USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 23
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The young chieftain had accomplished his pur- pose. The people, under his guidance, had assert- ed their rights, and their opposers had been driven into exile. A new Assembly had been summoned, and the power of free election having been restored, the burgesses might be expected fairly to represent the will of their electors. The army had been dis- banded, but was ready, at a moment's warning, to re- assemble and to resist again the obnoxious measures of the royal government. Advices from England were anxiously expected, and men began to look upon the late revolution as established on a perma- nent basis. But a mysterious Providence was pre- paring a reverse. Virginia was not yet ready for
independence. One hundred years were yet to pass away, ere she could find herself surrounded by sisters ready to unite their blood with hers in maintaining the rights of humanity. Nathaniel Bacon had imbibed the seeds of fatal disease in the trenches before Jamestown, and as the season wore away, his strength became visibly less. He linger- ed until the first day of October, when, at the resi- dence of Mr. Pate, in the county of Gloucester, his spirit took its flight for ever from a world in which, though yet young, he had borne so conspicuous a part.a
a Bacon's Proceedings, Force, i. 229. An epitaph, written by one of 28; Burk, ii. 192; Bancroft, ii. 228, Bacon's followers, who was devotedly
359
THOMAS HANSFORD.
1676.]
It has generally been found, that popular move- ments, whether for good or for evil, are directed by one ruling spirit. When the keystone of the most massive arch is withdrawn, the fabric must crumble and fall. Had George Washington died at a critical period of the American war, it would not be safe to declare, that America would, never- theless, have achieved her independence. Na- thaniel Bacon died in 1676, and the tide of revolu- tion was immediately rolled back. The hearts of the patriots sank within them; neither Ingram nor Walklate, who now headed them, was compe- tent to the dangerous task. The first was but a fri- volous being, better skilled in the dance than in the conflict of arms.ª As the fortunes of the people declined, the courage of Berkeley and his followers revived. Major Robert Beverley, an active mem- ber of the Council, sailed up the rivers, and scoured the country in pursuit of insurgent bands. Among his first prizes was Thomas Hansford, a noble young Virginian, whose warm heart had prompted him to strenuous action in the late rebellion. With cruel haste, he was hurried from the place of trial to the gibbet prepared for his execution. Even in view of a death so terrible, his heroic spirit did not give way. He implored only that he might be
attached to him, will be read with in- originally published in the Richmond terest by every Virginian. It is in Enquirer, on the 1st, 5th, 8th, and . Force's Hist. Tracts, i.29. The two 12th September, 1804. See Hening, ii. 374, in note. valuable tracts, " T. M.'s Account," &c., and " Our Late Troubles," to 2 He seems to have been a rope- which so frequent reference has been dancer. Ingram's Proceedings, 31, made in the preceding pages, were 32.
360
CHIESEMAN AND WILFORD.
[CHAP. VI.
shot like a soldier, rather than die on the gallows; but to this passionate request, a reply was return- ed, that he died not as a soldier but as a rebel.ª Expressing penitence for the errors of his past life, he yet fully justified his course in the insurrection, and calling upon all present to note that he died a loyal subject, and a lover of his country, he met his fate with the firmness of a truly brave man.b
The powers of revenge were now solemnly in- voked. As fast as prisoners of any note were brought in, they became victims of martial law. In York River, Captains Chieseman and Wilford were captured. In the skirmish, Wilford was wounded in one of his eyes, and lost its sight en- tirely; but when allusion was made to this, he said, with bitterness, that the loss was of small im- portance, as he doubted not the Governor would find him a guide to the gallows.e 'His fears were, unhappily, but too soon fulfilled. But a more cruel punishment awaited Chieseman. When he was brought into the presence of the Governor, his wife accompanied him, and kneeling before the arbiter of their fate, she declared that she alone had urged her husband to rebellion, and implored that if one must die, she might be executed as the guilty person. Such a display of feminine tender- ness might have moved a heart of stone ; but it fell powerless upon the vindictive bosom of William
a Ingram's, Proceedings, Force, ever died by hanging. Ingram's 1 33; Bancroft, ii. 230.
Proceedings, 33.
b Hansford is said to have been c Ingram's Proceedings, Force, the first native-born Virginian who 33.
361
AN INSULT TO A WIFE.
1676.]
Berkeley. In the presence of her unhappy hus- band, he applied to her an epithet too gross to be repeated,a imputing dishonour to a woman who had but just given proof of the highest traits that can adorn a virtuous wife ! A few days afterwards, Chieseman died in prison from the effects of accu- mulated insult, injury, and mortification.
When William Drummond was captured, Berke- ley could no longer restrain his triumph within the bounds of decency. Coming from his ship to the shore, he saluted his defenceless captive with a low bend of the body, and with all the mockery of affected politeness. "Mr. Drummond !" he said, "you are very welcome. I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. Mr. Drum- mond, you shall be hanged in half an hour."> A trial by a court-martial, at the house of John Bray, resulted, as might have been expected, in his im- mediate conviction ; and he was suspended upon a gibbet as soon as one could be prepared." Against this patriot, the vengeance of Berkeley seems to have burned with quenchless violence. He pur- sued his wife with fines and confiscations, and would willingly have subjected her to a traitor's death; but in after days, the protection of King
a Ingram's Proceedings, in Force, the reader will find many startling 34; Bancroft, ii. 231.
b T. M's. Account of Bacon's Re- bellion, 23. Bancroft repeats the words without change, ii. 231.
c The brief record of his trial is in Hening, ii. 546. On pages 545- 557 of this invaluable compilation,
records of summary trials and con- demnations to death. I have exa- mined the original volume of MS. records in the office of the General Court in Richmond. It is labelled Judgments and Orders from 1670 to 1677. Consult pages 343-357.
362
MARTIAL LAW.
[CHAP. VI.
Charles himself was extended, and she was re- stored to the possessions that had been taken away.ª
It is impossible to say to what extent the pas- sions of the Governor would have carried him, had they been allowed unlimited time for their exer- cise. 'The forces under Ingram and Walklate were at length broken and dispersed, and daily additions were made to the list of prisoners of state. News of the rise and progress of the rebellion hav- ing been carried to England, the King issued a commission, appointing Herbert Jeffries lieutenant governor, and uniting him with Sir John Berry and Francis Morrison, as commissioners to inquire into the state of the colony. (1677, January 29.) They arrived early in the year, accompanied by a regiment of regular troops, to suppress the re- bellion.
Although armed with full powers to prosecute the war with vigour, should it be necessary, the commissioners had received instructions to use all means for restoring peace ; and they brought with them a royal proclamation of pardon to all engaged in the insurrection, except Bacon alone, who was now far removed beyond the utmost reach of kingly vengeance.b But the Governor had not yet quenched his thirst for blood. The commissioners objected strenuously to the trial by martial law, which he
a Proclamation of Charles, in ful Account," by John Berry and Burk, App. ii. 264-65, dated Oct. Francis Morrison, in Burk, Appen. 22, 1677.
ii. 254.
b Burk, ii. 203. "True and faith-
363
1677.]
VENGEANCE AND HER VICTIMS.
had thus far employed, and urged a return to the trial by a jury of the people. To this, Berkeley at first gave the characteristic reply, that he had used martial law in order to insure conviction ; and that he feared juries would acquit the pri- soners !ª A memorable tribute to the worth of an institution, which may be well termed the bulwark of civil freedom. With great difficulty, he was persuaded to resort to a court of oyer and termi- ner, in which a jury was used. But a spirit of fear had now possessed the bosoms of many ; the jury proved pliant, and more convictions took place. Eleven unhappy victims had fallen under the stroke of martial law ere the commissioners arrived.' Nine were afterwards convicted by jury trial, without appeal, and successively executed.e Several were banished from the colony, never to return, and their estates were forfeited to the use of the King, or rather of the Governor, who seldom failed to convert forfeitures into streams of supply
a " A true and faithful Account." Burk, Appen. ii. 254. Mr. Burk has fallen into a gross error, in de- claring that when the trial by jury was used instead of martial law, ten men were acquitted in one day, ii. 200. The reverse is true ; ten were found guilty by the jury in one day. Ans. to Objections against Sir Wil- liam Berkeley, in Burk's Appen. ii. 262, 263. Burk read historical do- cuments carelessly. He seems to have been led into error by a mis-
take of a single word in the "True and faithful Account," page 254 :- " There was not a prisoner that came to the bar, that was brought in guilty by the jury." It should be, " but was brought in guilty," &c. The context renders this reading in- dispensable. Yet Mr. Burk's error is repeated in the Outline, in Howe, p. 78. Bancroft corrects it, ii. 231, 232, note.
b Hening, ii. 545-547.
c Ibid, ii. 550-553.
364
VENGEANCE AND HER VICTIMS. [CHAP. VI.
for himself.a Many were crushed by enormous fines, levied for the use of the King's troops sent to adjust the shackles to their hands ; and five men were sentenced to appear at their respective county courts, with ropes around their necks, and humbly "ask pardon for their rebellion and treason."b Few prisoners brought to the bar escaped conviction. By special requirement of the General Court, the juries were composed exclusively of freeholders . and housekeepers; and their hearts seem to have been dismayed by the terrors of the very law which they were themselves chiefly active in en- forcing.
Men began to ask each other to what extent this scene of blood would go. Berkeley was still inexorable, and was deaf even to the appeals of the King's commissioners. When Giles Bland was condemned to death, after a conviction by a jury, on the 8th of March, he pleaded a special pardon from the King, which had been sent over by the commissioners, and which the Governor had taken into his own custody and refused to ex- hibit. There is not the slightest reason to doubt that Berkeley suppressed this pardon, with the stern resolve that Bland should die.e This en-
a See Hening ,ii., case of Henry justices, and ordered that the sen- West, 547, 548; Sands Knowles, 552 ; Bancroft, ii. 231.
b Two of these persons appeared at court, with small strips of tape around their necks ; but, on learn- ing this, the Governor and Council, in high dudgeon, rebuked the sitting a tyrant. See Burk, ii. 206.
tence should be literally executed .- Hening, ii. 557.
c T. M.'s Account of Bacon's Re- bellion, 24. The Duke of York had sworn, " By God, Bacon and Bland should die." He was a papist and
-
1677.]
EXECUTION OF GILES BLAND. 365
lightened patriot met his fate with the calmness of · conscious innocence ;ª and his name descended to a family afterwards known among the firmest sup- porters of American freedom.
Not content with persecuting and destroying the living, Berkeley sought to wreak his unmanly revenge upon the dead. The remains of Nathaniel Bacon were eagerly sought, that they might be ex- posed upon a gibbet ; but in this instance the love of a friend triumphed over the malice of an enemy. His body had been interred in a retired spot, and the coffin was pressed down by massive stones, by order of Lawrence, who had an instinctive pre- sentiment of the design of the Governor. Thus the search was vain; the lifeless hero was unvio- lated, and his warmest friend escaped a death of ignominy. Lawrence was drowned in a swollen branch which he attempted to cross, when Bever- ley commenced his incursions into the heart of Virginia.º
It was now time to arrest the Governor's arm. His vindictive feelings, instead of becoming ex- hausted, appeared to gather strength with each execution. His warmest friends were shocked by his virulence. When the burgess from Northamp-
a Dr. Robertson, speaking of the lion," i. 126, note. He is easily sa- sequel of Bacon's Rebellion, says, tisfied ! All the trials by martial. " No man suffered capitally !" Am., law, mentioned in Hening, ii. 545- i. 425. Mr. Grahame, who ought 547, were in January, 1677 ; nearly four months after the death of Bacon. b T. M.'s Account, 23, 24. to have ascertained the truth, says he is satisfied " that no person was put to death by martial law, except c Ibid, 23; Ingram's Proceedings, 46, 47. during the subsistence of the rebel-
366 ASSEMBLY'S ADDRESS TO BERKELEY. [CHAP. VI.
ton County returned to his home, he declared to a colleague, " he believed the Governor would have hanged half the country if they had let him alone."a Even the King, with all his selfishness and hypo- crisy, was horror-stricken when he heard of the executions ; and, in his own refined language, was heard to say, " that old fool had hanged more men in that naked country, than he had done for the murder of his father."b The call for severity had long since ceased; Ingram and his followers had been dispersed by Captain Grantham; the insur- gents on York River had returned to their homes ; the Governor's house and property at Green Spring had been restored to his possession.e All were sub- missive, and all desired peace.
At this crisis, the General Assembly hesitated no longer to interfere. They voted an address to Berkeley, imploring him to shed no more blood, for none could tell where or when it would termi- nate.a .
This entreaty came from a source which the Go- vernor could not disregard. The Assembly, con- vened in February, 1677, had thus far proved itself a ready instrument for stern measures against the rebels. They had passed acts of attainder against the dead, and imposed fines and confiscations upon
a T. M.'s Account, 24; Burk, ii. Burk's account of a treaty between 208; Bancroft, ii. 232.
b T. M.'s Account, Force, 24; Ban- croft, ii. 232, in substance.
c Ingram's Proceedings, 43-45.
the belligerents, is not accurate, ii. 198.
d Burk, ii. 207 ; Bancroft, ii. 232.
.
367
BERKELEY LEAVES VIRGINIA.
1677.]
the living ; they had pronounced Bacon a traitor, and had repealed all of his laws except the only one among them worthy of repeal : they spared the law making Indians taken in war slaves, doubtless to prove their love of loyalty by their hatred to freedom ; b they had gone so far in their devotion to the Governor as to enact that any one speaking mutinously or con- temptuously concerning him, should either receive thirty stripes upon his naked person, or should pay eight hundred pounds of tobacco. Yet this was the body which now united with the commissioners in imploring that the arm of vengeance might pause; that the blood of the people should no longer flow. Berkeley found his course regarded with universal disgust; and feeling that he stood upon tottering ground, he hastened to retrieve, if possi- ble, his injured fame at the court of his royal master.
He sailed from the colony in April. The utmost joy was felt at his departure; and so much was he detested, that discharges of cannon and displays of fireworks expressed the public emotions.ª It were to be wished that he had left Virginia for ever im- mediately after the surrender to the Commonwealth in 1652. He would then perchance have escaped both the hatred of others and the dominion of his own most dangerous passions. But a repulse yet
a Hening's Statutes, ii. 369, 381, passim.
c Hening, ii. 385; Bancroft, ii. 232.
b The fact here noted is remark- d Francis Morryson's Letter to able. See order of Assembly, in He- Secretary Ludwell, in Burk's Appen., ning, ii. 404, and note. ii. 267.
368
DEATH OF BERKELEY.
[CHAP. VI.
sterner encountered him when he reached his na- tive land. The King refused to receive him at court; and when the proud cavalier heard the re- mark that Charles had made concerning his ex- cesses in Virginia, his spirit sank beneath the in- dignity.ª His age and late anxieties aggravated his disease, and he died a short time after landing upon the soil of England. It were an ungrateful task to enter the portals of the tomb in order to assail the memory of its occupant. Sir William Berkeley was an inhabitant of Virginia during a period of nearly forty years, and for twenty-eight of these he was her governor. His character has been regarded as inconsistent; but it is to be feared that such as he was in the closing years of his life, such had he always been. His very loyalty ren- dered him uncompromising. The same stern pride which planted a battery of cannon against the ships of the Commonwealth, taught him never to forgive the first offence of Nathaniel Bacon; the courage which would have resisted unto death the invasion of a foreign foe, became the relentless rage which sought the blood of numberless victims; the very
a Bancroft, ii. 233. George Chal- Grahame prefers the authority of mers says Berkeley died "of a Oldmixon, in favour of Berkeley, to the plain reports of the King's com- missioners against him. Oldmixon is proverbial for his stupid blunders. See Beverley's Preface. He has been touched by Mr. Pope's caustic pen, broken heart." Revolt. Amer. Col., i. 164; T. M.'s Account, 24; Burk, ii. 208; Bancroft, ii. 233. But Bever- ley, 77, and his echo, Keith, 162, say, Charles approved of his course, and during his last sickness often made kind inquiries as to his health ! The " With royal favourites in flattery vie, And Oldmixon and Burnet both outlie." first assertion we know to be false, the last is wholly improbable. Mr. Versif. of Dr. Donne's Satires, iv.
1677.]
HERBERT JEFFRIES GOVERNOR. 369
resolution of purpose which made him true to his sovereign through evil and through good report, was afterwards the germ of that avenging zeal which would have consigned the living to a death of ignominy, and the remains of the dead to dese- cration and dishonour.
(April 27.) Upon the departure of Berkeley, Herbert Jeffries became governor, and all parties united in earnest efforts to heal the wounds and calm the troubled spirits of the unhappy colony. Previous to the rebellion, Virginia had presented a phasis of human life almost unknown in the his- tory of the world. She was without cities; for her single town contained but eighteen dwellings, with a state-house and the time-honoured church.ª. The people lived on their plantations, generally near some beautiful river or bold stream, which either turned their mills, or brought to their doors the produce of foreign climes. The houses were gene- rally of wood, and few attained to the dignity of a second story. The more wealthy planters possessed in property all that could render life desirable. Seventy horses and three hundred sheep were not considered excessive possessions for the chief man of the colony.' Their laws were yet simple, and lawyers were almost unknown. Education was not generally diffused ; schools and colleges could hardly be said to exist. The affluent sent their sons to England for education; the medium classes
a Bancroft, ii. 212, citing Mass. William Berkeley, Burk's Appen., Hist. Collec., xi. 53.
ii. 263 ; Bancroft, ii. 212.
b Answer to Objections against Sir
VOL. I. 24
370
A NEW CHARTER.
[CHAP. VI.
and the poor imparted to their children such know- ledge of books as they possessed themselves, and this was generally sufficient for the proper dis- charge of their duties in life. Had the power across the ocean been idle, Virginia might have been pros- perous and happy ; but it was her fate to be cursed by the very dominion to which she had so long and so loyally adhered. The rebellion opened the eyes of her people to their wrongs and to the remedy ; but its total failure closed them again in a troubled sleep, which was not disturbed until, they were roused to slumber no more. It has been remarked that the rebellion was productive of enormous evil to Virginia, and of no real benefit;ª but it would be unwise thus hastily to judge and to determine. The evil was immediate and pressing, the benefit was unseen and silent in its operation. Availing him- self of the insurrection as a pretext, King Charles refused to grant the favourable charter which was said to have been prepared, and gave a miserable substitute, with which the colony was forced to appear contented.b It gave no privileges, guaran- tied no liberties, removed no burdens, redressed no wrongs. It said nothing on the subject of taxation, thus leaving this avenue still open to English en- croachment. A heavy loss of property had occurred during the rebellion. Jealousies had been engen- dered not easily to be appeased. A body of mer- cenary troops, the first ever permanently placed on
a Marshall's Am. Col., i. 162; ter is there, and in Burk's Appen., Bancroft, ii. 233.
Ixi., Ixii .; Bancroft, ii. 233; Bever-
b Hening, ii. 531, 533. The char- ley, 76.
371
EVIL AND GOOD.
1677.]
the soil of British America, added to the people's bur- dens, and insulted them by their very presence ;- lives had been sacrificed that would have been va- luable ;- blood had been shed which would have warmed many patriot hearts. These were the evils; they were many and onerous, but let them not mis- lead. The name of Nathaniel Bacon was not for- gotten ; his spirit disappeared from human vision, but it yet lingered fondly about the land he had loved, ready to pervade it again when liberty should invoke its presence; his principles wrought their way silently into the minds of men,-and one hun- dred years from the day of his death, Virginia was fighting in the front rank of the embattled host which drove the armies of Britain from her shores, and planted in imperishable honour the standard of freedom upon the soil of America.
CHAPTER VII.
Royal commissioners-Robert Beverley persecuted-Lord Culpeper arrives -His proceedings-His covetousness-Act of cohabitation-Destruction of tobacco plants-Severe measures against the rioters-Robert Bever- ley's wrongs-Assembly deprived of judicial power-Howard of Effing- ham-Treaty with the Five Nations-Death of Charles II .- Acces- sion and character of James II .- Rebellion of Monmouth-White slaves -Revolution in England-William, Prince of Orange-Francis Nichol- son governor-College of William and Mary-Sir Edmund Andros in Virginia-Nicholson again governor-Capture of a pirate-Nicholson's ambitious schemes-His proceeding in New York-Edward Nott- Alexander Spotswood governor-He promotes the welfare of the colony -His expanded views-Expedition across the Alleghany Mountains- Knights of the Golden Horseshoe-Blackbeard the pirate-Spotswood superseded-William Gooch governor-Expedition against Carthagena -Death of Commissary Blair-Of Colonel William Byrd-Governor Gooch's charge to a grand jury-Capitol destroyed by fire-Departure of Gooch-Robert Dinwiddie governor.
HERBERT JEFFRIES exerted himself in good faith and with commendable zeal, in restoring comfort and peace to the colony. But it was not easy to close a chasm rent open by a convulsion hitherto unequalled in violence. Virginia long retained the marks of injuries commenced by the Parlia- ment and King of England, and consummated by her own abortive effort for relief. She had now to endure an insult from the men who had seemed at first disposed to sympathize in her sufferings. The commissioners of Charles were required to
373
ROYAL COMMISSIONERS.
1677.]
examine into the causes which led to the rebellion; and in exercising their power, they pursued a course of deliberate tyranny which would never have been expected. They demanded the journals of the General Assembly, and were met by a prompt refusal. They repeated the demand, urg- ing it now personally upon Robert Beverley, the clerk, who, with inflexible courage, refused to yield them, unless ordered so to do by the body who had committed them to his charge. Incensed by this opposition, the commissioners resorted to force, and by their agents wrested the journals from the custody of their guardian !a No important information was gained by this unworthy measure. Its only effect was to embitter the feelings of the Assembly, and excite a memorable train of perse- cution against their faithful officer.
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