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation ("but he +hath not estate). + +- Page 128, close quote removed based on transcriber assumption because +open quote is missing and original source text was not found for +confirmation (he dissolved them.). + +- Page 128, missing close quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation (the King's +"goodness"). + +- Page 143, missing close quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation (to live +here."). + +- Page 148, "perscution" changed to "persecution" (persecution and +injustice). + +- Page 170, missing open quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation +("extraordinary emergency"). + +- Page 171, missing close quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation (the people +of Virginia?"). + +- Page 187, missing close quote added according to original source text +by Lipscomb (of a whole country."). + +- Page 189, missing close quote added based on transcriber assumption +because original source text was not found for confirmation (reports of +merchants"). + +- Page 192, "againt" changed to "against" (expedition against New +Granada). + +- Page 235, "disappointmnt" changed to "disappointment" (because of +their disappointment). + +- Page 237, "spirt" changed to "spirit" (the spirit of resistance). + +- Page 246, "mazagine" changed to "magazine" (entered the magazine). + +- Page 255, "distingiushed" changed to "distinguished" (each +distinguished member). + +- Page 284, "beseiged" changed to "besieged" (fort besieged, 85;). + +- Page 286, "democacy" changed to "democracy" (aids democracy, 184). + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Give Me Liberty, by Thomas J. 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