USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 20
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a Hening, i. 499-503; Bancroft, and Council in England, and the de- i. 243, 244. See ante, page 305, liberations of the Assembly, are in Hening, i. 509-511. They are wor- note.
b The letters from the President thy of attentive notice.
312
RESTORATION OF CHARLES II. [CHAP. V.
then in the world. (April 22.) He yielded up the dominion he had so lately assumed, and retired to the repose of private life. England was threatened with anarchy, and Virginia felt the feeble undula- tions of a storm which menaced the mother coun- try with ruin. (1660.) At this critical time Samuel Matthews died. Who shall be his successor ? This was a question of heavy import to their safety, and the Assembly seem to have acted with a pre- science sometimes granted to men placed in cir- cumstances of difficulty and hazard. No tumult was raised, no excited feeling prevailed, no royal standard was thrown abroad to announce that Charles the Second was King of Virginia.ª All that has been written and spoken and believed on this subject, will vanish before the light of truth. Sir William Berkeley was still in the colony. Be- loved by his friends and respected by the Assem-
a Mr. Burk is in general accurate in his views of this period ; but from want of the definite information since furnished, he hazards the conjecture that Sir William Berkeley was pro- claimed governor by " a tumultuous assemblage of cavaliers and aristo- crats, without the agency of the As- sembly," ii. 119. Grahame, i. 103, seems to have adopted this view. Beverley, 54, is probably entitled to the honour of having originated the fiction concerning the proclaiming of Charles II. King of England, France, Ireland, Scotland, and Vir- ginia, before he was restored to the throne. He is followed by Keith,
147; Robertson, i. 421; Marshall, i. 69 ; Campbell, 255, 256; Oldmix- on, i. 377 ; Grimshaw, 37; Gordon, i. 52. The original records in He- ning refute the error, and Mr. Ban- croft has given a fair statement of the facts, i. 245, 246. The author of the Outline in Howe, 67, adopts this correction ; yet, with remarkable inconsistency, Mr. Howe afterwards admits into his book all the errors of prior historians, in the article from the "Savannah Georgian," purport- ing to explain the title of the "Old Dominion," so often applied to Vir- ginia. See pages 131-133.
313
1660.] RESTORATION OF CHARLES II.
bly, he had remained in rural quietude. His com- fort and his interests had been the subject of special legislation, and his love to the King had never sub- jected him to danger. To him the Assembly now turned their eyes, and on the 13th day of March, by a decisive vote, they tendered to him the office of Governor of Virginia.ª It was immediately ac- cepted, without condition or compromise. What- ever may have been Berkeley's hopes, he required no oath of allegiance to the King, from the men who had placed him at the head of their affairs. At this very session we note an act denouncing a penalty against any one speaking in derogation of the existing government.b But the mind of Eng- land was soon relieved from its terrible suspense. Monk threw off the mask of mystery which for months he had worn, and on the 29th of April, 1660, Charles the Second ascended the throne, left vacant eleven years before by the death of his un- fortunate sire.
a Hening, i. 530, Act ii., Sess. 1659 b Act iv. Sess. 1659-60 ; Hening, -60; Bancroft, i. 245; Outline, in i. 531.
Howe's Hist. Collec., 67.
CHAPTER VI.
Joy of the colonists because of the Restoration-Their folly-Quakers in America-Laws against them-New commission from the King to Berkeley-Navigation laws enacted by the English Parliament-Their oppressive influence in Virginia-An Assembly of royalists-Conspi- racy of the Oliverians-Promptly crushed by the governor-Grant of Charles to Culpeper and Arlington-Assembly in vain seeks redress- Expedition of Captain Batte-Grievances of the colony-General dis.' content-Indian murders-Nathaniel Bacon-His character-He is cho- sen by the people to lead them against the Indians-Asks a commission from the governor, which is not granted-Marches against the savages -A new Assembly-Bacon is made captive-He is released-Laws of a free legislature-Berkeley still refuses a commission-Bacon's conduct -Governor leaves Jamestown-Rebellion-Berkeley flies to Accomac- Meeting of Virginians at Middle Plantation-Bacon marches against the Indians-Battle of Bloody Run-Bland and Carver-Berkeley again in Jamestown-Advance of the insurgents-Conflict-Defeat of the royalists-Jamestown burned by Bacon-His successes-His death- Despondency of the insurgents-Execution of Thomas Hansford-Of Wilford-Of William Drummond-Martial law-Trial by jury-Exe- cution of Giles Bland-Death of Lawrence-Berkeley's threat for re- venge-Assembly interferes-Death of Sir William Berkeley-Virginia before and after the rebellion.
WHEN the restoration of Charles II. was pub- licly announced in the Virginia colony, it excited emotions of triumph and joy in many bosoms.ª Long-cherished prejudices cannot be changed by momentary thought. The dominion of the Com- monwealth had been a season of peace, of freedom,
a Burk, ii. 123; Campbell, 67; Bancroft, ii. 196.
315
HOLLOW JOYS.
1660.]
and of prosperity to the colonists, with which no- thing they had before enjoyed could be compared. Their Assemblies had been regularly elected by the people; had made laws suggested by their own wisdom; had chosen every important officer of the goverment, and, when necessary, had dis- placed him; their trade had been scarcely inter- rupted ; their population had so rapidly increased that, in 1660, it is said to have numbered thirty thousand souls.ª It had been happy for Virginia had monarchy never again reared its head in Eng- land. Innumerable oppressions, a civil war, and scenes of blood, would all have been spared. But the Deity willed that she should again groan be- neath the yoke, in order, it may be, to render her final deliverance more signal.
While Charles was wandering in exile, many of his adherents had taken refuge in the colony which had shown so loyal a spirit in the trying hour. The number of true cavaliers greatly increased during the eight years prior to the Restoration, and these naturally infused their sentiments into the minds of all who would hear them.
The wealthy planters on the rivers retained their early prepossessions for monarchy ; and the great body of the people, ignorant of their own true inte- rests, prejudiced against dissenters, and attracted by glittering forms, joined in the cry of pleasure which hailed the return of the king's dominion. They little anticipated the evils which awaited
a Gordon's America, i. 53; Marshall's Colon. i. 69.
316
HOLLOW JOYS.
[CHAP. VI.
them. In reflecting on their folly, we are forcibly reminded of the fable of antiquity ; and it will not be a violation of the laws of good taste, to compare the Virginians to the unhappy denizens of the marsh, who despised the passive log that Jove first gave them as a king, only to be devoured, at last, by the monster that succeeded. Had the colonists been under the rule of reason, rather than of blind caprice, they would never have rejoiced in the restoration of a governor who knew no will but his sovereign's ; of a Parliament, disposed to fetter the commerce of all other people with chains exported from England ; and of a monarch, odious for his personal vices, and thoroughly contemptible in his public ministrations.
No occupant of the English throne ever embo- died so many disgraceful qualities as did Charles the Second. John was weak, cruel, and cow- ardly ; Henry Eighth was arbitrary and volup- tuous; Mary was bigoted and relentless; James was pedantic and timid ; but Charles, with indivi- dual traits perhaps less imposing than any of these, went far beyond them in his complete deve- lopement. His private life was a tissue of the most artful meanness, and of the darkest profli- gacy. By his own example, he corrupted a court which, before him, had been less impure than that of any of the more splendid kingdoms of Europe. Professing a regard for freedom, he signed the death-warrant of Algernon Sidney; holding out promises of general pardon, he sent many republi-
1
1660.]
QUAKERS.
317
cans to the scaffold ;a taking an oath to support the Protestant church of England, he was secretly a Papist; and, in the hour of death, hoped to find, in the sacrament administered by a popish priest, an atonement for the enormities of a misspent life.b
His name will ever be associated, in Scotland, with the ideas of persecution and bloodshed. He loved foul pleasure, and hated business. He hu- moured his Parliaments with the hope of getting money ; and sold the honour of his country for the means of gratifying his own selfish desires. From the reign of such a man, neither England nor her distant colonies could hope for quiet and happiness.
Immediately after the appointment of Sir Wil- liam Berkeley, and before the news of the restora- tion could have reached the colonies, we note a change in the liberal spirit that had pervaded Vir- ginia for several years then past. The demon of religious persecution was awakened from his stu- por and urged to active exercise. A new sect had, some time before, appeared in the world, upon whom the name of Quakers had been bestowed, because of their contortions of body under the in- fluence of powerful mental excitement. Neither their creed nor their practice was more dangerous to the peace of society, than many other follies which had passed unmolested. The inward light in which they believed, was never so brilliant as
a The reader may consult even
b Voltaire, Siècle de Louis XIV. i. Hume, v. 402-405 ; but he will find 2, page 6; Hume, ii. 606, edit. 1832. Charles more accurately sketched by Macaulay.
318
THEIR EXTRAVAGANCES.
[CHAP. VI.
to illumine the path of ambitious hope. The movings of the spirit they professed to feel had never prompted them to popular tumult; if they abhorred war, this would not render them the worse citizens; if they rejected forms and sacra- ments, they did not therefore become rebels and outlaws. But upon their first appearance, it is certain that they were distinguished by certain ex- travagances, and even indecencies, which naturally made them objects of popular odium. These have long since disappeared, and the Quakers have be- come eminent for the propriety of their demeanour, the rigid morality of their lives, and their attention to the duties of the best and wisest citizens; but we may not, therefore, forget the cause they origi- nally furnished for the harsh measures adopted to- wards them. In Massachusetts, in 1658, a furious fanatic of this sect, named Fanlord, under the in- fluence of religious frenzy, was preparing to shed the blood of his own son, when the cries of the un- happy boy attracted neighbours, who arrested the arm of this uncalled Abraham.ª Another deranged Jeremiah burst in upon an assembled congregation, and striking violently together two bottles held in his hands, shattered them in fragments, crying out, "Thus will the Lord break you in pieces."b A certain lady, of the Quaker persuasion, having de- corated her face with a thick stratum of coal dust, exhibited herself to many amazed beholders as a sign of some hideous disease, which she declared
a Grahame's Colon. Hist. i. 306.
b Ibid, i. 307.
)
1660.]
THEIR EXTRAVAGANCES. 319
was soon to assail all unbelievers.ª Another female saint entered a church in the midst of divine wor- ship, in a state of perfect nudity, and exhorted the people to give heed to her as a sign of the naked condition of their own unhappy souls !‘ A similar exhibition took place in the streets of Salem ; and it has even been asserted, that in the close of the eighteenth century, a Quaker walked naked during several days, through the streets of Richmond, as a sign of the times.d Such fanatics fell properly within the cognizance of police laws, and had they received salutary flagellation, instead of hanging or the burning of their tongues with heated iron, none could have complained.
Early in the session of 1660, the Assembly passed a stern law against the Quakers, reciting them as "an unreasonable and turbulent sort of people," who taught and published " lies, miracles, false visions, prophecies, and doctrines," to the great disturbance of religion and order. The sta- tute forbids any master or commander of a vessel, under a heavy penalty, to bring any of this hated sect into the colony ; requires that all Quakers, upon detection, should be imprisoned without bail, · until they took an oath to leave the country, and gave security that they would never return; and enacts, that any Quaker returning the second time,
a Grahame's Colon. Hist., i. 307; i. 461. At the next court for Sa- Bancroft's U. S., i. 454.
lem, this lady was, with great pro- b Grahame, i. 307; Bancroft, i. priety, adjudged worthy of stripes.
d Note ix., Grahame's Colon. Hist., 454.
c Note ix., Grahame's Colon Hist., i. 461.
320
JOHN PORTER.
[CHAP. VI.
should be punished as a despiser of the laws, and forced again to depart ; and should he return the third time, he was to be treated as a felon.ª All persons were forbidden to give them countenance ; all officers were to note the laws against them; and the circulation of their books and pamphlets was rigidly proscribed. -
It is vain to attempt to defend these laws. They do, indeed, flow necessarily from the principles of an ecclesiastical establishment; but they embody the worst forms of intolerance, and, if fully de- veloped, their policy would destroy all religious freedom. Yet it is consoling to believe, that no actual cruelty or oppression resulted from these harsh enactments. The most striking example of their exercise occurred in 1663, when John Porter, a burgess elect, from Lower Norfolk County, was charged with "being loving to the Quakers, and attending their meetings." He frankly confessed that he admired the sect, and revered the mildness of their doctrines and the purity of their lives. The Assembly, upon this, did not immediately condemn him, but tendered to him the oaths of supremacy and allegiance. He refused to take them, and was formally expelled by a vote of the legislative body.' In reading this account, we cannot fail to perceive that John Porter was ex- pelled, rather for refusing to acknowledge his obli-
a Hening, i. 533, Act vi. The act does not say, a felon without benefit of clergy, from which it seems pro- bable that death was not intended.
b Burk's Va., ii. 132, with accom- panying comments ; Hening's Stat. at Large, ii. 198, September 12, 1663; Hawks's Eccle. Hist. Va., 71.
321
A KING AND A GOVERNOR.
1660.]
gations to the King and his government, than for loving the despised sect whose doctrines he had imbibed.
When Charles felt himself firmly seated on the throne, he sent to his staunch friend, Sir William Berkeley, a new commission as governor, and some royal advice as to the proper mode of conducting the affairs of the colony. He counsels him to at- tend diligently to the establishment of religion, to enforce the use of the prayer book, and to provide a competent support for ministers. He requires that a new code shall be prepared, from which all laws derogatory to a monarchical government shall be expurgated ; urges the governor and people to build houses and settle towns, in imitation of New England; directs their thoughts to flax, pitch, hemp, and silk, and informs them that he had worn, on his own majestic person, some silk of Virginian growth, and found it not inferior to that raised in other countries.ª The King farther pro- mises his aid in establishing iron works in the colony ; offers to send over judges to administer law, provided the people would pay their salaries ; and advises a conference with Maryland on the subject of planting tobacco. He directs Sir Wil- liam Berkeley to summon an Assembly as early as
a Beverley, 57, mentions a tradi- curious to find Beverley and Old- tion that the King at his coronation mixon agreeing in any thing : they had a cordial contempt each for the other. Read Beverley's Preface. Mr. Burk does not seem to believe the wore a robe of silk from Virginia. Grahame adopts this story, i. 105, in note. He cites Oldmixon, an author full of ridiculous falsehoods. It is above story, ii. 125.
VOL. I.
21
322
NAVIGATION LAWS.
[CHAP. VI.
possible, and gives him permission to return for a season to England, when he shall think proper so to do.ª
Buoyed up by unfounded hope and short-lived joy, the colonists went cheerfully on their way ; but a melancholy reverse soon afflicted them. In the first session of Parliament after Charles ascend- ed the throne, were passed the celebrated " Navi- gation Laws" of England, giving full effect to a policy which had already been threatened by pre- vious rulers. These laws have had both their advocates and their enemies. On the one hand, they have been vaunted as presenting in themselves a perfect embodiment of political and commercial wisdom, and on the other, they have been decried as unjust and impolitic, oppressive to colonists and injurious to the mother country. This controversy may now be considered as settled. The wisest of England's instructers have taught her a lesson, hard to learn, yet not easily to be forgotten. They have demonstrated, that the nation that shall de- liberately place fetters upon commerce, will, after a season, suffer from her own harshness. To force the products of a colony into the bosom of the mo- ther country, will render such dependencies dis- contented and unhappy ; will give to the mother herself the character of a cruel and selfish step-
a Burk, ii. 124-126. Grahame of these statements. The instruc- says, by this commission trials by tions of the King may be seen re- jury were restored, which had been discontinued for some years, i. 106. I find no evidence to sustain either
flected in the laws passed by the Assembly of 1660-61, contained in Hening, ii. 17-32.
323
NAVIGATION LAWS.
1660.]
dame, and will make other nations rejoice in the misery of both.ª A monopoly of colonial trade will, after a season, diminish the strength of all parties concerned : of the colony, by confining her energies to a single market ; of the mother country, by enfeebling the demand of foreign nations, and consequently the supply made in the colonies, and thus enhancing the price to her own people, and of the rest of the commercial world, by cutting off some of their motives for exertion.
But the Parliament of Charles II. were tempted by the hope of immediate gain. Their Navigation Laws provided, that no commodities should be im- ported into, or exported from, any English settle- ments in Asia, Africa, or America, except in vessels built in England, or in her colonies, and navigated by crews of which the master and three-fourths of the mariners shall be English subjects; and this was under penalty of forfeiture of ship and cargo; that no persons other than natural born subjects, or such as have been naturalized, shall be mer- chants or factors in any British colonies, upon pain of forfeiting their goods and merchandise; that no sugar, tobacco, cotton, wool, indigo, ginger, or woods for dyeing, should be exported from the co- lonies to any country except England; and, to make
a Smith's Wealth of Nations, edit. tional defence. Their efficacy even 1818, i. 325, 326, ii. 82-85. Adam for this end is doubtful'; and his ar- guments against them are over- whelming. Grahame's Col. Hist. i. 110-112. Smith finds but one argument in favour of the Navigation Laws, the increase they are supposed to pro- duce in sailors and shipping for na-
324
NAVIGATION LAWS.
[CHAP. VI.
this clause secure, a bond for its observance was to be exacted from all owners of vessels trading from the settlements.ª These enumerated articles, as they were called, were gradually extended, until the list embraced every commodity that could be produced by colonial industry. In 1663, the navi- gation law was extended, by forbidding that any European article should be imported into the colo- nies, unless shipped in England, and in vessels built and manned according to the requirements of the previous law.b And finally, in 1672, the top- most stone was laid upon the column of oppression. The colonies had been theretofore free in their trade with each other, but in this year it was enacted that, in shipping these enumerated articles from colony to colony, the same tax should be paid as was imposed upon the consumers in England.c
A more complete system of commercial oppres- sion could hardly be conceived. The colonists were at once cut off from all foreign markets, and shut up to the prices which English consumers might think proper to pay; and they were com- pelled to send their produce in English vessels, manned by English seamen, and commanded by English masters. They were denied even the poor privilege of domestic traffic without customs. A tax met them at every outlet and avenue. Whether they imported or exported, bought or sold, they
b 15 Car. II., c. vii .; Robertson, i. Robertson's America, i. 422; Gra- 422; Grahame, i. 108. hame's Colon. Hist., i. 107, 108.
a 12 Car. II., cap. xviii., and in
c 25 Car. II., c. vii .; Robertson's Am., i. 422; Grahame, i. 109.
325
THE VEIL REMOVED.
1661.]
were taxed. Even their tobacco, of which the whole burden should have been borne by the con- sumer, was laden in the port of shipment and in the port of sale with a duty so onerous that the planter endured its heaviest weight, and could scarcely realize from his crop enough to furnish clothes for his family.a Yet, to justify this oppres- sion, the British Parliament could urge no better reason, than that the colonies, having been settled and supported by England, were to be so used as best to promote her manufacturing and commercial interests !b
(1661, March.) The laws had not been in effect long in Virginia ere their sinister influence began to manifest itself. Still hoping against hope, and unwilling to believe that their sovereign and his government intended to trample them in the dust, the General Assembly commissioned Sir William Berkeley, on his visit to England, to attend spe- cially to their interests, and to endeavour to procure for them more favourable laws. They could not have selected a worse agent. The old cavalier left the colony about the 30th April, 1661, and returned in the close of November, 1662. He had feasted his eyes with the sight of royalty, had obtained some privileges valuable to himself, but had not secured one right to the colony, or averted from her head one stroke of commercial violence. It is
2 Grahame's Col. Hist., i. 107; Laws, and uses much lame reasoning Burk's Va., ii. 133.
b Robertson's Am., i. 422, citing Act 15, Car. II. Sir William Keith highly approves of the Navigation
to support them, 148-152; and in the Introduction, passim.
c Hening, ii. 7, 17; Bancroft, ii. 198.
326
A ROYALIST ASSEMBLY.
[CHAP. VI.
doubtful whether he even sought any change in these fatal laws.
The Assembly manifested every disposition to submit to the rule of the mother country, while that rule could be tolerated. The price of tobacco was already so low that the most substantial planters were in great distress; and in order to keep the country from being overwhelmed in debt, a law was passed forbidding the importation of unneces- sary articles, among which we find enumerated " strong drink, silk stuffe in garments or in pieces, gold and silver lace, and ribbands inwrought with gold and silver."a A Spartan simplicity in dress and manners was thus encouraged, but such laws availed but little to check the rise of discontent and just indignation among the high-minded people of Virginia.
The Assembly which convened in 1662, was composed principally of landholders and cavaliers. The people were willing to prove their devotion to the King, by electing a body of royalists whose love for monarchy was hardly neutralized by their fondness for freedom. Their legislation partook of their character. A new body of laws was com- piled; and the Assembly, in adopting it, declared that all acts not in this collection were " to all in- tents and purposes utterly abrogated and repealed."b Among these former acts was one requiring the elections of Burgesses for the Assembly to be once in two years.« An able historian has considered
a Hening, ii. 18, Act. ii., Session
b Hening, ii. 43.
1660-61.
c Ib., i. 517.
327
A ROYALIST ASSEMBLY.
1662.]
this act as repealed by the above-mentioned sweep- ing clause ;ª but there is reason to believe that the legislature did not intend that its operation should be so extensive. Their design was simply to pro- vide a new code of general jurisprudence for the people, in place of the one theretofore existing, and not to destroy all the rules by which their own con- stitution had previously been regulated. From his view of this clause, the same writer has drawn the belief, that this Assembly, from being biennial, became permanent, depended no longer upon the people, but retained its existence for many years, until it was finally burst asunder by a rebellion.b But we have satisfactory evidence that elections were held up to the year 1666; though, after that time, the same body of men continued, without re- ference to popular will, to hold the reins of govern- ment, until they were driven from their places by an explosion too violent to be longer resisted.
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