USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 16
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The day of the massacre (March 22) is ap- pointed for a holy-day, to be duly solemnized as other such days; trading with the Indians is for- bidden ; arms and ammunition are to be carefully guarded ; and it seems that, at the beginning of each July, the colonists were required to make an attack upon the natives, in order to their total sub- jugation.c
The remaining acts are, in general, judicious. We note, as a curious fact, that a short time after- wards, the governor was compelled to issue his proclamation under the authority of law, forbid-
a They will be found in Hening's Stat., i. 121-126, and in Stith, 319- 24; Hening, i. 124. - 322.
b Clauses 8 and 9, in laws of 1623-
" Clause, 32; Hening, i. 128.
247
FIRST LAWS OF ASSEMBLY.
1624.]
ding any woman to engage herself to more than one man at the same time, and denouncing corpo- real punishment against the fair one who should thus offend.ª We have melancholy reason to be- lieve, that such a law, in the present age, would not be without good effect.
The commissioners, finding the Assembly on their guard, and ready for defence, sought to inti- midate them, and endeavoured to inveigle them into a surrender of their charter. But they stea- dily repelled these assaults; and when Edward Sharples, clerk of the Council, was convicted of breach of trust, in revealing their acts to the com- missioners, he was condemned to the usual punish- ment. (May 10.) He was set in the pillory, and one of his ears was cut from his head ;b a penalty as degrading as it was richly deserved.
The Parliament of England had assembled, and the Company, despairing of justice from the hands of the King, appealed to the House of Commons. It has been said, that the cold reception given by this body to their address, furnishes conclusive proof that the Company was unpopular ; but an egregious error may be here committed. When the humble memorial of the adventurers was pre- sented, the King immediately sent a stern message, protesting against its reception, and peremptorily ordering the Commons to give it no countenance. This great branch of the legislature contained men
a Stith, 322 ; Burk, i. 285, 286.
b Belknap, ii. 194; Stith, 315.
c Bancroft's U. S., i. 206, citing Chalmers, 65, 66.
248
COMMISSIONERS' REPORT. [CHAP. IV.
who hated oppression, and already looked with jealous eyes upon the royal prerogative ; but they had not yet tested the full strength of their own powers of resistance, and they had always regard- ed the Virginia Company as peculiarly under the control of the crown, and protected by their char- ter from illegitimate interference. It is not singu- lar, therefore, that the Commons should have obeyed the King, and refused to receive the me- morial.a Yet in the same session we find the Par- liament declaring, that the Company ought to have the exclusive privilege of importing tobacco into the British realm.b A strange liberality, truly, to be shown to an overgrown corporation, then totter- ing, as is alleged, beneath the full weight of popu- lar odium !
To enable the Company to prepare for their de- fence, the Attorney-General was so far just as to cause their records and other papers to be returned to them. One of the last acts of this noble body, was the re-election of Sir Francis Wyatt, gover- nor, by an overwhelming majority over his oppo- nent, Samuel Argal, who was supported by all the influence of the royalist party. To the very mo- ment of death, the Company manifested invincible courage ; but its fate came hastening on.
When the commissioners returned from Virgi- nia, they made a report," studiously unfavourable
a Belknap, ii. 196, 197; Burk, i. 290, 291; see Stith, 326, 327.
b Stith, 328; Burk, i. 291; Ban- croft, i. 206.
c It is given in Hazard, i. 189- 192; Stith was not acquainted with its contents, 328; Burk, i. 291.
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249
COMMISSIONERS' REPORT.
1624.]
to the corporation. They represented the colony as in a most unhappy state, suffering with dis- ease, famine, and Indian hostility; but they in- sisted that it might be made a valuable part of his majesty's domains. With cool effrontery, they de- clared, that the settlement was much better go- verned under the charter of 1606, and that the popular course it had assumed, both at home and abroad, since 1612, had been highly prejudicial to its interests. On hearing this report, the King delayed no longer the intended blow. By pro- clamation, dated 15th July, he suppressed the quarterly sessions of the Company, and ordered that, for the present, a meeting, composed of the Lord President, and some other members of his majesty's Privy Council, with a few knights and gentlemen, should be held each Thursday even- ing, at the house of Sir Thomas Smith, to consi- der the affairs of the colony.ª
Such was the end of the wealthy, the talented, the high-minded body, who had so long directed the destinies of Virginia. The King, by an ille- gal proclamation, inflicted the mortal stroke; the judicial sentence was afterwards pronounced : a proceeding as just as would be the conduct of a government in requiring its executive officer to put a prisoner to death upon a charge, afterwards to be examined and passed upon by a court of law.
At Trinity Term following, the quo warranto came on for trial in the King's Bench. The result
a Stith, 329 ; Belknap, ii. 198.
250
DEATH OF KING JAMES.
[CHAP. IV.
could not long be uncertain, before a tribunal com- posed of materials dependent for existence upon the will of the crown.a Yet we have reason to believe that the Attorney-General was compelled to torture his brain with more than ordinary vigour for argu- ments against the Company ; and that some of his objections were so ludicrous as to excite derision even in the most favourable hearers. It is proba- ble that the judgment was finally rendered upon a formal error in pleading committed by the agent of the Company, and not upon the broad merits of the case." But whatever may have been the means employed, the end was surely accomplished. The London corporation was dissolved, and the King appropriated to himself the power of directing the colony as his sapience might deem most expedient.
He suffered the local government to remain un- disturbed, but employed his leisure hours in pre- paring a new code of laws for the growing people whom he resolved once more to enlighten by spe- cial emanations from his own mind. (1625, March 27.) Happily for Virginia, his legislative labours were arrested by death; and the King, who had claimed for himself the immediate sanction of the Almighty, was summoned to His bar to give ac- count of his stewardship. A writer who loved the Stuart family more than he venerated truth, has said, that "in all history it would be difficult to
a Blackstone's Commen., by Chit- ty, i. 200, book i .; Bancroft, i. 207. b See note to Belknap, ii. 199, citing Peckard's Life of Farrar.
c Note to Bancroft, i. 207. See
Gordon's Am., i. 49.
251
DEATH OF KING JAMES.
1
1625.]
find a reign less illustrious, yet more unspotted and unblemished;"ª but candour will accord little credit even to the negative innocence of a sovereign whose avarice had no restraint but his impotence, whose bigotry was scarcely neutralized by his personal vices, and whose love of dominion was only con- trolled by his contemptible cowardice !
With much reluctance, we are here compelled to bid adieu to Stith as our guide. His history does not extend beyond 1624. He is often harsh and inelegant in style, and he has crowded his pages with a mass
a Hume's Eng., iv. 309, chap. xlix. of unimportant matter; but he is rigidly accurate, and his love of free- dom entitles him to our sincere re- spect. Beverley, p. 44, ascribes the dissolution of the London Company to King Charles, in 1626! and, as usual, he is echoed by Keith, p. 141.
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PART II.
CHAPTER V.
Character of Charles I .- His proclamation concerning the colony-The representative government still exists-Indian war-Death of Sir George Yeardley-Proposals of the King-Rejected by the Assembly-George Calvert, Lord Baltimore-He refuses to take the oath of supremacy in Virginia-Sir John Hervey-Good and evil of his administration-Set- tlement of Maryland-William Claiborne-Hervey deposed-Restored by the King-Tobacco laws-Sir William Berkeley governor-His cha- racter-Prosperous state of the colony-The Established Church-Into- lerant laws-Indian hostilities-Capture of Opecancanough-His death -Increase of population-Shipping-Rebellion in England-Execution of Charles I .- Ordinance of the Long Parliament-Virginia remains loyal-Fleet sent to subdue her-Resistance-Honourable surrender- Independence under the Protectorate-Samuel Matthews governor-His death-Election of Sir William Berkeley by the Assembly-Restoration of Charles II. -
AT the age of twenty-five, Charles ascended the throne left vacant by the death of his father. The life of this unhappy prince seems to embrace every thing necessary to warn both monarchs and sub. jects :- monarchs, against the exercise of oppressive powers bequeathed by their ancestors ;- subjects, against the rash use of their sacred right of revolu- tion. Had he been born in an humble condition, and had he lived amid the refined enjoyments of private life, his dignity of manner, his affectionate temper, his social virtues, would all have combined to render him useful, beloved, and happy. But he was born a king,-and for this he lived in tumult
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256
CHARLES THE FIRST.
[CHAP. V.
and ceaseless conflict, and died upon a scaffold erected by hands, which might have been joined in asking benedictions upon a sovereign possessing power less ample and more strictly defined. He received from the unsteady grasp of James a pon- derous crown, worn in triumph by Henry and Eli- zabeth, but crushing in its pressure upon brows less firm and unyielding. He fell a victim to an expansive power in the minds of his people, rather than to tyrannous dispositions in his own heart. He fell, not because he desired to oppress, but be- cause he knew not how to yield. He asserted prin- ciples, and claimed rights far less stringent than those of many of his predecessors; but he did this at the fatal time when man had learned his own natural nobility, and could receive nothing as be- longing to the constitution of his country that con- travened the great rules of original justice.
Had Charles not fallen by the hands of his peo- ple, posterity would have pronounced him an inju- dicious and uncompromising monarch,-willing to oppress his subjects for his own private benefit, to sacrifice his friends for his own selfish interests, and to put in motion tyrannous engines to secure what he regarded as lawful ends. But the blood which flowed beneath the axe of his executioner has atoned for many faults ; the premature grave to which he was consigned has entombed many of his most flagrant errors; and infatuated as was his conduct, we cannot look upon his fate without deep commiseration. The art of his apologist was not required, to cause tears to fall upon the
257
CHARLES THE FIRST.
1625.]
tomb of a husband so exemplary, a father so ten- der and devoted, a friend so willing to serve, so reluctant to betray .?
The young King did not leave the colonists long in suspense as to the principles upon which he in- tended to govern them. He issued several pro- clamations, in which he declared that, after mature thought, he had adopted the views of his father concerning them; and he ascribed all their misfor- tunes to the government of the corporate democracy which had but just fallen in ruins. He declared his intention to govern them by the council which James had instituted, consisting of men appointed by, and responsible to, his majesty alone.b (April 9.) He confirms the monopoly of tobacco granted under the advice of Parliament to the Virginia and Somer Island Companies; but, being already pressed by that want of money which was the proximate cause of his ruin, he sought to supply it in a mode highly injurious to the colonists. (May 13.) He assumed the position of a royal factor, decided that he was substituted to all the rights of the deceased London Company, and de- manded that every pound of tobacco brought from the colonies should be committed to his agents,
a See Hume, iv. 405, chap. lii., and v. 244, 246, chap. lix .; Blackstone's Commen. by Chitty, i., book i. 158. In elevating Milton, Mr. Macaulay 210. has, I think, unduly depressed Charles .- Miscel. Essays.
VOL. I.
b Grahame's Colon. Hist. i. 89 ; Marshall's Am. Colon. i. 64.
c Hazard, i. 202, 203; Bancroft, i.
17
258
ROYAL CONNIVANCE.
[CHAP. V.
who gave a certain price to the owners and secured a heavy profit for the crown.
The governor and council for the colony ap- pointed by the crown were invested with powers as ample as Henry VIII. could have desired. They were to make laws and provide for their execution, to impose taxes and enforce their pay- ment, to seize the property of the late Company wherever they could obtain it, and to send colo- nists for trial to England whenever they thought it expedient.' No notice whatever was taken of the representative government, which had been regularly established in Virginia. Whether the King thought it unwise directly to overturn a sys- tem to which the people were so much attached, or whether he deemed it too feeble to be dan- gerous, we do not certainly know; but he un- doubtedly left alive the infant who was now fast growing into the full proportions and intelligence of vigorous manhood."
From the arbitrary theories advanced by the King, we might naturally infer that the settlers immediately felt the hand of oppression bearing heavily upon them ; but this was not the case : the people continued true to their duties, quiet in their deportment, yet firm in the assertion of their rights. Habits of industry and sober living had gained
a Hazard's S. Papers, i. 203-205 ; Bancroft, i. 210; Marshall's Am. Colon. i. 64; Grahame's Colon. Hist. i. 90.
b Marshall's Am. Colon. i. 64; Grahame's Colon. Hist. i. 90.
" Burk's Virginia, ii. 15; Ban- croft's U. S., i. 210, 211; Gordon's Am. i. 50.
259
ROYAL CONNIVANCE.
1625.]
ground among them. They had already tasted the sweets of rational freedom, and were not disposed to forfeit them, either by seditious tumult or by unwor- thy indolence. We note with surprise and pleasure a proof of their firmness. Edward Sharples, who had received an ignominious punishment for his treachery in 1624, appealed to the Privy Council ; the King took his part, and sternly rebuked the pro- vincial government, yet they met his proclamation ' with steady courage, and abated not in any respect their sentence against this perfidious agent.a
It should also be remembered, that, notwith- standing Charles's appointment of a new govern- ment, the General Assembly continued to exist. Usage had established it, and several expressions in the King's messages were construed into a de- sign at least to connive at its existence. It had already planted its roots too deeply in the hearts of the people, to be torn out without a struggle. It is true we have no authentic record of its proceed- ings from 1624 to 1629 ;b but we have reason to be- lieve that during that time it had regular sessions, and we find the Provincial Council often relying upon and enforcing its enactments by their own executive power.c
The hostility of the Indians continued unabated.
a Burk, ii. 11, citing ancient MSS. Mr. Burk seems to have had access to a copy of the records of our State, preserved by Col. Byrd, and rescued from the wreck caused by the Revo- lution. From this he has drawn rich
materials for his history (ii. 7); and had his prudence been equal to his love of freedom, we might rely upon his statements with perfect safety.
b Hening's Stat. at Large, i. 129.
c Ibid, i. 129; Burk, ii. 15.
260
INDIAN WAR.
[CHAP. V.
Memory called up in the bosoms, both of natives and of colonists, a dark record of injuries sustained, and of insult unavenged. Even the wavering Opitchapan was compelled to take the field, and at the head of eight hundred bowmen of the tribe of Pamunky, and a large number from surround- ing clans, he boldly offered battle to the English. Francis Wyatt, in person, led on the whites. A conflict took place in the neighbourhood of Pa- munky, and from all that we can gather concern- ing an event veiled in singular obscurity, we be- lieve that the savages were defeated with heavy loss, and that the colonists were only prevented from marching upon Mattapony by want of ammu- nition.ª It seemed vain now to hope for any per- manent peace between the contending parties, until one or the other should be totally disabled ; and in a contest between knowledge and ignorance, the result could not long be in doubt.
(1626.) Sir Francis Wyatt had proved himself a good governor and a steady friend to the interests of the colony. The death of his father called for his presence in Ireland,' and on leaving Virginia, Sir George Yeardley assumed his place. The name of this latter gentleman was sufficient to assure the settlers that their rights would be re- spected and their welfare secured. He had brought the original authority for a General Assembly from England in 1619, and at all times he had shown a
a Campbell's Va., 58 ; Burk's Va., · ii. 12, 13.
b Bancroft, i. 210, says, "Scot- land," but Burk says " Ireland," ii. 12; and he is probably correct.
261
PROSPERITY OF VIRGINIA.
1627 ]
sensitive desire for the prevalence of the free prin- ciple in the colony. His health was delicate, but his mind was fully adequate to his task; and under his administration, Virginia increased rapidly in wealth and population. In one year a thousand emigrants arrived, confidence gathered strength, the soil was cleared, bread-stuffs were in demand, and the colony wore the aspect of a very vigorous and thriving community.ª (1627, Nov.) But un- happily, in the midst of his usefulness, the go- vernor was stricken down by death, leaving behind him a name unstained by any gross vices, and so dear to the people over whom he had presided, that their grief found vent in a eulogy upon his virtues, immediately transmitted in a letter to the Privy Council in England.b.
On the death of Yeardley, the Council, in pur- suance of a power expressly granted them by the King's proclamation,e proceeded to elect his suc- cessor, and Captain Francis West receiving a ma- jority of votes, was duly installed into office (Nov. 14). But his career was distinguished for nothing but its brevity ; it is probable he died early in the succeeding year, as we find in the records of the state the name of John Potts as governor, who
a Bancroft's U. S., 211; Burk's on Virginia, becomes a dangerous Va., ii. 20, 21. Dr. Robertson does guide. great injustice to Sir George Yeard- b Burk's Va., ii. 22, 23; Bancroft's ley's character, Am. i. 418. After the U. S., i. 211. dissolution of the London Company, c Hazard's State Papers, i. 233 ; Burk's Va., ii. 22. the Doctor, at no time very accurate
262
PROPOSALS OF THE KING.
[CHAP. V.
must have been elected about the beginning of 1628.ª
(1628.) The striking event of this year was the session of the General Assembly, expressly ordered by the King himself, to take into consideration cer- tain proposals made to the settlement in behalf of his majesty. In the previous year he had sent them a curious letter, in which he indulges his royal wit in some keen observations at the expense of the weed which formed the staple of Virginia. He tells them that their prosperity rested upon an unstable basis; that it was " built on smoke, and would easily turn into air, if either English tobacco should be planted or Spanish imported."> He urges them to turn their labour to pipe-staves, pot- ashes, iron, vines, and bay salt, rather than to this hateful commodity ; but finally, should they abso- lutely refuse to give up tobacco, he modestly pro- poses that he shall be made their sole factor, and shall take it all at three shillings per pound; of which, one shilling and threepence were to be paid in cash upon its receipt." To these overtures the Assembly were now to give a reply, and we find no hesitation in their conduct. With due re- spect, yet with unshaken firmness, they declined the proposals of the King, adhered to their staple,
a Burk, ii. 23, citing ancient re- March in one year to the 25th of cords ; Hening's St., i. 131, 132, giv- March in the next. See Jarvis's In- ing in full a proclamation of John troduction to the Hist. of the Church, 96, edit. 1845. Potts, Governor, dated March 20, 1628-29. It may be well here to b Burk's Va., ii. 19. state, that the old method of com- c Ibid. ii. 20. puting time was from the 25th of
263
LORD BALTIMORE.
1628.]
which men were now prone to consider almost essential to comfort, and refused to permit the price to be settled by any rule other than that inflexible law imposed by the relation of supply and demand.
During this year arrived in Virginia, a noble- · man, whose life and fortunes have had a material influence upon the American Republic. George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, was beloved by James and by his son for his firm devotion to their in- terests as monarchs; and candour compels us to add, he was respected and revered by all good men for his commanding talents, his industry in office, his steady adherence to principle, and his spotless purity in the discharge of responsible trusts. In 1624, he declared himself a Roman Catholic upon serious conviction, and immediately resigned his lucrative office under the English government.a King James, always sufficiently partial to popery, was so much affected by this conduct of his favour- ite, that he continued his name on the list of his Privy Council, and conferred upon him the title which himself and his descendants so long retained. Wishing to plant a colony in the new world which should be an asylum both for his friends and his religion, he obtained a grant of the southeastern peninsula of Newfoundland.b But the hostility of the French and the rigour of the climate so dis- couraged him, that he abandoned his settlement, after having expended much care and money in its foundation, and came to Virginia, hoping to find
a Belknap's Am. Biog. iii. 207. Burk's Va., ii. 25 ; Grahame's Colon. b Belknap's Am. Biog. iii. 208; Hist. ii. 2; Bancroft's U. S., i. 256.
· 264
LORD BALTIMORE.
[CHAP. V.
in her genial air and fertile soil the means of effect- ing his desires.ª
But here a difficulty awaited him, which had not been expected. The Church of England was regularly established by law ; and the express re- quirements of the King, in the several charters given to the colony, demanded that all should take the oath of supremacy in the fullest and most une- quivocal terms.b The freedom enjoyed by Ameri- cans since the Revolution, as to all religious tests and obligations, may cause us to look with pain upon restrictive measures applied to the human conscience ; yet, under the existing circumstances, we cannot be surprised that the colonial govern- ment should have regarded with distrust a wealthy and influential nobleman, professing a creed, which not merely ascribes to man the infallible judgment of God, but subjects every papist, in every country, and under every national rule, to the paramount temporal authority of the Roman Pontiff." On his lordship's arrival, the test act was brought forward, and the oath of supremacy tendered to him in the ample form prescribed by the law then in force. He refused to take it, but tendered for himself and his Catholic followers a modified form of the oath, in which he promised all obedience consistent with his rights of conscience. This the Council de-
a Grahame's Colon. Hist. ii. 2; Belknap's Am. Biog. iii. 209.
b Section xxix., in second charter, Hening, i. 97, 98; sec. xii. and xiii. in third charter, Hening, i. 105, 106.
c Blackstone's Commen. (by Chit- ty), ii., book iv. 37. See outline, in Howe's Hist. of Virginia, 56.
265
LORD BALTIMORE.
1628.]
clined, and referred the whole matter to the Privy Council in the mother country.
Lord Baltimore was greatly charmed with the appearance and native advantages of Virginia. He sailed up the Chesapeake, and navigated the noble river which then bounded most of the settle- ments of the colony. Observing that the beautiful. country north of the Potomac had then few or no European inhabitants, he determined to seek from the King a grant covering this region, and to plant in it a colony according to his own just and ex- panded views of colonial policy. He returned to England, and easily obtained from a partial mo- narch a charter, containing within its broad folds many thousand acres of land, long since fully con- veyed by the patents of James, and claimed by the Virginia Colony on the basis of a title, alike well grounded in law, in justice, and in the common consent of mankind.ª But it would be premature now to enter more fully upon this grant. We shall meet again with the name of Calvert and the title of Baltimore, when we reach the period of the settlement of a sister state, whom Virginia has not loved the less because her portion was first assign- ed to her by an act of regal usurpation, committed on the fair domain of the elder settlement.
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